DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE TUESDAY, MAY 28, 2024, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES `5.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 28 KILLED IN GAME ZONE FIRE Rajkot fire: HC pulls up civic body, says no faith in state machinery now Asks why shouldn’t municipal commissioner be held responsible 6 KILLED AS CYCLONE HITS BENGAL SOHINI GHOSH AHMEDABAD, MAY 27 PULLING UP the Rajkot Municipal Corporation for alleged lapses that allowed the gaming zone, where 28 people were killed in a fire on Saturday, to function without adequate clearances, the Gujarat High Court Monday said it no longer has faith in the state machinery that gets into action only after livesarelost.Italsoobservedthat the gaming centre “could not have flourished” without “connivance of the authorities”. Thedivisionbenchof Justices Biren Vaishnav and Devan Desai asked the municipal corporation's advocate why the court should not hold the commissioner of the civic body personallyresponsibleandaccountable for allowing the TRP gaming zone in Rajkot to operate without hindrance for 18 months without mandatory clearances. Refrainingfromcommencing contempt proceedings against themunicipalcommissioner,the bench observed that the court “wouldcertainlydesiretosuggest that the officers in question be CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 In South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal that was hit by Cyclone Remal, Monday. At least six persons were killed in the state as the cyclone made landfall late Sunday night. AP PAGE16 Debris being removed at the blaze site on Monday. Express IMD: TEMPORARY RELIEF FROM HEATWAVE SOON, MONSOON TO HIT KERALA IN FIVE DAYS 7 OFFICERS SUSPENDED A DAY after one of the co-owners of the TRP Game Zone in Rajkot and a manager were arrested for their alleged role in a massive fire that killed 28 people, including children, another co-owner of the facility was ar- PORSCHE CRASH 2 Pune doctors among 3 held for ‘switching’ minor driver’s blood sample CHANDAN HAYGUNDE & SUSHANT KULKARNI PUNE, MAY 27 TWO DOCTORS at the government-run Sassoon General Hospital who collected blood samplesof theminor,accusedof drivingthePorschethatranover twoyoungengineersonamotorcycle last week, allegedly threw thesamplesinadustbinandsent another person’s blood for alcohol tests, according to police. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 RISING ‘HEAT STRESS’ IN SIX METROS AS HUMIDITY UP, NIGHTS WARMER: STUDY will appear before SIT on May 31 GOPAL B KATESHIYA RAJKOT, MAY 27 THE GUJARAT government Monday transferred four top officers, including Rajkot police commissioner Raju Bhargava and municipal commissioner Anand Patel, two days after a massive fire at TRP Game Zone in Rajkot claimed the lives of 28 people on May 25. “The state government is pleased to transfer the following IPS officers in public interest with immediate effect,” stated an order issued by the office of AK Rakesh, additional chief secretary (home department). KIRAN PARASHAR Raju Bhargava and (right) Anand Patel. Express Vidhi Choudhary, additional commissioner of police (crime, traffic and administration), and Sudhir Desai, deputy commissioner of police of zone-2 of Rajkot city police have also been transferred by the same order. TRPGameZoneontheposhNana CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 rested on Monday. A local court inthecitysentthethreeaccused to police custody for 14 days. The Rajkot Crime Branch on Monday arrested Rahul Rathod, thesecondco-ownerof thefacility apprehended in the case. The Crime Branch had arrested his partner Yuvrajsinh Solanki, and manager Nitin Jain, alias Nitin Lodha, on Sunday. Six co-own- ers were running the facility in partnership, officials had said earlier. All six of them have been booked over the fire incident. HYDERABAD, MAY 27 FORMERDEPUTYCommissioner of Police (Task Force, Hyderabad City)PRadhakishanRaohasconfessed to his involvement in the tapping of phones by some officers in the Telangana Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) when the BRS government was in power, police sources said. TheHyderabadPolice,which is investigating allegations of phones being tapped of politicians, officials, activists and others during the BRS regime, has attached Radhakishan Rao’s CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna, who is facing sexual abuse charges, has said in a video that he would appear on