DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SATURDAY, MAY 18, 2024, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES SINCE 1932 Nadda on BJP-RSS ties: We have grown, more capable now… the BJP runs itself ED MOVES TO BUILD ITS CASE IN EXCISE POLICY PROBE Twin blow: Maliwal case flares up, Kejriwal, AAP named in excise case First time, ED has named party and CM; court to take call on cognizance Says party has no plan for temples at the disputed sites in Mathura, Kashi TOMORROW LIZ MATHEW NEW DELHI, MAY 17 BJP NATIONAL president J P Nadda has said that the party has grown from the time it needed the RSS and is now “saksham” (capable) and runs its own affairs. The RSS, he said, is an “ideological front” and does its own work. In an interview to The Indian Express —a detailed version will be published Sunday — Nadda, respondingtoaquestiononhow the RSS presence has changed between the time of Prime MinisterAtalBihariVajpayeeand now, said, “Shuru mein hum akshamhonge,thorakumhonge,RSS ki zaroorat padti thi... Aaj hum badhgayehain,sakshamhai…toh BJP apne aap ko chalati hai (In the beginning, we would have been lesscapable,smallerandneeded `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES & ANDAMAN) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM NIRBHAY THAKUR NEW DELHI, MAY 17 THE EXPRESS INTERVIEW J P NADDA BJP NATIONAL PRESIDENT the RSS. Today, we have grown andwearecapable.TheBJPruns itself). That’s the difference.” Asked if the BJP does not need RSS support now, Nadda said, “See, the party has grown and everyone has got their own duties and roles. RSS is a cultural and social organisation and we are a political organisation... It’s not the question of need. It’s an CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DECISION 2024 ● Kanhaiya Kumar attacked, Cong blames BJP, police say taking action ● In battle for Faizabad, it’s Temple vs Samvidhan, and some concerns on ground PAGES 3, 8, 9 & 10 Cong-SP will bulldoze Ram temple, learn use of bulldozer from Yogi: PM PROBINGALLEGEDmoneylaundering in the Delhi excise policy case, the Enforcement Directorate, for the first time, Friday named the Aam Aadmi Party and its leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as accused in a chargesheet — prosecution complaint — on the case under investigation. The ED filed its seventh supplementary chargesheet in the Rouse Avenue Court of Special JudgeKaveriBaweja.Sheislikely to take a call on its cognizance Saturday because she had left the court by the time it was filed. This is the first time that Kejriwal, who was arrested on March 21 by the ED and granted interim bail until June 1 by the Supreme Court last week, has been mentioned as an accused in an ED prosecution complaint. This is also the first time that a political party has been mentioned as an accused by the ED in a case. The ED made its move a day afterAdditionalSolicitorGeneral S V Raju told the Supreme Court that the AAP would be added as an accused in the case. Appearing for the ED, Raju said the ED had evidence to CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, MAY 17 take a leaf from UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s bulldozer book. NEW DELHI, MAY 17 On the same day, he said in UP’s Hamirpur that the IF THE Congress and the Congress is going to end Samajwadi Party come to SC,ST andOBC reservation power, they will use a bullfor its vote bank that dozer on the Ram temple DECISION indulges in “vote jihad”. atAyodhya,sendRamLalla “SP aur Congress waale 2024 back to the tent, Prime agarsattameinaayetoRam Minister Narendra Modi said at Lallakophirsetentmeinbhejenge Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh aurmandirparbulldozerchalwaa Friday, adding that they could CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 VIKAS PATHAK 3 Raj Bhavan staff booked Slapped, kicked on chest, for stopping woman pelvis: Swati Maliwal in from filing complaint FIR against Kejriwal aide against Governor: Police AAP MP Swati Maliwal with police outside the CM’s residence in Delhi, Friday. Anil Sharma ED to SC: We have direct chats between Kejriwal and a hawala operator ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, MAY 17 THEENFORCEMENTDirectorate, which arrested Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on March 21 in the Delhi excise policy case, told the Supreme Court Friday that it hasfound“personal,directchats” between Kejriwal and a hawala operator it did not name — a charge contested by Kejriwal’s lawyer who asked if the agency was “suppressing this information till today to prejudice the outcome”. The bench of Justices Sanjiv CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, MAY 17 CRISIS DEEPENED within the AamAadmiPartyonFridayafter Delhi Police filed an FIR against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s aide Bibhav Kumar in connection with the alleged assault on theparty’sRajyaSabhaMPSwati Maliwal on Monday. The FIR states that she was allegedly slapped seven-eight times, “kicked on the chest, stomach and pelvis area”, and threatened that she would be killed. On Friday, teams of the Delhi Police (North district), the Special Cell and the Forensic Science Laboratory Rohini went EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY to Kejriwal’s home to review CCTV footage, collect evidence and recreate the crime scene. