DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2024, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES JOURNALISM OF COURAGE `7.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 KEY ALLY’S MOVE COMES AMID DISQUIET IN BJP In blow to AAP, Jiribam family at centre of spiralling violence Delhi Minister wants to move from camp to safety — but can’t Gahlot quits govt and party 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 “deep concern”. The move does not pose an immediate threat to the govern- BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY ment 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 said:“ThestategovernmentisalreadyatoddswithsevenBJPKuki MLAs. Without the seven NPP MLAs, he (Biren) will struggle to prove his majority in the Assembly now.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 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 Manipur’sJiribamdistrict,where she finds herself trapped now. She immediately recognised Sandhya Devi at the relief camp. Sukrita Baruah 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 evening,residentsfoundthather mother, two sisters Thoibi and Heitonbi, and three nieces and nephews were missing. On Thursday night, the bodiesof awomanandtwochildren, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MAHARASHTRA CAMPAIGNING ENDS TODAY In the first battle of alliances post splits, party takes backseat, candidate the wheel In Vidarbha villages, towns, both sides desperate to pull ahead of the other Gujarat medical student dies during ragging: ‘Made to stand for three hours’ 18-yr-oldAnil Natwarbhai Methaniya 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 NIGERIA HONOURS MODI Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra campaigns for party candidate Vikas Thakre in Nagpur. PTI PAGE5 ners, and in which the sheer VANDITA MISHRA number of candidates has NAGPUR, BHANDARA, touched new highs in several AMRAVATI, AKOLA & constituencies, many voters in BULDHANA, NOVEMBER 17 Maharashtra this time appear unwilling to suspend disbelief. AS THE campaign ends in They speak of a “dividation” Maharashtra,andvotersget on the rise, and of the ready to choose,all politgrowing irrelevance of ical parties face a sharp “paksh” or party. Voter andsharedchallenge,redistrust of party poligardless of who loses tics seems to have a and who wins. new edge. This erosion In the first Assembly DECISION of trust will arguably election held after the influence the outcome 2024 “tod phod” (splitting of MAHARASHTRA of this election — but in parties), which took the a party-ledrepresentamain 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. bringing together unlikely partCONTINUED ON PAGE 7 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, PAGE5 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 GAYATHRI MANI NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 17 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 ambitions haveovertakenour commitment 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 AAP moved from fighting for people’s rights to fighting for own agenda: Gahlot E MORE REPORTS,PAGE4 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. Kumar Anand and Kartar Singh Tanwar, who joined the BJP during the Lok Sabha polls. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Delhi air ‘severe plus’: Fareed Zakaria, global foreign policy More curbs kick in, expert, guest at Express Adda today schools go online barring Classes 10, 12 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 Zakariawill be the guest at Express Adda in Mumbai on Monday. 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 Cites ‘embarrassing’ CM house row, ‘ambitions overtaking commitment’ E X P L A I NE D Sangma’s NPP withdraws support to NDA govt in Manipur: ‘Failed to resolve crisis, innocent lives lost’ ShahcutsshortMaharashtratour;Cong MLAstoquit‘if peoplewantnewmandate’ AAP TARGETS BJP OVER EXIT INSIDE INTEL SAYS SOREN GOVT SHELTERED BANGLADESHIS: NADDA PAGE 5 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 Delhi’s AQI rose to 457 by 7 pm Sunday. Gajendra Yadav SOPHIYA MATHEW ‘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 13 NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 17 WITHAIRqualityworseningfurtherto‘severeplus’levelsSunday evening, the Commission for Air Quality Management imposed GRAP-4, the highest set of antipollution restrictions, in DelhiNational Capital Region (NCR) starting 8 am Monday. “With the imposition of GRAP-4 from tomorrow, physi- cal classes shall be discontinued for all students, apart from Class 10 and 12. All schools will hold online classes, until further orders,” Chief Minister Atishi said in a post on X. Under theeight-pointGRAP4, entry of diesel-run medium and heavy vehicles registered in CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 GRAP-4 CURBS PAGE 3 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 ashooting 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