DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2024, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES SINCE 1932 `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES & `17 IN ANDAMAN) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM KEY ALLY’S MOVE COMES AMID DISQUIET IN BJP Sangma’s NPP withdraws support to NDA govt in Manipur: ‘Failed to resolve crisis’ ShahcutsshortMaharashtratour;Cong MLAstoquit‘if peoplewantnewmandate’ JIMMY LEIVON, SUKRITA BARUAH & DEEPTIMAN TIWARY IMPHAL, NEW DELHI, NOV 17 THE CRISIS in Manipur took another turn Sunday with Conrad Sangma's National People's Party (NPP), the second-largest ally with seven MLAs in the BJPledNDAstategovernment,withdrawing its support to the ruling alliance citing its failure to “restore normalcy” and expressing BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY “deep concern”. The move does not pose an immediate threat to the government led by Chief Minister N Biren Singh, as the BJP holds a comfortable majority with 37 MLAs of its own in the 60-member Assembly. However,thepulloutof akey local ally represents a political setback, signalling further erosioninsupportonthegroundfor the administration. Speaking to The Indian Express, an NPP MLA CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Jiribam family at centre of spiralling violence wants to move from camp to safety — but can’t SUKRITA BARUAH BOROBEKRA (JIRIBAM), NOVEMBER 17 ONSUNDAYmorning,shortlyafter the body of a woman was found in the Barak river in Assam’s Cachar district, photos and videos spread like wildfire on social media. Sandhya Devi (33)sawtheseimagestoo,sitting at a relief camp in Borobekra in Sandhya Devi at the relief camp. Sukrita Baruah Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra campaigns for party candidate Vikas Thakre in Nagpur. PTI PAGE10 In blow to AAP, Delhi Minister Gahlot quits government & party ners, and in which the sheer number of candidates has touched new highs in several NAGPUR, BHANDARA, constituencies, many voters in AMRAVATI, AKOLA & Maharashtra this time appear BULDHANA, NOVEMBER 17 unwilling to suspend disbelief. They speak of a “dividation” AS THE campaign ends in on the rise, and of the Maharashtra,andvotersget growing irrelevance of ready to choose, all polit“paksh” or party. Voter ical parties face a sharp distrust of party poliandsharedchallenge,retics seems to have a gardless of who loses new edge. This erosion and who wins. In the first Assembly DECISION of trust will arguably influence the outcome election held after the 2024 “tod phod” (splitting of MAHARASHTRA of this election — but in aparty-ledrepresentaparties), which took the main contenders from four to tive democracy, it is also a warnsix, rearranged traditional al- ing bell in the long term that all liances beyond recognition by political parties must heed. CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 bringing together unlikely part- VANDITA MISHRA GAYATHRI MANI NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 17 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE AHMEDABAD, NOVEMBER 17 AN 18-YEAR-OLD student of a medical college in Gujarat's Patan district died Saturday night after allegedly being made to stand for three hours during ragging by seniors at his hostel. Police said Sunday that they have sought a report from the anti-ragging committee of the college while authorities at the institute said the incident is being probed. Anil Natwarbhai Methaniya, from Jesda village in Surendranagar district, was a first-year student at GMERS Medical College and Hospital at Dharpur in Patan. His cousin Dharmendra Methaniyatoldreportersthathe received a call from his uncle informingaboutAnilfallingunconscious. “When we reached the college, we were told that he is deadandthebodyhasbeensent for postmortem. We heard that first-year students were ragged by third-year students and Anil wasmadetostandfor2-3hours. We demand a fair investigation into his death,” he said. Anil's batchmates, who did not want to be named, told The Indian Express that he was among more than 10 students who were ragged Saturday night. “Based on the region from CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E EXPLAINED 18-yr-oldAnil Natwarbhai Methaniya AAP moved from fighting for people’s rights to fighting for own agenda: Gahlot Behind ● the exit GAHLOT IS the fourth MLA, and the second minister, to quit AAP since the Lok Sabha polls. According to sources, he was upset that despite having more experience, the bulk of governance duties was given to Atishi, who took over as CM after Arvind Kejriwal stepped down. NIGERIA HONOURS MODI Prime Minister Narendra Modi receives Nigeria’s second-highest national award, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger, from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Abuja, Sunday. Modi will be in Brazil on Monday to attend the G20 Summit. PTI REPORT, PAGE10 Fareed Zakaria, global foreign policy expert, guest at Express Adda today EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 17 AT A time when the US Presidentialelectionshavegiven former President Donald Trump a second chance to govern the country and shape the world that is confronting challenges from a rising China, political analyst,bestsellingauthorandCNN news host Fareed Zakaria will be the guest at Express Adda in Mumbai on Monday. Najafgarh seat, said that the party had moved from fighting for people’s rights to fighting for its own political agenda. He wrote that the party faces “gravechallenges”.