eye THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE On Other Roads JAIPUR,LATECITY DECEMBER 29, 2024 Looking back at holidays that led us on unexpected paths and surprising turns 14+4PAGES,`6.00 DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA HUNDREDS LINE CAPITAL ROADS FOR FINAL GLIMPSE Farewell, Dr Singh WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT Bhajan Lal govt scraps 12 dists formed by Gehlot, Cong slams 3 divisions also dissolved; move was impractical: Minister 41 DISTRICTS IN STATE NOW HAMZA KHAN JAIPUR, DECEMBER 28 RAJASTHAN’S BHAJAN Lal Sharma government Saturday scrapped 12 new districts and three new divisions announced by the previous Ashok Gehlot government while retaining eightdistrictsannouncedbyhim — a move that drew condemnation from Gehlot and the Congress party. Talking to journalists after a cabinet meeting Saturday, Rajasthan Law Minister Jogaram Patel said that following its constitution in 1956, Rajasthan had 26 districts for a very long time. He said that in the 67 years between1956and2023,only7new districts were created. “But the previous government,initslastphase,announced 17 new districts and 3 new divisions, apart from three new districts just before the Model Code of Conduct (MCC); for these last three, even the notification wasn’t issued.” In March last year, then CM Divisions dissolved: ■ Banswara ■ Pali ■ Sikar Districts dissolved: ■ Anupgarh (Ganganagar) ■ Dudu (Jaipur) ■ Jaipur Rural (Jaipur) ■ Shahpura (Bhilwara) ■ Malpura (Tonk) ■ Sujangarh (Churu) ■ Kuchaman City (Nagaur) Districts retained: ■ Balotra (Barmer) ■ Beawar (Ajmer) ■ Deeg (Bharatpur) ■ Jodhpur Rural (Jodhpur) ■ Deedwana – Kuchaman (Nagaur) ■ Gangapur City (Sawai Madhopur) ■ Kotputli – Behror (Jaipur/Alwar) ■ Kekri (Ajmer) ■ Khairtal – Tijara (Alwar) ■ Neem ka Thana (Sikar) ■ Phalodi (Jodhpur) ■ Sanchore (Jalore) ■ Salumber (Udaipur) Ashok Gehlot had announced creation of 19 new districts, including breaking Jaipur and Jodhpur into smaller districts, thus removing them from the cumulative tally. This had taken the number of districts in the state to 50, up from 33. Additionally,theCMhadalsoan- nounced three new divisions of Banswara, Pali and Sikar. Later in the year, barely a day before the imposition of MCC, Gehlotannounced an additional three districts of Malpura, Sujangarh and Kuchaman, taking the total to 53 districts. King, envoys, workers pay tribute Memorial row: Rahul and Musk backs H-1B to former PM before state funeral Priyanka lead Cong attack; visas, says ‘will go to site shortlisted, says Nadda SC raps Punjab over Dallewal health: ‘This is abetment to suicide’ SAMAN HUSAIN NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 28 FROM THE King of Bhutan to the Palestinian envoy to the CongressworkerfromRaeBareli whotookabusandtraintoreach Delhi, people came from far and widetobidafinalfarewelltoformer Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Singh’s mortal remains were consigned to the flames at the Nigambodh Ghat Saturday. His wife Gursharan Kaur and their three daughters were present as people paid their last tribute. Dignitaries there included President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Lok Sabha SpeakerOmBirla,andLeadersof Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. In the morning, Singh’s final journeybeganfromhishouseon Motilal Nehru Marg, stopping at the AICC headquarters on Akbar Road where party workers, dignitaries, including those from other countries, and the general public had gathered to catch a glimpse of the man who fought CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 INSIDE PAGE4 ‘Monumental insult to Dr Singh, protocol lacking at funeral’ INTERVIEW:KC VENUGOPAL ‘Calm, never harsh, always respectful... deserves our time’ Space near Kisan Ghat being looked at; Cong proposed it around Indira memorial LALMANI VERMA & MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 28 HOURS AFTER former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s mortal remains were consigned to the flames, the Congress and the government traded fresh charges Saturday over a site for his memorial in the Capital. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and his sister and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra led the Congress attack, saying the government had “insulted” Singh by getting his funeral done at the Nigambodh Ghat cremation ground. Union Minister and BJP president J P Nadda struck back, accusing the Congress of spreading false informationdespite the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 When the Aussies forgot how to boo: Nitish’s ‘very special’ ton unites fans EXPRESSINAUSTRALIA SRIRAM VEERA MELBOURNE, DECEMBER 28 “TENSION, TENSION, tension!” That’showNitishKumarReddy’s joyously tearful father, Mutyalu, described the moment to Adam Gilchrist when his son was one short of a most-memorable maidenTesthundredandthelast manin,MohammadSiraj,joined him in the middle at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. With Siraj having to face either three balls or take a single, possibly off the first, before Reddy could come back on strike, “tension” was the perfect emotion—reflectingnotjustthe state of Reddy’s family but of all the cricket fans glued to the television, watching a 21-year-old pull off something special. Gilchrist, too, would be intimate with that emotion, though from the other side, as he has been at the receiving end of another Telugu-speaking