WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM The Hitmaker As Dhurandhar: The Revenge hits theatres this week, a look at how Aditya Dhar emerged as one of Hindi cinema’s most successful storytellers JAIPUR, MARCH 15, 2026 DOWN IN jUNGLELAND BY RANjIT LAL On emergence, a butterfly crawls onto a twig from which it hangs down its wings to dry LATE CITY 12+4 PAGES ₹6.00 D A I L Y F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , C H A N D I G A R H , D E L H I , J A I P U R , K O L K A T A , L U C K N O W , STRAIT OF HORMUz CLOSURE; TANKERS CARRYING 92,700 TONNES OF LPG HEADED FOR GUjARAT 2 India-flagged LPG tankers cross, efforts on for 22 more ships: Govt lTHE BAHUjAN SAMAj PARTY will organise programmes in parts of the country, particularly Uttar Pradesh, to mark the birth anniversary of its founder, Kanshi Ram. TRACK THESE AND MORE ON WWW.INDIANExPRESS.COm US embassy personnel inspect the damage caused by a bombing in Baghdad, Saturday. AP lIran’s‘crownjewel’ KHARG Anil Sasi KUWAIT IRAN BAHRAIN SAuDI ARAbIA US hits key Iran island; oil prices may mount QATAR UAE NATION Page 5 difficult to forge brics consensus: mea on conflict New Delhi, March 14 IN WHAT marks a new escalatory phase, the US Friday bombed Iran’s Kharg Island, a small 8-km-long rocky outcrop in the Persian Gulf around 50 km offtheIranianmainland, throughwhichalmostall of the country’s oil exports flow. Despite some 5,000 places targetedinIransincethestartofthe US-Israel military operation, Kharghadbeensparedsofar. InapostonTruthSocial,US President Trump said military targets on Kharg Island had been “totally obliterated”in“oneofthemost powerfulbombingraids in the History of the MiddleEast.”Hesaidhe hadchosennottotarget oil infrastructure on the island for now. E. Activist Sonam Wangchuk freed as Centre revokes detention after 6 months »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ANTICIPATING geopolitical uncertainty, the Central government Saturday said it had started preparing itself for the kharif season by procuring and advancing orders for fertiliser stocks from different geographies mid-February itself. This has ensured that “adequate” stocks of urea, diammonium phosphate (DAP) and NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) fertilisers are availabledespitethesupplydisruption caused by the ongoing US and Israel war with Iran. Demandforfertiliserspeaks in the middle of May, with farmers sowing seeds over the »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 LATEST l IRAN STRIKES UAE’S FUJAIRAH PORT; U.S. SENDS 2,500 MARINES TO REGION l TRUMP CALLS ON ALLIES TO SEND WARSHIPS MORE REPORTS, PAGE 10 Sonam Wangchuk was detained for allegedly instigating violent protests in Ladakh last year Mahender Singh Manral New Delhi, March 14 NEARLY SIX months after activist Sonam Wangchuk was detained under the National SecurityAct(NSA)forallegedly instigating the violent protests in Ladakh on September 24 which led to four deaths in police firing, the Centre on Saturday said it has revoked his detention with immediate effect. Following the Centre’s decision, Wangchuk was released from Jodhpur central jail in the afternoon. A PTI report quoted RatanadaPoliceStationSHODinesh Lakhawat as saying: “He was released from jail at about 1.30pmtodayfollowinganorder from the central government”. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 of women into Sabarimala temple Says consult religious scholars, social reformers before any changes; backed top court’s 2018 decision to lift ban Ananthakrishnan G New Delhi, March 14 IN A significant climbdown on the entry of women into the Sabarimala temple, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) gov- ernmentinKeralahascalledfor “wide consultations with and... soliciting views of eminent religiousscholarsandreputedsocial reformers of that religion” beforeanychangesaremadeto the “religious practice followed Resign if you can’t enforce rule of law, Allahabad HC tells Sambhal DM, SP District admin had imposed curbs on number of worshippers at a mosque Bhupendra Pandey Lucknow, March 14 TAKING A stern view of Sambhal district authorities placing restrictions on the number of worshippers at a mosque, the Allahabad High Court has asked the Sambhal Superin- tendent of Police and the District Magistrate to resign from their posts or opt for a transfer if they don’t find themselves competent enough to enforce the rule of law. A division bench of Justices AtulSreedharanandSiddharth Nandan observed in its order, passed on February 27, “It is the duty of the State to ensure that every community is able to