“Politicalambitionshaveovertakenourcommitment towards people, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Zakaria hosts weekly programme GPS on CNN He will be in conversation with The Indian Express Group Executive Director Anant Goenka and Diplomatic Editor Shubhajit Roy. In a world punctuated by CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 JMM, Cong flag BJP ad to EC: ‘How far will you allow country to fall in name of Hindu-Muslim?’ Poll panel orders takedown of video, FIR registered; BJP deletes its post ABHISHEK ANGAD & ASAD REHMAN RANCHI, NEW DELHI, NOV 17 HOURS AFTER allies JMM and Congress complained against a video released by the BJP on social media that allegedly propa- gates a “false narrative” about a religious community ahead of the second phase of polling on November 20, the Election Commission of India Sunday evening said the video prima facie violates the Model Code of Conduct and directed “immediate action as per existing laws In Vidarbha villages, towns, both sides desperate to pull ahead of the other CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AAP TARGETS BJP OVER EXIT IN A major setback for the ruling AAP ahead of the Delhi Assembly polls early next year, Home and Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot resigned Sunday from the primary membership of the party and the Council of Ministers, saying “political ambitionshaveovertakenourcommitment towards people, leaving many promises unfulfilled”. Announcing his resignation on X and releasing a letter addressed to AAP chief and former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Gahlot also referred to “embarrassingandawkwardcontroversies” such as the one over the renovationof ‘SheeshMahal’,the residence of Kejriwal when he was CM. Chief Minister Atishi has accepted Gahlot’s resignation. Kejriwal did not answer questions on Gahlot’s exit and his letter during a press conference where he was welcoming BJP’s Anil Jha into AAP. With Gahlot’s resignation, four MLAs, two of them ministers, have resigned from the AAP —theotherthreebeingRajendra Pal Gautam, who joined the Congress in September, Patel NagarandChattarpurMLAsRaaj Kumar Anand and Kartar Singh Tanwar, who joined the BJP during the Lok Sabha polls. In his letter to Kejriwal, Gahlot, elected twice from the In the first battle of alliances post splits, party takes backseat, candidate the wheel Manipur’sJiribamdistrict,where she finds herself trapped now. She immediately recognised who it was — her 61-year-old mother Y Rani Devi, who had been abducted from the camp last week. It was on November 11 that the relief camp came under attack by armed men — the Manipur police claim they were Hmar militants — and by Cites ‘embarrassing’ CM house row, ‘ambitions overtaking commitment’ Gujarat medical student dies during ragging: ‘Made to stand for three hours’ MAHARASHTRA CAMPAIGNING ENDS TODAY INSIDE INTEL SAYS SOREN GOVT SHELTERED BANGLADESHIS: NADDA PAGE 10 and procedures”. The EC also instructed JharkhandChief ElectoralOfficer K Ravi Kumar to issue directions to social media platforms to “takedownthereferredpostimmediately” and to seek an “explanation” from the state BJP unit. Following this, the state BJP deleted the video, which it had posted Saturday night. Earlier in the evening, Kumar toldTheIndianExpressthatondirections from the poll panel police have registered an FIR. The JMM was the first to flag CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘The template we have... go to university at 18, stop learning at 21, stay with it all your life — that can’t happen now’ SOMAK RAYCHAUDHURY VC, ASHOKA UNIVERSITY PAGE 11 Clash in Murshidabad over ‘objectionable’ message on display board, 15 arrested Internet suspended in affected area ENS&PTI KOLKATA,NOVEMBER17 A TOTAL of 15 people were arrested after two groups clashed over an “objectionable” message onadigitaldisplayboardatatemporary gate at Beldanga in Murshidabad on Saturday, prompting the authorities to clamp prohibitory orders in the area, police said on Sunday. Internetservicesweresuspended in the affected area, police said. A few people suffered minor injuries during the clash that occurred after the message on the displayboardonagatesetupnear a Kartik Puja pandal was spotted bymembersofoneofthegroups, a police officer said. The BJP, while claiming that themiscreants“belongedtoacertain group", accused the ruling TMCof"inaction".TheTMC,however, said on Sunday that the situationis"undercontrolnow"and urgedtheBJPnottoplay“divisive, communal” politics. ThetroublebeganonSaturday lateeveningwhenagroupofpersonsassemblednearaKartikpuja pandalandflaggedan“objectionable” message. Another group gathered there soon and both sidespeltedstonesateachother,a police officer said. Someshopsandhouseswere vandalised and crude bombs were hurled during the clash. A police vehicle was also targeted, promptingthepersonneltoresort to lathi-charge. According to police sources, a police vehicle was damaged in the violence, which also spread to the adjacent areas of Kazisaha and Begunbari. Thesituationwasbroughtunder control in the early hours on Sunday but tension prevailed in thearea.Shopsdidnotopenwhile thepoliceandRapidActionForce personnel patrolled different pockets. AseniorpoliceofficersaidprohibitoryordersunderSection163 oftheBharatiyaNagarikSuraksha Sanhita have been promulgated in Beldanga and adjacent Kazisaha and Begurban areas while Internet services were suspended in the area. The Murshidabad townbound Bhagirathi Express from Sealdah was stranded for over three hours as the clash took place near the station, the officer said. Accusing the state government of "inaction", BJP state president and Union minister Sukanta Majumdar alleged in a post on X: “The state administration has failed to protect peopleasmiscreants...haveletloosea reignofanarchyintheentirearea. Isthispartofadeeperplantoturn West Bengal into Bangladesh?” A senior TMC leader said on Sunday, “The administration is taking every step to identify the miscreants and bring all of them to book.” Arsh Dalla: A gangster’s shadowy trail from a Punjab village to Canada PAGE 1 ANCHOR KAMALDEEP SINGH BRAR BATHINDA, NOVEMBER 17 IN 2020, two years after he left for Canada, gangster Arshdeep Singh Gill aka Arsh Dalla made a trip to India. Investigations later revealed that the visit was to kill his friend-turned-rival Sukha Lamme. Police say Dalla allegedly injected Lamme with poison, mutilated the body, and discarded it in a canal in Moga. For months afterwards, he allegedly operated Lamme’s social media handle, using the dead gangster’s identity to expand his extortion and smuggling rackets. The deception came to light in May 2021, when the Punjab Police arrested one of Dalla’s gang members, who confessed to Lamme’s murder. By then, DallahadreturnedtoCanada,orchestrating a sprawling crime syndicatefromhisbaseinSurrey. Over time, his ability to exploitlegalloopholesandhidebehind fake identities became his signature as he allegedly coordinated crimes across Moga and adjoining districts from the safety of his Canadian hideout. The 27-year-old Dalla, designated a terrorist by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in January 2023, has over 70 cases registered against him in India. With Dalla reportedly being detained in Canada on October 29, the Indian government is all set to seek his extradition. Policesayhisnetwork,which allegedly included his father Charanjit Singh and brother Baldeep, thrived on extortion, arms smuggling, and targeted killings, with victims ranging from small traders to prominent figures, both in Punjab and Canada. The 27-year-old Dalla, designated a terrorist by the NIA in 2023, has over 70 cases registered against him in India. File Dalla’s reported arrest in Canada came a day after a grenade attack at a petrol pump in Punjab’s Mansa district — a rare and alarming escalation in extortion tactics. It was the second FIR against the 27-year-old Dalla that week and the third in October. An FIR filed on October 23 accused him of making threatening calls to a rice sheller in Faridkot. On October9,hewasaccusedof carrying out the murder of a Sikh activist, Gurpreet Singh Hari Nau,inFaridkotdistrict.Member of Parliament from Khadoor Sahib and Warris Punjab De head Amritpal Singh, who is in Dibrugarh jail, was also named in the case along with Dalla. But Dalla later released an audio clip inwhichheclaimedresponsibility for the murder while clarifying that Amritpal Singh was not involved. His “arrest” in Canada remains shrouded in mystery. Canadian authorities have yet to confirm his detention, but reports suggest his name has surfaced in a case involving a shooting in Ontario on October 28. Born in 1996 into a family of sarpanches — both his grandfather and father held the post in his ancestral Dalla village near Moga — Dalla and his younger brotherBaldeepwenttothetony Sacred Heart School in Moga, where they did their matriculation from the ICSE Board. Villagers say a financial crisis forced his father, who tilled land onlease,tomoveDallatothevillage government school, where he studied till Class 12. His descent into crime began soon after. He was 19 when the first FIR was filed against him for snatching a rifle from a security guard in Barnala in 2015. Despitethiscaseandanother of attempted murder, he managed to obtain a passport from the Jalandhar Regional Passport CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Kolkata