24122025-TTC-01.qxd 12/24/2025 12:33 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 145 NO. 354 | 14 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 SHEHBAZ OFFERS TALKS TO IMRAN’S PARTY AMID TENSIONS WORLD /thetribunechd ATTACH PROPERTY OF KASHMIRI LOBBYIST, ORDERS NIA COURT J&K RBI MULLS ~2L-CR BOND ‘JAN BHAGIDARI’ KEY TO PURCHASE TO EASE PEOPLE-CENTRIC LIQUIDITY BUSINESS SECURITY: PREZ BACK PAGE wednesday | 24 december 2025 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com VHP, Bajrang Dal activists attempt to storm 22L struck off draft voter B’desh mission over lynching; 40 detained list in poll-bound Kerala Tribune News Service Both sides summon envoys | India expresses grave concern over anti-Hindu violence Ujwal Jalali Tribune News Service New Delhi, December 23 India on Tuesday summoned Bangladesh High Commissioner Riaz Hamidullah, hours after Dhaka called in India’s envoy Pranay Verma to convey its “grave concern” over incidents targeting Bangladeshi diplomatic premises in India, marking a sharp escalation in tensions between the two neighbours. The diplomatic exchange came as protests erupted across several Indian cities following the lynching of a Hindu man in Bangladesh, triggering strong reactions from right-wing outfits and civil society groups. In Delhi, hundreds of supporters of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal attempted to march towards the Bangladesh High Commission, holding saffron flags and raising slogans demanding justice for minorities in the neighbouring country. The police put in place multi-layered barricades and deployed nearly 1,500 personnel to secure the high-security zone. Official sources said Hamidullah’s summoning — the second time — by the Ministry of External Affairs was linked to violent anti-India protests in several parts of Bangladesh in recent days and formed part of ongoing diplomatic engagement amid a deteriorating atmosphere. Earlier in the day, Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry said Verma was apprised of Dhaka’s concern over incidents outside the Bangladesh High Commission and the High Commissioner’s residence in continued on page 10 New Delhi, December 23 Approximately 42 lakh voters in Madhya Pradesh, 27 lakh in Chhattisgarh and 22 lakh in the poll-bound Kerala have removed from the draft electoral rolls released by the Election Commission on Tuesday. The special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is going on in nine states and three union territories. With the release of the draft voter list of the three states as well as that of the UT of Andaman and Nicobar, only Uttar Pradesh’s draft list remains to be published. It is scheduled to come out on December 31. In Kerala, enumeration forms were collected from 2.54 42L REMOVED IN MADHYA PRADESH ■ In Madhya Pradesh, of 5.74 crore voters, 42 lakh have been removed from the draft elector rolls published on Tuesday ■ Similarly, 27 lakh voters in Chhattisgarh and 64,000 electors in Andaman and Nicobar do not figure in the draft rolls crore voters, of which 6,49,885 were found to be that of deceased. While 14,61,769 had permanently shifted, 1,36,029 were found to be enrolled at multiple places. The Assembly elections in Kerala are due to be held in May 2026. In Madhya Pradesh, of the total 5.31 crore electors, 31.51 lakh were found to have shift- KOTHKAI CUSTODIAL DEATH HC suspends life term of ex-IG Zahur Zaidi Saurabh Malik Tribune News Service VHP and Bajrang Dal activists protest near the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi against the lynching of a Hindu man. MANAS RANJAN BHUI PROTESTERS BREACH BARRICADES IN DELHI US LAWMAKERS CONDEMN HINDU MAN’S KILLING VHP and Bajrang Dal activists broke through barricades and clashed with the police near the fortified Bangladesh High Commission. At least 40 protesters were detained during the agitation. An officer said a 1,500-strong police force was deployed. US lawmakers have condemned the mob killing of a Hindu man in Bangladesh. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi and New York State Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar called on the Bangladesh authorities to protect religious minorities and restore law and order. Protesters clash with cops in Kolkata, 12 held Kolkata, December 23 Protesting the alleged attack on minorities in the neighbouring nation, hundreds of supporters of a pro-Hindutva outfit on Tuesday tried to march to the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission here and clashed with police personnel. The police resorted to baton charge to disperse the protest- ers after they breached barricades in their attempts to move closer to the Deputy High Commission office at Beckbagan in central Kolkata. At least 12 protesters were arrested. Several protesters and police personnel sustained injuries in the clashes. “The situation in front of the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission has been brought under control. Those who attempted to gather there illegally have been removed. So far, 12 