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose KOLKATA, MAY 17 KOLKATA POLICE registered a case against three West Bengal Raj Bhavan staffers for allegedly stopping a woman contractual employeefromfilingasexualharassment complaint against Governor C V Ananda Bose on May 2, police said on Friday. Asperpolicesources,thethree staff members allegedly stopped thewomaninthelobbyoftheRaj Bhavan as she was going to file a complaint. The three have been booked under section 344 (wrongfulconfinement) and166 (publicservantdisobeyinglaw)of the IPC, police added. Earlier this month, the woman employee had filed a complaint where she had said that she works at the Raj Bhavan on a contractual basis, and stays in the staff quarters. In her complaint, the woman had stated: “On19.4.24,Governorsirtoldme to take some time out and to meet him with my CV. On 24.04.2024, at around 12.45 pm, he called me to his office room and, after some discussion, touched me. I somehow CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Told to get heart EC SENDS NOTICE TO GANGOPADHYAY test done for bail extension, Lava top officer sent impersonator: ED MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL PM Narendra Modi with CM Yogi Adityanath in Barabanki. PTI SEXUAL HARASSMENT CHARGE ENFORCEMENT DIRECTORATE officers waiting at AIIMS for close to four hours for a highprofile accused out on bail to turn up for a medical check-up were in for a shock when they went inside the cardiologist's chamber for a signature confirming that the patient did not appear. The ED officers were told that the accused — managingdirectorof LavaInternational mobile company Hari Om Rai — wasindeedinside,andundergoing tests. The ED officers were taken to thebed,wheretheyfoundaman posing as Rai undergoing checks CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ex-judge on Mamata: Your rate is Rs 10 lakh... Because you do makeup? Is she even a woman?’ DAMINI NATH & ATRI MITRA NEW DELHI, KOLKATA, MAY 17 THE ELECTION Commission Friday issued a show-cause noticetoformerCalcuttaHighCourt judge and BJP candidate Abhijit Gangopadhyay over his remarks on West Bengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjeeatarecentelection rally. The poll panel said the remarks were found to be “improper, injudicious and undignified”, and prima facie a violation of the Model Code of Conduct. The Trinamool Congress had complained to the EC on Thursday, a day after Gango- BJP’s Abhijit Gangopadhyay padhyay, the BJP candidate from Tamluk, made the remarks at a rallyinPurbaMedinipur’sHaldia. In his address, Gangopadhyay referred to the Sandeshkhali sexual abuse allegations and said: “Today, the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PAGE 1 ANCHOR AANCHAL MAGAZINE NEW DELHI, MAY 17 FREQUENTLYCHANGINGphone numbers,usinghigh-endluxury cars, including Maseratis and BMWs to zip through state borders during the day, and then checking into upmarket hotels with fake identities in the evenings — that was part of the OPERATIONS SINCE JUNE 2023 Number of Cases Number of fake firms detected Number of Arrests 106 6,775 147 Fake ITC Passed on ITC blocked and reversed modus operandi of the alleged kingpins behind an elaborate three-tier tax evasion plot who operated in the Delhi-Noida- `16,297 Cr `1,295 Cr Source: DGGI Lucknow belt without being detected by authorities for well over six months. Theplotfinallyunravelledon account of some rather innocuous applications: FASTag text messages generated on crossing toll booths and one-time passwords(OTPs)fromfooddelivery apps like Zomato and Swiggy. Thesetrackerswereusedbylawenforcement officers to triangulate the locations of the suspected players behind what has now turned out to be one of the biggest evasion rackets unearthed under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. The unwinding of the plot CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EXPLAINED Fancy cars, OTPs, stolen IDs & fudged invoices: Tracking the trail behind Rs 5,300-cr GST fraud E ● Claiming tax credit WRONGFUL AVAILMENT of input tax credit through fake claims has emerged as one of the biggest causes of concern for GST authorities amid continuing action against fraud, evasion and registration of bogus entities under the indirect tax regime. Kolkata