DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2025, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 22 PAGES `7.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `15 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 CBC 17101/13/0015/2526 Ideas Unlocked India has world’s third largest startup ecosystem, 1.6+ lakh startups across India ARREST REPRESENTATIVES OF RCB, KSCA, EVENT MANAGEMENT FIRM: SIDDARAMAIAH CMsuspendstopcop,ordersjudicialprobe; policebookRCB,statecricketassociation Countdown to tragedy: State, RCB insisted on own events, security was stretched thin Day after 11 died in stampede, HC takes suo motu cognizance, seeks report by June 10 AKRAM M, KIRAN PARASHAR & ARNAV CHANDRASEKHAR DEADLY WEDNESDAY: HOW IT UNFOLDED BENGALURU, JUNE 5 KARNATAKA CHIEF Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday ordered the suspension of Bengaluru City Police Commissioner B Dayananda and several other senior officers in connection with Wednesday’s stampede near the Chinnaswamy stadium that left 11 people dead. A day after the stampede, which occurred when lakhs of peoplegatheredtocelebrateRoyal Challengers Bengaluru winning the IPL, police booked RCB, event managementcompanyDNAand the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) administration.CMSiddaramaiahlaterasked policetoarrestrepresentativesof RCB, DNA, and KSCA. Earlier on Thursday, the Karnataka High Court took suo motu cognizance of the stampede and directed the state government to provide a status report by June 10. Briefing the media after a Cabinet meeting, Siddaramaiah 3 AM: Policemen were up until early hours after RCB’s IPL win 7 AM: RCB’s Insta post announces Victory Parade for team 10.30 AM: Plan to felicitate RCB at Vidhana Soudha announced The grieving grandmother of 14-year-old Divyanshi B S, who was among those killed in Wednesday’s stampede, in Bengaluru on Thursday. AP BUSINESS AS USUAL EXPRESS NETWORK BY UNNY ‘Will give `50 lakh. Can they bring my son back?’ Schoolgirl to engineering student, the 11 who died PAGE 9 CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 From OTT to air & train travel portals: Ministry eyes new data sources to calculate inflation NEW DELHI, JUNE 5 THEINDIANstatisticsministryis looking to use a host of alternative data sources such as overthe-top (OTT) platforms and online portals for air and rail travel as part of the new Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based retail inflation series and other official statistics,SecretarySaurabhGarg told The Indian Express in an interview. At the same time, Niti Aayog Vice Chairperson Suman Bery wondered if the statistics CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 E E X P L A I NE D AANCHAL MAGAZINE & SIDDHARTH UPASANI Move to getmore ● robust data ALTERNATIVE DATA sources such as online platforms for air and rail travel, data from OTT platforms and fuel price numbers could add to the efficiency and comprehensiveness of price data collection. The possibility of collecting price data from e-commerce websites is also under consideration, according to the statistics ministry. EXPRESS NETWORK PRAN PRATISHTHA OF RAM DARBAR IN AYODHYA PAGE 11 KASHMIR RAIL LINK: PM TO INAUGURATE CHENAB BRIDGE TODAY PAGE 14 P6 THE EXPRESS ATISHI INTERVIEW AAP LEADER, FORMER DELHI CM 2.05 PM: RCB team arrives JOHNSON T A BENGALURU, JUNE 5 AS THE Karnataka government ordered a probe into Wednesday’s stampede at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, where 11 fans of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru were trampled to death by thousands of RCB fans trying to get into the stadium to celebrate the team’s first IPL win in 18 years, the first details on what probably led to the tragedy pointed to the RCB’s refusal to stall the event until Sunday and the state govern- Made-in-India Rafale fuselage from 2027-28: Tata, Dassault ink pact for Hyderabad facility SUKALP SHARMA NEW DELHI, JUNE 5 IN A boost to defence and aerospace manufacturing in India, the country is set to become the firstnationoutsideFrancewhere the fuselage of the Rafale fighter aircraft will be