The editorial Page: From farms to factories, trade pact with uK opens new opportunities in India 8 TUESDAY, JUNE 23, 2026 JournalIsm of Courage LucknOW, LAte citY, 18 pAges ₹6.00 l www.indianexpress.com dA i LY f r O M : A H M e dA B A d , c H A n d i gA r H , d e L H i , j A i p u r , kO L k AtA , L u c k n O W , M u M B A i , n Ag p u r , pAt n A , p u n e , vA d O dA r A naRRow staiRcase sole exit, fiRefighteRs BReak wall eXPReSSinvestigation 15 killed in Lucknow His govt mapped Ujjain’s infra push, Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav, building fire; owners family bought land in prime areas among three held SIT formed, four SinCE hE bECamE miniStER in 2021, family puRChaSES aDD up to 253 aCRES officials suspended; Jay Mazoomdaar Ujjain, New Delhi, June 22 THE CITY of Ujjain is at the centre of a massive urban renewal,drivenbyasweepinginfrastructure upgrade — from new roads and highways to changes in land use that will allow an unprecedented expansionofresidentialandcommercial spaces. All this has made Ujjain one of India’s hottest property markets.Amongtheearlyinvestors are Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, his immediate family, siblings and first cousins. Since he took oath as the Chief Minister of the BJP-led governmentinMadhyaPradesh on December 13, 2023, Mohan Yadav’sfamilyandtheirrealestate companies have bought at least 137 plots , adding up to 168 acres, for Rs 45 crore, in zones most benefited by this infrastructurepush,aninvestigation of land records by The Indian Expresshasfound.Recordsalso show that at least six of these plots were sold subsequently. This does not include the family’slandtransactionsin2026,if any, as official land records are not updated immediately. According to khatauni (ownership)records,theseplots were purchased by Mohan Ya- dav’swifeSeema,sonVaibhav’s wife Shalini Yadav, brothers Nandlal and Narayan Yadav, Narayan’swifeRekha,theirson Abhay Yadav, and first cousins Govind and Nilesh Yadav — eitherdirectlyorthroughoneof four real estate companies run by the family. These purchases highlight two key issues that raise questions of propriety and conflict of interest. One, most of these plots are eitherclosetonewroadprojects announced in and around Ujjain, or in areas demarcated for changeoflandusefromagriculture to residential or commercial in the Ujjain Master Plan 2035. While the Ujjain Master Plan 2035 was released in May 2023, months before Yadav became the chief minister, he has been involved in the holy city’s tourism and infrastructure developmentfordecades—asthe chairpersonoftheUjjainDevelopment Authority during 2004-2010,asheadofMPTourism Development Corporation (MPTDC)during2011-13,andas MlA from Ujjain (south) since 2013. Since January 2024, soon after Mohan Yadav took charge as chief minister, the state »continUed on Page 6 l WhooWnS hoW mUch land PURchases total holdings* 2024-25 ₹45 crore 137plots 245 plots 2021-2023 ₹30 crore 57plots 335 acres 168 acres 85 acres no of plots in Acres 2021 10 8 2022 14 27 *includes old/unknown plot purchases 2023 33 50 2024 75 76 2025 62 92 Mohan YadaV l Wife Seema l siddHivinAYAk devcOns MAjOritY OWned BY seeMA And MOHAn YAdAv l MAngALMurti infrA At YAdAv’s fAMiLY Address in ujjAin: 180, ABdALpurA 11 acres 17 acres 28 acres l dAugHter-inLAW Shalini l sOn VaibhaV 17 acres cousin nilesh (with wife) 19 acres 10 acres cousin Govind (with family & partners) 108 acres Brother narayan 20 acres 47 acres Brother nandlal 17 acres nephew abhay (with partners) 16 acres All figures rounded off sister Kalavati 17 acres sister-in-law Rekha 6 acres sOurce: MAdHYA prAdesH LAnd recOrds Cousins turn land bank into housing projects Govind’s deal with Indore developer, Nilesh building under Sawariya brand Jay Mazoomdaar Ujjain, June 22 WHIlE ON a land-purchasing spree in and around Ujjain, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav’s family struck deals with builders to develop some of these parcels. A few clusters are being developed by the 12indianskilled inQatargas plantblast divya a New Delhi, June 22 TWElVE INDIANS were among13peoplekilledinanexplosion at a gas processing facility in Ras laffan Industrial City in Qatar on Sunday night. In a statement, Qatar’s MinistryofInteriorsaidtheincident wascausedbya“technicalmalfunction” during operations. “Qatariauthoritieshaveconfirmed that 12 Indian nationals haveunfortunatelypassedaway intheRaslaffanincidentyesterday night. We extend our »continUed on Page 2 economy family itself. For instance, between April 2024 and July 2025, Mohan Yadav’s cousin Govind Yadav and his associates purchased 41 acres through 16 land deals in Gangedi, near the junction of the upgraded Ujjain-Badnagar and Ujjain-Indore highways. »continUed on Page 6 a housing project coming up in ujjain’s gangedi. express don’tlinkcMto building housed extendedfamily; game development studio, pet shop theyhavelong Manish sahu, Bhupendra beeninrealty: Pandey & Maulshree seth stateofficials Lucknow, June 22 express news service Bhopal, New Delhi, June 22 NEITHER CHIEF Minister Mohan Yadav nor his office commentedonadetailedquestionnaire sent by The Indian Express on its findings. However, state government officials,ontheconditionthatthey not be named, said it was “not correct” to link purchases by the CM’s family and his presence in the government. “The CM’s extended family has been in the real estate business for a while,” said an official. “To link their businesses with the CM’s rise in politics will not be proper.” He added that it was also “not correct” to go beyond the Chief Minister’s immediate family in talking about his assets: “When you talk about his family, it should include only his wife, son and daughter-inlaw… and there you may not find anything major.” Accordingtoanothersenior official, the land transactions were not always purchases of plots, and there were cases of some of them being sold subsequently. “All plots purchased are not held forever. These are also sold as part of the business,” the official said. Responding on behalf of MohanYadav’scousinsGovind andNilesh,GovindYadav’sson Anant Yadav said: “Our family is in realty business since 2010 when my father developed a 100-bigha property. My uncle has many housing projects. As private individuals, we have »continUed on Page 6 ATlEAST15peoplewerekilled afteramassivefiretorethrough a three-storey commercial building in lucknow’s upscale Aliganj area on Monday afternoon. While a pet shop was on the ground floor, the second floor, which bore the brunt of theblaze,housedHeadHopper Studios,acompanyinvolvedin 3Dartproductionandgamedevelopment. Most of the victims worked there. The fire department first received information about the blaze at the building on Usha Mehta Marg, under the Aliganj police station limits, around 3 pm, officials said. A fire department official said 14 fire tenders, including a hydraulic platform vehicle, were pressed into service. According to officials, firefightershadnowaytoenterthe building since the only way in was engulfed in flames and smoke, and they had to break a side wall after reaching the terrace of the adjoining house to begin the rescue operation. It took another hour for constables to use sledgehammers to make two holes in the wall to enterthebuilding.Thefamilies »continUed on Page 2 happening today lBangladesh will Be on high alert in view of the founding anniversary of the now-disbanded Awami League party. New Delhi, June 22 WHIlE COMMERCE Minister Piyush Goyal is scheduled to begin the two-day talks with United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Tuesday to conclude a trade deal by nextmonth,datashowsthatIndia’s trade surplus with the US has slipped by over 40% since the negotiations began last year, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with USPresidentDonaldTrumpon February 13, 2025. E. across sectors Thehigh-leveltalkscomeas the US is set to complete its »continUed on Page 2 Maulshree seth & Bhupendra Pandey Lucknow, June 22 AT THE mortuary of King George’s Medical University (KGMU) in lucknow, the grief was palpable as parents and relatives replayed the final phone calls from their children and siblings — trapped inside a burningbuildinginAliganj,cryingoutforhelpthatnevercame. Fifteen people, most of whomwereemployeesofHead »continUed on Page 2 full CovERaGE, paGE 4 leBanon fighting aBates Amid peace talks, US waives sanctions on Iran oil for 60 days Buergenstock, Beirut, June 22 eXPlained From petroleum products to electronic components, motor vehicles to fresh fruits, data shows Indian exports are declining while imports from the US are on the rise. ‘Papa, please save me’: Desperate phone calls from those trapped inside humeyra Pamuk, dave graham & laila Bassam Goyal-Greer talks start today, trade surplus with US down over 40% Ravi dutta Mishra at the site of the incident in aliganj, lucknow, monday. visHAL srivAstAv In conversation with Nara Lokesh andhra Pradesh it minister nara lokesh with vandita mishra, national opinion editor, The Indian Express, at the express adda in new delhi, monday. renukA puri THE UNITED States waived sanctions on Iran for 60 days fromMondayafterthefirsttalks underanascentpeacedeal,and officials reported calm in lebanon after fighting that had prompted Iran to declare the Strait of Hormuz closed. After a weekend that had seemed to put the week-old peace agreement in jeopardy, includingthreatsfromUSPresident Donald Trump to restart the war if Iran closed the strait, tanker traffic started to pick up through the waterway and oil prices resumed their slide. US Vice President J D Vance said histalkswithIranianofficialsin Switzerland had laid a good foundation for a final peace deal, although Iran denied that There was a little bit of threatening, there was a little bit of whining, but at the end of the day the talks continued and we made great progress.” J d Vance, u.s. vice-president it had begun discussions of its nuclear programme. »continUed on Page 2 paGE 13 CRED founDER Kunal Shah to hEaD WhatSapp business as usual By EP UNNY l With goalie alireza Beiranvand’s crucial saves, iran secures 0-0 draW against Belgium From herding sheep to washing cars to cleaning streets to Iran’s hero eXPReSS aT World Cup sandip g New Jersey, June 22 THE BElGIUM forwards must have been spooked by Iranian goalkeeperAlirezaBeiranvand. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t get anything past his elastic, ever so reliable giant fists. At one time during their World Cup group game in los Angeles on Sunday, which ended in a 0-0 draw, the Belgium star, Kevin De Bruyne, stoodstunnedwhenIran’shero for the day saved a close-range shot hammered at him by Maxim De Cuyper. When De Cuypertooktheshotfromadeflection that fell at his feet, Alirezaslippedandwaswrongfooted. Yet, the Iranian somehow stretched out his left hand and palmed the ball away from danger. If not a footballer, Alireza may have made it big as a gym- iran’s goalkeeper alireza Beiranvand made seven saves to record a clean sheet against Belgium on sunday. Ap nast. But such has been his life ofhardshipsthathehadtotake several odd jobs to pursue his dreamofbecomingafootballer. The eldest son of a sheepherding, nomadic family in Iran’s lorestan province, Alireza doesn’t remember a permanent dwelling until he was in his teenage years. “We moved from one village to another, rearing our sheep, ensuring they didn’t stray from the herd, guarding them from being stolen,” he told Varzesh3.com, an Iranian sports news portal. In his spare time, he played football and ‘Dal Paran’, a traditionalIraniangamewhichinvolves pelting stones into a distance. “It helped me with my distribution later in football,” he would say. The dream ignited only after his family settled down at Sarabias. Dodging his stern father’s attention, he joined a local club when he was around 12 years old. He was a striker, but got a chance at goalkeeping when both the regular goalies got injured.Oneday,hisfatherfound out he was playing football, leaving the herding to the younger siblings. “I was the eldest, so I had to take on my father’s lineage, but I wanted to be a footballer,” Alireza would say later. Inafitofrage,hisfathertore his gloves. And he didn’t have the money to buy another pair. There was only one solution: to board the bus to Tehran at night, when his father was asleep. So, Alireza borrowedmoneyfromacousin and left home. The 600-kilometre journey was arduous, and he had little money. In the bus, he met the coach of a local team, named Hussein »continUed on Page 2