offer worship peacefully in the designated place of worship... and if it is a private property, as already held by the Court earlier, to perform worship without any permission from the State. This Court has already settled that it is only where prayers or religious functions have to be held on public land »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 for so many years”. Earlier, the state government had supported the decision of a five-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court on September 28, 2018, to allow the entry of all women, irrespective of their age, to the temple. In a 4-1 verdict, the Bench had held that prohibiting women between the ages of 10 and 50 years from entering the hill shrine was exclusionary and »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NATION Pages 6, 7 countdown has begun for those running jungle raj in bengal: Pm shah Promises anti-conversion law in Punjab l WEEKS AFTER ROW OVER TITLE OF MOVIE Ghooskhor Pandat Who is an opportunist? UP Police exam lists ‘Pandit’ as option, draws scrutiny Bhupendra Pandey Lucknow, March 14 WHAT IS the one word for this phraseinHindi:“Avsarkeanusarbadaljaanewaala(onewho converts oneself as per the opportunity)?” Four options are presented to examinees: A) Sadachari, B) Pandit, C) Avsarvadi and D) Nishkapat. The question was part of an examheldbytheUttarPradesh Police Recruitment & Promotion Board on Saturday for aspirants for the post of sub-inspector in the state police. The question, according to V A D O D A R A NATIONAL SECURITY ACT Happening 9-jUDGE SC BENCH TO BEGIN HEARING NEXT MONTH today Kerala Govt shifts stand on entry Scott Bessent will be in France to meet Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng as the two sides prepare for President Donald Trump’s meeting with President Xi Jinping in Beijing later this month. P U N E , Express News Service New Delhi, March 14 lUS TREASURY SECRETARY P A T N A , New Delhi, March 14 Sukalp Sharma & Amrita Nayak Dutta »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 N A G P U R , Adequatestock offertilisersfor Decision comes kharifseason, days before hearing in SC saysVaishnaw Navy is learnt to have deployed warships in Persian Gulf for safe passage of Indian vessels TWOINDIAN-FLAGGEDliquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tankersheadedtoportsinGujarat transited the critical maritime chokepoint of the Strait of Hormuz safely between Friday nightandSaturday,thegovernment announced on Saturday. Itsaiddiplomaticeffortsare on to facilitate safe passage for theremaining22Indianvessels — many of which are carrying hydrocarbons — that are stuck in the Persian Gulf, which is to the west of the war-hit Strait. According to sources, the Indian Navy has deployed multiple warships to the Gulf region to escort merchant vessels carrying fuel to India amidheightenedmaritimetension in the region. At least two warships were known to have been on operational standby since Iran started the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz that M U M B A I , Outside an exam centre in Lucknow on Saturday. VISHAL SRIVASTAV highly placed sources, has caught the attention of authorities. Laterintheevening,Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak, in a post in HindionX,said,“Thequestion that appeared in the Uttar Pradesh Police recruitment examinationandtheoptionsgivenin ithaveraisedseriousobjections from us. The government has takenthematterveryseriously. Ifanyquestionhurtsthedignity of any society or community, it is absolutely unacceptable.” He said instructions have been given to investigate the matter and that “strict action will be taken against those responsible”. “I want to state clearly that there should be no place for derogatory words against any caste, community, »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Jaipur Outside the Jodhpur central jail, Saturday. MORE REPORTS, PAGE 7 ‘Centre withdrew NSA fearing defeat in SC’ Deeptiman Tiwary New Delhi, March 14 IN THE wake of the Centre’s decision to withdraw charges undertheNationalSecurityAct (NSA) against Ladakh activist Sonam Wangchuk, Apex Body, Leh (ABL) co-chairman Chhering Dorje Lakruk speaks to The Indian Express on how this decision will impact the movement for the Sixth Schedule, among others, in Ladakh. Excerpts: What is your first reaction to the government withdrawing NSA against ExPRESS interview CHHERINGDORjELAKRUK CO-CHAIRMAN OF APEX BODY, LEH Sonam Wangchuk? We have been saying since the very beginning that all the allegations against Sonam »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2