persons have been arrested in the area. These are preventive arrests,” a senior Kolkata police officer said. He added that a large police contingent remained deployed near the commission to ensure security of the diplomatic staff and resist further attempts to lay siege to the premises. The march titled ‘Hindu Hunkar Padayatra’ was organised under the banner of ‘Bongiyo Hindu Jagaran Mancha’ with protesters shouting slogans against alleged violence on Hindus in Bangladesh. — PTI Chandigarh, December 23 The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday suspended the life sentence awarded to former IPS officer Zahur Haider Zaidi in a custodial death linked to the sensational Kotkhai rape and murder case of a minor. The Bench of Justice Anoop Chitkara and Justice Sukhvinder Kaur held that prima facie the CBI’s conspiracy narrative suffered from inherent contradictions, besides noting that Zaidi was not present at the police station when the custodial death occurred, and he had already undergone over five years of custody. Zaidi, heading a special investigation team as an IGP Punches holes in CBI’s conspiracy theory in Himachal Pradesh, was convicted by the CBI court, Chandigarh, in January for criminal conspiracy and murder following the custodial death of Suraj Singh during investigation of the case. Gudiya (name given by locals) had left her house to attend school on July 7, 2017, but never returned. Her body was found near Halaila forest following which a case was registered at the Kotkhai police station in Shimla district. The Supreme Court transferred the trial from the CBI Special Judge at Shimla to the CBI Special Judge at continued on page 10 HC suspends jail term Indiaannounces$450-mnpackageto ofUnnaorapeaccused help cyclone-hit Lanka rebuild itself A stone crusher on the banks of the Swan river in Nangal subdivision. Four sites, 130 crushers: Gap points to rampant illegal mining in Ropar Lalit Mohan Tribune News Service Ropar, December 23 Illegal mining has continued unabated in Ropar district of Punjab over the past few years, with official data itself pointing towards large-scale irregularities. An analysis of figures related to leased mining sites and the number of operational stone crushers in the district reveals a glaring mismatch, validating allegations of rampant illegal extraction of minor minerals. According to data collected by The Tribune, there are around 130 stone crushers in Ropar district, majority of them concentrated in Nangal and Anandpur Sahib sub-divisions. These crushers primarily depend on raw material sourced from the Swan and the Sutlej riverbeds as well as mining in the Khera Kalmot hill area. However, to sustain the operations of such a large number of crushers, there are only four officially leased mining sites in Nangal and Anandpur Sahib. Sources said until last year, there was only one leased mining site, known as NK-1, for both sub-divisions. Only recently have three additional sites been leased by the mining department. Mining experts and local sources said it was practically impossible for four legal mining sites to supply sufficient material to feed nearly 130 stone crushers. “The numbers simply do not add up. This gap clearly indicates large-scale illegal mining taking place in the district,” a source said. Stone crusher owners often claim that their raw material is sourced from neighbouring Himachal Pradesh. continued on page 10 New Delhi, December 23 The Delhi High Court on Tuesday suspended the jail term of expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who is serving life imprisonment in the 2017 Unnao rape case, saying he has already served seven years and five months in prison. Sengar’s sentence has been suspended till the pendency of his appeal challenging his conviction and sentence in the rape case. He has challenged a December 2019 trial court verdict in the case. He will, however, remain in jail since he is also serving 10 years’ imprisonment in the custodial death case of the victim’s father and has not been ed, 8.46 lakh were deceased and 2.77 lakh were found to be enrolled at multiple places. In neighbouring Chhattisgarh, enumeration forms were collected from 1.84 crore electors. After revision, 6,42,234 were found to be dead; 19,13,540 had shifted and 1,79,043 were found to be enrolled at multiple places. In Andaman & Nicobar, 2.46 lakh forms were received during the exercise. It was found that 9,191 voters were dead, 51,906 had shifted and 2,917 had enrolled themselves at multiple places. Thus, around 64,000 voters found their names deleted from the draft list. Till now, draft electoral rolls of West Bengal, Goa, Gujarat, continued on page 10 Karti to face trial in Chinese visa scam NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Tuesday ordered the framing of charges for criminal conspiracy and corruption against Congress MP Karti P Chidambaram and six others in connection with the Chinese visa scam case, saying there was a prima facie case against them. In October 2024, the CBI had filed a chargesheet against Karti Chidambaram and others in connection with alleged bribery in facilitating visas of Chinese nationals. INSIDE NIA chief Date likely to be M’rashtra DGP NEW DELHI: Senior IPS officer and NIA chief Sadanand Vasant Date has been repatriated to Maharashtra and is likely to take over as the state's police chief once incumbent Rashmi Shukla retires next month. Date, a 1990-batch IPS officer, was appointed as the head of the NIA in March last year. He is the seniormost IPS officer in Maharashtra after the retirement of Shukla. Date is hailed as a 26/11 hero. INSIDE Tribune News Service Sengar to stay in jail for death of victim’s father granted bail in that case. Imposing several conditions, the Bench, comprising Justice Subramonium Prasad and Justice Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar, directed Sengar to furnish a personal bond of Rs 15 lakh with three sureties of the like amount. It also directed him not to come within a 5-km radius of the victim’s residence in Delhi and not to threaten her or her mother. “Violation of any of the conditions would lead to cancellation of bail,” the court said. continued on page 10 New Delhi, December 23 India has announced a major relief package worth $450 million to help Sri Lanka rebuild after the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah, reaffirming its role as the island nation’s “first responder” in times of crisis. In a joint press appearance with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath in Colombo on Tuesday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said he had conveyed a message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, outlining India’s US to grant $3,000 for self-deportation DC: The US Department of Homeland Security on Monday raised the self-deportation stipend from $1,000 to $3,000 for illegal immigrants who selfdeport through the CBP Home app by the end of the year. Immigrants will also receive a “free flight home”, according to a statement from Homeland Security. Secretary Kristi Noem said, “Since January, over 1.9 million illegal aliens have voluntarily self-deported.” — ANI WASHINGTON EAM S Jaishankar with Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake (C) and Foreign Minister HM Vijitha Herath in Kilinochchi, Sri Lanka. PTI commitment to supporting the neighbouring country’s reconstruction efforts. “The letter from Prime Minister Modi builds on our first responder role and commits a reconstruction package of continued on page 10 Himachal orchardists cry foul as import duty on NZ apple halved Subhash Rajta Tribune News Service Shimla, December 23 The reduction in import duty from 50 per cent to 25 per cent on New Zealand apple under the free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries has left Himachal apple growers deeply worried. The growers fear the slashing of the duty will not only result in higher imports from New Zealand but will also embolden other countries to cut out a similar deal. “Why are the interests of only fruits growers being sac- rificed in trade deals,” asked Harish Chauhan, convener of the Sanyukt Kisan Manch. The apple growers have been seeking a hike in apple import duty from the existing 50 per cent to 100 per cent for long to compete with imported apple. Besides, the apple growers feel that the provision of levying the reduced duty only during the fixed window of April 1 to August 31 won’t safeguard the interests of Himachal’s growers. “The apple harvest starts in mid-June in Himachal, hitting the peak from August 15 US MAY WANT SIMILAR CONCESSION India is in the middle of tariff negotiations with the US. Won’t the US and the other countries exporting apple to India demand a similar concession. ❝ Harish Chauhan, CONVENER, SANYUKTKISANMANCH to September 15. If this window was created on the assumption that there will be no local apple in the market at this time, it is incorrect,” c m y b said Deepak Singha, an apple grower and president of the Stone Fruit Association. Chauhan said even the seemingly high minimum import price of $1.25 per kg fixed for the import during this period would not help the growers much. “In June and July, the markets are empty and the quality local apple sells for Rs 100 to 150 per kg. If the imported apple is available for roughly the same price as the local apple, the brand conscious high-end consumer will go for the imported fruit,” said Chauhan. Lokinder Bisht, president of the Progressive Growers Association, points out that the reduced tariff will hit the growers who are shifting to high- density cultivation for better quality. “Growers are making a lot of investment to shift to high-density cultivation. This crop hits the market in July and August. So, they too will be hit,” said Bisht. He said the cold storage business would also be affected. “The government is offering subsidies for CA stores, from where high-quality apple arrives in the market in April and May. And if there’s already apple available in the market, the cold-store business will also take a hit,” said Bisht. edit: nz trade pact