cricketer, VVSLaxman,afewtimesinIndia and Australia. At the broadcast centre, another Australian cricketer, Simon Katich, was visibly CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Nitish Reddy celebrates his 100 against Australia at the MCG. On Day 3 of the Test, India were trailing by 116 runs. Reuters war’, asks critics to ‘take big step back’ Tesla owner weighs in as a section of Republicans opposes visa programme SHUBHAJIT ROY & AGGAM WALIA NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 28 ELON MUSK, the world’s richest man, owner of Tesla, X and SpaceX, and a key ally of US President-elect Donald Trump, waded into the debate around hiring H-1B visa-holders and said he “will go to war” on the issue and asked right-wingers to “take a big step back”. TheH-1Bprogramme allows businesses in the US to employ skilled foreign nationals. “The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B. Take a big step backand F*** Y******* inthe face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend,”saidMusk.He was earlier in November appointed by Trump to lead the Department of Government Efficiency in the new US administration. E EXPLAINED Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s body is taken from the Congress headquarters to the Nigambodh Ghat for his last rites on Saturday. PTI ● Musk is a key ally of incoming US President Trump Important toIndia, US TO FIND hard technical skills in the US is difficult, and Indian professionals play a role in plugging this gap. Numbers say it all. In fiscal year 2023, of the 2.65 lakh H-1B visas issued by the US, 72 per cent went to Indian nationals. Musk’s colourful language and weighing in — given the recenttirade againstthe H-1Bprogramme from a section of Republicans — is seen as crucial CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 28 THE SUPREME Court on Saturday again pulled up the Bhagwant Singh Mann-led Punjabgovernmentfornotcomplying with its order to shift to a hospitalprotestingfarmerleader JagjitSinghDallewal,whoisona fast-unto-death at Khanauri on the state’s border with Haryana, and said its actions amount to abetment to commit suicide. “This is abetment to commit suicide,” Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia, who was part of a twojudge bench, said as state CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE WORLD PUTIN SORRY OVER AZERBAIJAN FLIGHT CRASH BUT DOES NOT ACCEPT BLAME PAGE 12 A cell phone, scarf & 11 murders: How Punjab cops tracked down a ‘serial killer’ PAGE 1 ANCHOR JAGDEEP SINGH DEEP MOHALI, DECEMBER 28 AN ORANGE scarf and a mobile phone. That’s what helped the police track down an alleged serial killer connected with as many as 11 murders in Punjab’s Ropar, Fatehgarh Sahib, and Hoshiarpur — all committed in the last 14 months. Earlier this week, the Punjab Police arrested Ram Swaroop alias Sodhi, a resident of Chaura village in Hoshiarpur in connection with the killing in August of one Maninder Singh, a resident of Ropar. But what started out as aninvestigationintoonemurder eventually evolved into a multidistrict probe, with the police seekinghelpfromtheircounterpartsinneighbouringdistrictsof Fatehgarh SahibandHoshiarpur to help track down a “serial killer”. According to the police, Swaroop, who is now in police custody,wouldallegedlylurehis victims — mostly truck drivers, labourers or roadside tea ven- dors—withthepromiseof physical relations, and then demand moneyfromthem.If theydidnot pay, he would allegedly murder them, police said. “He told the police he strangled nine of his victims and beat two others to death,” a senior officer involved in the investigation told The Indian Express, adding that the accused was estranged from his family. “He would take away their mobiles and whatever money he could find on them.” According to the police, severalof the murderscametolight when he was being questioned. The accused, Ram Swaroop, was arrested by the Punjab Police earlier this week. Express Of his 11 alleged victims, five have been identified and police are looking for their families. “In some of these cases, FIRs for murder will be lodged after we reach out to their families. We are also contacting police from neighbouring districts to ascertain identities of those yet to be identified,” Ropar SSP Gulneet Khurana said. According to a senior officer, Swaroop,ahigh-schooldropout, worked as a labourer in Dubai and Qatar in 2005-06. “HereturnedtoIndiain2006 and started taking up daily wage jobs in and around Hoshiarpur. Jaipur His wife and children disowned him in 2022 and since then, he has been living like a vagabond,” the officer said. According to Khurana, since helefthome,theaccusedmostly stayed in the areas of Ropar, Sirhind, and Hoshiarpur and worked as a cleaner. “He would meet truck drivers in roadside dhabas and tea shops. He did not stay in one place for more than two days and, because he wasn’t in touch with his family or old friends, he evaded the police radar,” the officer said, adding that he would throw out SIM cards of the phones he stole. The unravelling It was the murder of Maninder Singh that set the policeonhistrail.WhenSingh,who worked at the toll plaza in Mauran village in Ropar district, didn’t return home on the night of August 19, his brother went looking for him. “Maninder used to reach home by 8-8.15 pm. That night, when he didn’t return and his phone was also switched off, I went to the toll plaza and found he had left for home. We began CONTINUED ON PAGE 2