May 31 before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up to probe the matter. He also said the cases against him were false. Reacting to the statement, JD(S) leader and former Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy — Prajwal’s un- Says sorry to family for not sharing whereabouts cle — on Monday expressed relief that he was “returning to the country based on the appeal made by party workers”. Karnataka Home Minister G ParameshwarasaidtheMPwould be arrested upon his return. Prajwal, who is seeking re- CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, MAY 27 DELHI CHIEF Minister Arvind Kejriwal has asked the Supreme Court to extend his interim bail by a week, saying he has to undergo some medical tests. Arrested in the Delhi excise policycaseonMarch21,Kejriwal has been granted interim bail until June 1 -- the last phase of voting in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. In his plea to the Supreme Court, Kejriwal has sought to surrender on June 9, instead of June 2. Saying that he lost 6-7 kgs during his arrest, Kejriwal said in his plea that he could not regain the weight even after his release. Hesaidsuddenandunexplained Seeks to surrender on June 9 instead of June 2 weight loss, coupled with high ketonelevels,couldbeindicative ofkidneydamage,seriouscardiac ailments and even cancer, and earlydetectionisessentialforpreventing further progress of the disease and associated life risk. He said that he suffered many health-related complicationsduringhisarrest,partlydue to the negligent and callous behaviour of the jail authorities. Recent test reports pointed to high blood glucose level as well CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY EXPRESS NETWORK ONLY13OF27DNA SAMPLESIDENTIFIED IN2DAYS P4 Snooped on anyone who spoke against BRS govt, former DCP tells police SREENIVAS JANYALA BENGALURU, MAY 27 election from Karnataka’s Hassan Lok Sabha seat, had left the country soon after the constituency went to the polls on April 26. Following a request by the SIT, sent via the CBI, Interpol had issued a ‘Blue Corner’ notice seeking information on his whereabouts. In the video, Prajwal said in Kannada, “First of all, I want to apologise to my parents, my grandfather, Kumaranna (Kumaraswamy), the people of Karnataka, and all party workers Citing health, Kejriwal asks SC to extend his interim bail by a week CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E EXPLAINED RAJKOT, MAY 27 PAGE16 Rajkot top cop, RMC chief transferred Prajwal: Sexual abuse cases false, Another co-owner held in third arrest GOPAL KATESHIYA EXPRESS NETWORK DELHI EXCISE POLICY CASE ● Intel bureau misused AT THE centre of the case is Telangana’s SIB, which was allegedly weaponised by the then BRS government to snoop on critics, political opponents, and even party members. In March, the SIB’s former chief, T Prabhakar Rao, was listed as a prime accused. Since then, startling revelations have come to light on the surveillance scope. IN PUNJAB Cong banks on anti-incumbency against AAP, personal ties MANRAJ GREWAL SHARMA AMRITSAR, FARIDKOT, BARNALA, MAY 27 “I HAD voted for the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP)in2022,thistimeIwill vote for the Congress chaahe jitte chaahehaare(whether it wins or loses),”saysBaljinDECISION derKumarofRakra 2024 Dhahan village in the Anandpur Sahib Lok Sabha constituency as his wife Kulwinder Kaur nods. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Autographs & selfies as India stars land in Magnus-land for top chess meet EXPRESSINNORWAY AMIT KAMATH STAVANGER, MAY 27 CHESS LEGEND Garry Kasparov called it the Wimbledon of the 64 black and white squares. But Norway Chess, an invitational tournament that began in StavangeronMonday,isresplen- Siblings R Praggnanandhaa and R Vaishali with their mother at Stavanger, the host city for Norway Open 2024. Amit Kamath dent this year with the sport's most dazzling northern lights — home legend and five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen and the organisers' must-have on the wishlist, the chess stars from India. The presence of the world's most famous chess siblings — teenagerRPraggnanandhaaand hissister R Vaishali—hasahardto-miss buzz around them in Magnus-land. Travelling with their mother, they are chased by autograph hunters and selfie seekers. Among them is an important fan who has travelled miles to meet them. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad