DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2024, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES BY UNNY 1700-page chargesheet filed in Dahod school girl murder case ADITIRAJA VADODARA,OCTOBER3 TWELVEDAYSafterasix-year-old Class 1 student of a government primary school in Dahod district was allegedly murdered by the school's principal, the police on Thursday filed a 1700-page chargesheetinalocalcourt,claiming it was backed by “strong scientific evidence” including the “rareepithelialcellDNAprofiling” as well as forensic vehicle analysis to tighten the case against the accused. Dahod Police said they relied heavilyonepithelialcellDNAtesting to extract evidence from the caroftheaccused,eventhoughhe allegedlysenthiscarforawashafter the crime occurred on September 19. Theminordiedaftertheprincipal,withwhomshehadhitched a ride to school, smothered her while attempting to rape her, police said. Dahod Superintendent of Police, Dr Rajdeepsinh Zala, said, “Epithelial cell DNA analysis is rarelyusedincrimeinvestigation butitisveryfruitful.Epithelialcells are found in the subcutaneous layerof ourskin;anycontactthat is violent sees transfer of epithelialcells.Thesameepithelialcells arealsofoundinanykindofbody fluidsuchassaliva,vomit,blood... Such cells are transferred during aheinousactbetweenthevictim and the accused.” FULLREPORTONPAGE3 GUJARAT 2.5-ACRE FARMHOUSE HAS SEIZED CARS, TRAINING CENTRE ED runs Gurugram office from farmhouse it confiscated, PSU bank challenges it in court Not handing over to realise public money defeats PMLA purpose: Union Bank; ED says as per rules RITU SARIN NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 3 THE FAÇADE of the farmhouse has a big “ED” painted on it, with the “D” fast fading. The indoor swimming pool is empty, the space used as a waste yard for discarded sarkari furniture; there is even a twin lock-up and interrogation centre inside. A family of strays, with a litter of puppies, has free run of the 2.5acre property, fed by staff near the “canteen” which was once a plush dining room. For the past two years, Farm No 22 in the Greens, Rajokri, in south Delhi, serves as the Gurugram Zonal office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), with its very confiscation being challenged by the bank to which Clockwise from top: The farmhouse where ED has set up its office; seized vehicles parked inside; the swimming pool area with discarded furniture. Gajendra Yadav, Ritu Sarin Challenge is to maintain UK cedes Chagos Islands’ J&K peace, not in favour sovereignty to Mauritius, of dilution of grid: GOC keeps base; India hails deal NAVEED IQBAL SHUBHAJIT ROY TERMING THE last two years in Kashmiras“peacefulandstable”, General Officer Commanding of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps, Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, Thursdaysaidthatrecruitmentto militantrankshasdroppedtosingledigits,andthechallengeahead is to “maintain” this peace. Regarding the possibility of a phased withdrawal of troops from the Valley, the GOC, who is set to take over as Director General of Military Operations BRITAIN ON Thursday agreed to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands — an archipelago of over 60 islands in the Indian Ocean — to Mauritius, in a deal to secure thefutureof thestrategicallyimportant UK-US military base on Diego Garcia, the largest in the chain of islands. For the first time in over 50 years, the status of the base will be undisputed and legally secure, following a political agreement between the UK and SRINAGAR, OCTOBER 3 NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 3 Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai. ANI next week, underscored that whetherit’sthecounter-infiltration effort on the Line of Control or the counter-terrorism one CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Abducted Meitei men freed, Kuki-Zo prisoners shifted out of Imphal jail SUKRITA BARUAH GUWAHATI, OCTOBER 3 70% REDUCTION IN VIOLENCE IN KASHMIR, NE AND NAXAL AREAS IN LAST 10 YRS: SHAH GARBA ORGANISERS RACE AGAINST TIME P4 DAYS OF hectic parleys led to the releaseof twoyoungMeiteimen Thursday, who had been held hostage by Kuki groups since September 27. The men, who were abducted when they strayedintoanareainManipur’s Kuki-Zomi majority Kangpokpi district, were released in the early hours of Thursday and The two men were held hostage since Sept 27 taken to Imphal. The two men, Oinam Thoithoi Singh and Thokchom Thoithoiba Singh, were handed over by Kuki groups to the Superintendent of Police of Kangpokpi district at around 5 am. On the other hand, 11 Kuki-Zomi men lodged in an Imphal jail were taken to Kangpokpi. Officially, senior police official S Ibomcha said the release of the two young men and the transportation of the 11 Kuki inmates were unrelated. “The CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Mauritius, a British government statement said. India “welcomed” the agreement, saying it “completes the decolonisation of Mauritius”. Sources in New Delhi said India “played a quiet but important role in the background”. “It firmly backed the principled Mauritian position, supporting itsstanceontheneedtodoaway with the last vestiges of colonisation. At the same time, it CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EXPLAINED PAGE 12 E EXPLAINED BUSINESS AS USUAL `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 ● the property was mortgaged. A visit shows that, including casual employees, there is a staff of almost 100 working inside. The sprawling central lawn of the farmhouse, with a market rate estimated by local property dealers to be worth Rs 120 crore, lined with fir trees and silver palm, serves as a parking lot for seized cars. There were about 40 carsonThursday,somepricedat Rs 1 crore plus. Officers say when ED headquarters in New Delhi is short of spaceforparkingpriceycarsconfiscatedasproceedsofcrime,they linethemupatthissprawlingED “office” in Rajokri. Besides a yard for seized cars, one large living room also doubles up as the agency’strainingcentrebytheED. This very farmhouse has been the subject of ample litigation,earlierintheDebtRecovery Tribunal (DRT) and the Delhi HighCourtand,atpresent,inthe Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Panchkula, where the Union Bank of India (earlier Corporation Bank) has challenged the ED’s attachment and confiscation of the property as a “proceed of crime.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DECISION 2024 ASHOK TANWAR TURNS AGAIN, BACK IN CONG PAGE 10 FPIs PULL OUT `15,243 CR Sensex,Niftyfall over2%onnew F&O,WestAsia Investors lose ` 9.78 lakh crore in a single day THE WORLD HITESH VYAS MUMBAI, OCTOBER 3 DOMESTIC STOCK market indices Sensex and Nifty crashed Thursdaybyover2percenteach, their biggest fall in almost two months,duetoescalatinggeopolitical tensions in West Asia and a surge in crude oil prices. Recent norms announced by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to curb speculative trading in the Futures and Options (F&O) segment and continued outflows ISRAEL CALLS FOR EVACUATIONS FROM SOUTH LEBANON P 13 from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) also spooked the market, resulting in heavy selling. The30-shareSensexplunged 1,769.19points,or2.1percent,to end at 82,497.1, while the broader Nifty slid 546.8 points, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Household ownership of equity surges to 21.5% GEORGE MATHEW MUMBAI, OCTOBER 3 INDIANHOUSEHOLDSarenotas conservativeintheirfinancialinvestments as many believe. The household sector, which includes individuals and nonprofitinstitutionsservinghouseholds directly, owned 21.5 per cent of India’s listed equity market as of June 2024, much higher when compared to other devel- oped markets, excluding the US, according to a research report. This ownership has remained within a very narrow range of 21-22 per cent since the beginning of the calendar year 2021,followingamorestableperiod of almost five years when it was between 18 per cent and 20 per cent prior to that, and between 16 per cent and 17 per cent during 2011 to mid-2016, the report prepared by Motilal CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 In top court, govt flags wife consent, but says too harsh to make marital rape criminal ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 3 SPELLING OUT its stand for the first time on the marital rape exception in law, the Centre told the Supreme Court Thursday that while “a husband certainly does not have any fundamental righttoviolatetheconsentof the wife”, calling such a violation as “rape” is “excessively harsh and, therefore, disproportionate”. A49-pageaffidavitfiledbythe Ministry of Home Affairs stated: “It is submitted that a husband certainly does not have any fun- damentalrighttoviolatetheconsentofthewife,however,attractingthecrimeinthenature“rape” asrecognisedinIndiatotheinstitutionofmarriagecanbearguably consideredtobeexcessivelyharsh and therefore, disproportionate. This Hon’ble Court has further CONTINUEDONPAGE2 The silver lining SECURITY OFFICIALS said the release of the Meitei men should be seen as an “opportunity”. “There were negotiations and the men were released without conceding to any unreasonable demands. This can be seen as a good opportunity, a starting point for all to come together for talks,” an official said. How a mother’s failed dream spurred rise of Wayanad as nursery for women’s cricket PAGE 1 ANCHOR SANDIP G NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 3 ITALLstartedonatraintripfrom Kochi to Kozhikode in early 2000, after K M Elsamma’s daughter Anumol Baby failed a selection trial. On that journey, Elsamma, a physical education teacher in Wayanad, decided to turn the disappointment of the trials into an opportunity, helping shape the district, Kerala's popular tourist destination, into an unlikely nursery for women's cricket. Twoof Kerala'sthreewomen cricketers to have represented thecountryarefromthisremote district and one of them, allrounderSajanaSajeevan,isinthe India squad for the Women’s World Cup. As for the state's women's team, at any point in time, Wayanad players account for half the team. “When my daughter failed Coach K M Elsamma with her ward and India player Sajana Sajeevan and daughter Anumol Baby the trials, Wayanad did not have adistrictteam.Mydaughterwas a wanderer of sorts, turning up for different districts, and thus never got a real opportunity to express her skills. So we decided to form a team for our district,” recollects Elsamma, a justretired physical education teacherfromtheMananthavady Government Vocational Higher Secondary School in Wayanad who once represented her college cricket team. “I called up the association secretary, Nazar Machan, who readily acknowledged the need for a team. But the bigger challenge was to constitute one. There was just my daughter and her friend. Suddenly I thought, why not do a selection trial among the children in school, even though I knew they rarely played cricket,” says Elsamma. Wayanadthendidn’tpossess a decent ground, let alone a turf wicket. Half the year, the district, comprising largely tribals and migrants from Central Kerala, battled floods and landslides. “Here, people have no time to watch sports. The boys play a little bit of volleyball or football. But the primary ambition is to build a livelihood, business, farming or a government job,” she says. Women are usually married off when they turn 18. EventhelastCensusof 2011puts the female literacy rate in the district at 80.80%, far lower than the state average of 92.07%. It was to this milieu that Elsamma introduced cricket. There were doubters, but she paid them little attention. She stifles her laughter when she recallsthefirsttrials intheschool’s kitchen garden. “Some of them were holding the bat for the first time, some of them had never seen a cricket ball, or even watchedagameof cricket.Many didn’t know the rules. I was just looking for physical traits, whether they had hand-eye coordination, good reach and height, a strong physique. Somehow, I chose 14-15 players,” she recounts. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad