The editorial Page: Public servants must act in favour of the weak, and in fear of their conscience 8 MoNDay, SEPTEMbER 28, 2026 Journalism of Courage kolkAtA, lAte city, 16 pAGeS ₹6.00 (₹12 in north east states, ₹20 in Andaman) 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 Manarrested EXpRESS special forharassing elephant smuggled womanat nightclubofa from nepal, trail points to ngo in leopard five-starhotel sweety kumari Kolkata, September 27 a 24-year-old man was arrested on sunday for allegedly physicallyassaultinga20-yearold woman and using obscene language at the nightclub of a five-starhotelalongtheemBypass in Kolkata, police said. the accused, identified as mohammadrafeazim,wasarrestedfromhisresidenceinthe Beniapukurpolicestationarea, they said. according to police, the incidenttookplaceat2amsunday when the woman and her friends were allegedly physicallyassaultedandsubjectedto abusive language by the accused and his associates. police registered a case under sections 74 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 79 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 115 (2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 126 (2) (wrongful restraint) and 54 (abetment of offence ) of the BNs. “thewomanhadgonetothe nightclub with friends, and around 2 am, a man and some othersaccompanyinghimallegedly blocked their way. he also physically assaulted her and used obscene language. thereafter, he fled the spot,” the complainant alleged, police said. “the police arrested him from tiljala. probe is underway,” additional Cp (Crime) Kunal agarwal said. ahead Of PM's lIkely vIsIt In dec Trade in focus, India, Canada push to up ties poaching probe Jay Mazoomdaar New Delhi, September 27 FIrst, It was alleged leopard poaching. Now, it is the alleged purchase of an elephant from Nepal. the Ngo Wildlife sos, whose two functionaries are in the custody of madhya pradesh’s Forest department in a leopard poaching case with its Ceo Kartick satyanarayan due to join the probe, is also allegedly linked to a case of live elephant trade from four years ago, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) records show. In march 2022, the WCCB arrested three men with 30 kg ofivoryinJaipur.oneoftheaccused told investigators that a “mathura resident suraj pal”, whois“associatedwithanagra Ngo”,hadboughtafemaleelephant smuggled from Nepal, it is learnt. the mobile phone of another accused contained chats with a contact saved as “sos.Baigo.agra” — the chats referred to “suraj pal’s elephant”, and the contact wrote he had kept “Kartick sir” informed, records show. What’s missing in the »cOntInUed On PaGe 2 Citizenship not ECI’s job: Former SC judge Dhulia express news service Police try to cordon off the gate of SRFTI in Kolkata on Sunday evening as tension prevailed. expreSS Clash at SRFTI over RSS-linked outfit’s event, several injured tanusree Bose Kolkata, September 27 Clashes erupted at Kolkata’s satyajit ray Film and television Institute (srFtI) sunday afternoon after students objected to a right-wing Business as usual by EP UNNy New Delhi, September 27 Former supreme Court judge sudhanshu dhulia has said that the apex court has laid down the law in several judgmentsoncitizenshipand it “is not the election Commission of InPage 14 dia’s job”. Justice dhulia, who retired from the supreme Court in august 2025, also described as “a serious matter” the two elec- To take ties to higher level, says Jaishankar; building renewed partnerships with large economies like India, China: Canada minister INSIDE Page 7 Violence oVer sexual assault claim at PunjaB lPu group’s event on the campus, leaving several people injured. harish damodaran renukA puri tion Commissioners objecting onrecord14timesin10months tostepstakenbytheChiefelectionCommissioner,asreported »cOntInUed On PaGe 2 »cOntInUed On PaGe 2 sIgNallINg Further moves to improve ties between New delhi and ottawa, Canada’s Foreign minister anita anand underlined attempts to build “renewed partnerships” withlargeeconomieslikeIndia and China, while external affairs minister s Jaishankar said the two sides are preparing to take their relationship “to a higher level”. »cOntInUed On PaGe 2 as fungal disease hits sugar output in UP, new cane variety holds hope New Delhi, September 27 Justice (retd) Sudhanshu Dhulia was at the Idea Exchange Friday tensions continued till late at night as police cordoned off thecampusgate.earlier,alarge number of police personnel were deployed as the students locked the gate of the campus with a protesting mob outside. divya a New Delhi, September 27 uttar pradesh, India’s top cane growing state, has seen its sugar output plummet from 126.4 lakh tonnes (lt) to 89.5 lt between 2019-20 and 2025-26 (october-september production years). the primary reason has been the susceptibility of the widely-cultivated sugarcane variety, Co-0238 (also called Karan 4), to red rot fungal disease. the resultant yield losses have led to the total quantity of cane crushed by the 120-odd sugar mills in uttar pradesh, where assembly elections are set to be held in Februarymarch 2027, falling by over a fifth in the last six years. Kolkata A new variety of hope theindustryisnowpinning itshopesonanewvarietydeveloped by the Indian Council of agricultural research’s sugarcane Breeding Institute (ICarsBI)atCoimbatore.thisvariety, Co-20016(Karan20),hasalready been picked as a potential replacementforCo-0238byaVarietal Identification Committee »cOntInUed On PaGe 2 EAM S Jaishankar with his Canadian counterpart Anita Anand in New York. Ani polItIcS Page 5 ashok singhal: a life dedicated to nation-Building by PM NaRENDRa MoDI Happening today lIndIa’s crIcket campaign in the Japan Asian Games starts, while Avinash Sable and Sreeshankar Murali will carry medal hopes in Athletics.