DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2024, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES SINCE 1932 `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES & ANDAMAN) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM CAMPAIGN ENDS TOMORROW Dr Ajay Taware was arrested on Monday PORSCHE CRASH TMCthrottling judiciaryinWestBengal, favoursvotejihadi:PMtargetsMamata 14 calls between doctor arrested Says infiltrators a threat to Jharkhand Adivasis, security of their daughters for switching sample, father of accused: Cops BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY Mamata: Wind direction changing... Modi will be ex-PM in a few days SUSHANT KULKARNI PUNE, MAY 28 A DAY after two doctors and a staffer of the state-run Sassoon General Hospital were arrested forallegedlyswitchingtheblood sample of the minor who is accused of driving the Porsche that ran over two engineers early on May 19, police officers said Tuesdaythatoneofthem,DrAjay Taware,theheadof thehospital's Forensic Medicine Department, exchanged 14 phone calls with the minor's father in two hours prior to the sample collection. On Monday, seeking remand of Dr Taware and the two others, police had told a local court that they found that the accused had taken bribes to change the minor's blood sample. According to the police probe, the minor's sample was discarded in a dustbin and anotherperson'sbloodsamplewas sentinitsplaceforteststodetect presence of alcohol. After arresting them, police searched premises linked to Dr Taware as well as Dr Shrihari Halnor, a Casualty Medical Officer, and Atul Ghatkamble, who worked in the hospital morgue. They recovered Rs 2.5 lakh from Dr Halnor and Rs 50,000 from Ghatkamble. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 POLLING PHASES 1 TO 6 Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a roadshow in Kolkata on Tuesday. Partha Paul SANTANU CHOWDHURY & ABHISHEK ANGAD KOLKATA, DUMKA, MAY 28 STEPPINGUPhisattackonBJPrivalsinthecountdowntotheseventh and last phase of the Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister NarendraModiTuesdayaccused the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC of “throttling the judiciary in Bengal” and of favouring the “vote jihadi”. InDumkainJharkhand,Modi targeted the Opposition INDIA bloc, saying the Adivasi population, especially in the Santhal Parganadivisionof thestate,was on the decline while that of the “ghuspetiyon” (infiltrators) was CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 HYDERABAD, MAY 28 THE RACHAKONDA Police Commissionerate in Telangana has busted an inter-state child trafficking racket and rescued 11 babiesfromagang,whichwould 2024 West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during a roadshow in Kolkata on Tuesday. PTI EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, MAY 28 ● Sukhu govt future in balance, bypolls at centre of attention PAGES 3, 8 & 9 ON A day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a roadshow in Kolkata, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, too, held two roadshows in the city on Tuesday — one before the PM's event, and the second almost simultaneously. Addressing a rally in South Kolkata Lok Sabha constituency, Banerjeeclaimedthatthe“directionof thewindischanging”and Modi would “become ex-PM in only a few more days”. She also accused Modi of CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Sending Kejriwal’s plea for hearing interim bail extension to CJI: SC ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, MAY 28 THE SUPREME Court said Tuesday it will place before the Chief Justice of India for appropriate order an application by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal seeking urgent hearing of hisrequestforextensionof interimbailbyaweektoallowhim to undergo medical tests. Arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21 in the Delhi excise policy case, the AAP leader was granted interim bail until June 1 for election campaigning. The bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Racket busted: Babies ‘bought’ in Delhi & Pune, sold in Andhra & Telangana SREENIVAS JANYALA DECISION allegedly ‘buy’ infants from the poor and the homeless in Delhi andPuneand‘sell’themtochildless couples in Telangana and AndhraPradeshforanywherebetweenRs1.8lakhandRs5.5lakh. While three people have been arrested, a manhunt is underway to pick up eight others. Rachakonda Police Commissioner Dr Tarun Joshi said that on May 22, they receivedacomplaintregardingthe ‘sale’ of a baby girl under the jurisdiction of Medipally police station on the outskirts of Hyderabad. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in Ludhiana, Tuesday. PTI Datta, which granted interim bail on May 10, directed him to surrender on June 2. On Tuesday, when Kejriwal’s request for urgent hearing of his application was mentioned by SeniorAdvocateAMSinghvi,the vacation bench of Justices V K Maheshwari and K V Viswanathan sought to know why Kejriwal had not raised the request before Justice Dipankar Datta, one of the judges on the bench which granted him interim bail, while he was holding courtuntilMay24.“Whydidyou not mention this matter when Justice Datta was here?” Justice Maheshwari asked. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 94 seats see dip in vote count; overall turnout down by 1.5 pc points ANJISHNU DAS & DAMINI NATH NEW DELHI, MAY 28 THE LOK Sabha elections so far have seen a 1.55 percentagepoint decrease in turnout compared to 2019, with 65% of the constituencies seeing a dip in turnoutinpercentagepointsand 20% of them witnessing a decrease in absolute numbers of voters as well. The six phases of polling so far have recorded an overall turnout of 65.63% — 1.55 percentage points down from 67.18% in the same seats in 2019, according to Election Commission data released Tuesday. While polling is complete in 2024 vs 2019 2024* 2019** 65.63% 67.18% * Phase 1-6 turnout ** Turnout in the same seats ■ Turnout decrease in 301 seats *** ■ Decrease in absolute no. of voters in 94 seats Biggest dips in turnout (in % points) Nagaland -24.84 Sidhi, MP -12.90 Mathura, UP -11.33 Khajuraho, MP -11.25 Rewa, MP -10.68 *** Not including 5 in J&K, 14 in Assam because of delimitation CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE WORLD ISRAEL STRIKES ANOTHER TENT CAMP IN GAZA, 21 KILLED PAGE 12 Gurmeet Ram Rahim had been given life term in 2021 Dera Sacha Sauda chief among 5 acquitted in murder case JAGPREET SINGH SANDHU CHANDIGARH, MAY 28 CITING MULTIPLE lapses in the “tainted and sketchy investigations” and collection of evidence “unworthy of credence”, the Punjab and Haryana High Court Tuesday acquitted Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and four others in the case relating to the 2002 killing of the sect’s former manager Ranjit Singh. They had been sentenced to life in 2021 by a CBI court in Panchkula. GurmeetRamRahim,chief of theSirsa-baseddera,iscurrently serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his disciples. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Why he won’t walk free THIS ACQUITTAL does not mean Gurmeet Ram Rahim exits jail. He is currently in a Rohtak jail, serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his disciples. He was also handed a life term for the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati. Kolkata