manufactured. Underapartnershipbetween Dassault Aviation and Tata Advanced Systems (TASL), the latterwillsetupa“cutting-edge” productionfacilityinHyderabad forthemanufactureof keystructural sections of the Rafale, including the lateral shells of the rear fuselage, the complete rear section,thecentralfuselage,and Rafale fighter aircraft. File the front section. Thefirstfuselagesectionsare expected to roll off the Hyderabad assembly line in the financial year 2027-28, with the facility expected to deliver up to CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 In Ghaziabad, an interfaith love story interrupted after three years of marriage, with FIR, arrests PAGE 1 ANCHOR NEETIKA JHA GHAZIABAD, JUNE 5 THEYWEREneighbours,wentto the same school, and fell in love six years ago. On August 29, 2022, the couple went to the office of the District Magistrate in East Delhi and married under the Special Marriage Act. Yet, on May 24, Akbar Khan, 29, and Sonika Chauhan, 25, by then married for three years, were reduced to their only identity — their faith. On May 25, Sonika’s father, LaxmanSinghChauhan,wentto theIndirapurampolicestationin Ghaziabad district of UP and accused Akbar of kidnapping his daughterandwrongfullyconfiningher.Adaylater,theGhaziabad Police first arrested Akbar's two sisters, a sister-in-law, a neighbourandthen,him.WhileAkbar andhistwosistersarenowinjudicialcustody,theotherswerereleased a week later. The couple’s friends and Akbar's family members say the “two were together all the time” Akbar Khan’s shops in Indirapuram were vandalised on May 26, a day after his arrest. Gajendra Yadav so the relationship didn't come as a surprise. “It was a colony romance. Sonika and Akbar grew up at Nyay Khand in Indirapuram and went to the same school in Khoda (Ghaziabad). Later, when Akbar joined Shyam Lal College in Shahdara, Sonika shifted to Vigyan Vihar School in Indirapuram,” says Ashish Bisht, 23, a common friend of the couple. After college, Akbar, along with his brother Mohammad Arif, ran a couple of Jan Sewa Kendras (community centres that provide essential public CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 at HAL airport from where they go to hotel 3.30 PM-4.30 PM: Thousands surge toward stadium, stampede occurs 4.30 PM: Team reaches Vidhana Soudha for felicitation 5.30 PM: Team leaves in bus for stadium THE EDITORIAL PAGE 11 TOOMANY Deaths at victory party stain on IPL governance, state government. Ensuring accountability is the fitting tribute to fans’ memory P12 ment’s insistence on sharing the spotlight the same day. Multiplesourcesinthepolice and state government, a police FIR on the stampede case, submissionsmadebythestatebefore the Karnataka High Court which CONTINUED ON PAGE 9 Tharoor-led group meets US V-P Vance, focus on cooperation in counter-terror SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, JUNE 5 SEEKING TO rally support for India against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, the multi-party political delegation led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor met US Vice President J D Vance in Washington DC on Thursday and discussed “cooperation in counter-terrorism domain”. Vance was in India when the Pahalgam terror attack took place on April 22; he and his family had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi the previous day. He had later called CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 US V-P J D Vance with the delegation. @IndianEmbassyUS INSIDE UNEASE IN INDIA AS PAK PICKED FOR KEY UNSC ANTI-TERROR PANELS PAGE 8 After Trump-Xi phone call, US & China agree to revive trade talks ANA SWANSON & DAVID PIERSON WASHINGTON, HONG KONG, JUNE 5 CHINAANDtheUnitedStateson Thursday agreed to hold more trade talks in hopes of breaking animpasseovertariffsandglobal suppliesof rareearthminerals,a movethatcameaftertheleaders of the two countries had a “very positive” phone conversation. President Trump said in a post on Truth Social that his call Call with Xi lasted for about an hour-and-a-half: Trump with Xi Jinping, China’s top leader, had lasted for around an hour-and-a-half and had CONTINUED ON PAGE 4