The New Indian Express Wishes its readers a Happy Durga Puja Our offices and press will remain closed on Monday and Tuesday. There will be no issue of the paper on Tuesday and Wednesday BHUBANESWAR l monday l october 19, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late CITY EDITION Menstrual hygiene: SC pulls up states, UTs over lack of response The court expressed displeasure over states and Union Territories not responding to the Centre on menstrual hygiene judgment’s implementation act soon or face contempt action, Sc warns govt told to get details on steps taken In a major judgment earlier this year, the apex court held that menstrual health is a fundamental right. During a hearing on October 13, the Centre informed the court that it had sought details from states and UTs on the judgment’s implementation but received no response. The court warned of contempt action if states and UTs don’t respond by the next hearing ■ ■ “We fail to understand that once the Union calls for the necessary information, why the states/UTs do not respond,” a bench of justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said during the hearing It directed the Centre to get the information in writing as to what steps have been taken so far for giving effect to the judgment Dec 14 When the matter will be heard again CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI 7 held in Kolkata stampede case, toll rises to 19 Pandal organisers among arrested; SIT led by sitting HC judge to probe tragedy; govt offers compensation of `25L to each victim’s family 15 killed as truck rams devotees outside temple A N URAA G SI N G H @ Bhopal E x p r e s s Re a d AP’s Kotia poll plan will be foiled: Pujari Bhubaneswar: Even as Andhra Pradesh government’s notification of local body polls in three villages Phagunasineri, Ganjeipadar and Phatusineri of Kotia gram panchayat has fuelled fresh tension with Odisha, state Revenue and Disaster Management minister Suresh Pujari on Sunday said the government is fully prepared to thwart any provocative manoeuvres or attempts by the neighbouring state | P3 2,000 arrested across france after violent protests About 5,50,000 people took part in protests across France on Saturday, authorities said | p9 From left: Police personnel produce an accused in court on Sunday; the body of a victim being handed to his family; Union Home Minister Amit Shah visits an injured | PTI s u b h en d u m a i t i @ Kolkata A day after 19 people were killed in the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durgotsav pandal stampede in north Kolkata, police on Sunday arrested seven persons, including the puja committee’s secretary and vicepresident, even as the state government moved to fix responsibility for the colossal crowd-management failure. Those arrested are secretary Raj Kumar Sewda alias Raja; vice-president Santanu Dubey; Kaushik Saha, in charge of verifying passes and crowd management; Biplab Mukhopadhyay, involved in the pandal’s bamboo structure; Pintu De; Suman Chakraborty; and Rajesh Pal. Fourteen people have been detained so far and suo motu FIRs have been registered. Odisha pandals asked to adopt queue darshan TMC targets Suvendu Puja committees in the state have been warned against overcrowding at pandals. DGP Vinaytosh Mishra directed the organisers to adopt queue-based darshan system to prevent any untoward incident | P2 The Mamata Banerjee faction of the Trinamool Congress accused the police and administration of failing to ensure crowd control. The party’s MP Abhishek Banerjee demanded accountability, asking CM Suvendu Adhikari, “When will you put your nephew in jail?” West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who visited the injured late on Saturday, has announced a special investigation team headed by a sitting Calcutta High Court judge, with senior STF and CID officers. “No one, including committee members and police, would be spared if found negligent,” the CM said. The probe is set to be politically sensitive. The committee’s chairman is BJP MLA Bijoy Ojha of Jorasanko, while the CM’s nephew Debdeep Adhikari is a member. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday visited the injured at Kolkata Medical College and Hospital, where several remain critical, and postponed other programmes, including a visit to Belur Math. Two more victims died on Sunday, raising the total toll from 17 to 19. The state government announced `25 lakh compensation and a job to one member India governed by Constitution and votes, not mobs on streets: CM E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Cuttack CM Mohan Charan Majhi addressing elected student representatives at a massive meeting at Indoor Stadium in Cuttack on Sunday | Express Govt to set up students’ hostels in all cities Cuttack: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said the government will soon build hostels in all major cities including Bhubaneswar and Cuttack to provide accommodation to students at affordable prices. These hostels will have modern infrastructure and amenities. They will have facilities like reading rooms, mess and Ama Bus connectivity to colleges, creating a secure environment for students and peace of mind for their parents, he said. In a sharp attack on what he called anti-national and foreign-funded forces trying to replace democracy with mobocracy in the country, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Sunday said India will be governed only by the Constitution and votes, not by mobs on the streets. Addressing a gathering of newlyelected student representatives at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium here, Majhi said a dangerous conspiracy of “Regime Change” is being hatched through mobocracy. “For the last few months, some anti-national forces are misleading our youth and attacking our constitutional system. In the name of various issues, they are trying to weaken our democratic system. Now, some vested interest groups are trying to push mobocracy instead of democracy in the country,” he added. Stating that there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that they are being run by some foreign powers, the chief minister said the recent statements of Elon Musk have exposed them. “First of all, these forces should remember that ‘no regime is running in India’. In India, there is a government elected by the people. In a dem o c r a cy, g ove r n m e n t ch a n g e s through votes, not through mobocracy,” he stated. He said the conspirators believe that like Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, they can change the government from the streets in India too.” “They forget that this is Modiji’s India. Here, the Constitution rules. Keeping the Constitution in the pocket and doing drama will not work. After being repeatedly rejected in the court of the people, finding no other way, today they are trying to change not just the government from the streets but defaming the country itself. This will not succeed,” he asserted. The chief minister urged the youth to remain alert and counter such propaganda. “India is very great. Our youth power is intelligent and knowledgeable. They will never fall prey to the conspiracy nor allow anyone to become so. This is not the time to remain silent. You have to raise your voice against anti-national forces. You will have to lead the fight to defeat these evil forces,” he said. Majhi highlighted his gover nment’s youth-centric policies and said Odisha is now the only state in India providing truly universal and free education from KG to PG. He congratulated the ABVP for its success in the students union elections across the state and thanked the elected representatives for getting inspired by the ideology of ‘nation first’. Manipur govt shunts out Kamjong district SP day after Kuki community member’s killing PRASA N TA MA Z UMDAR @ Guwahati THE Manipur government on Sunday transferred the Superintendent of Police of Kamjong, a Naga-majority district which witnessed a series of armed attacks over the past few months, even as a Kuki outfit announced a “total shutdown” of National Highway 202 from Sunday midnight till October 22 midnight over the violence. IPS officer Jay Barange replaced Tholu Rocky, a Manipur Police Service officer from the Naga community, as Kamjong SP. Rocky will take charge as additional director of the Manipur Police Training College. The transfer came a day after a Kuki community member was killed while four others were injured in an attack at Chassad village in Kamjong. Hours later, three Nagas were injured in a counter-attack. The transfer also triggered protests with the Manipur Naga Youth Organisation accusing the authorities of doing it under pressure from a Kuki legislator. “The Nagas have long endured the state administrative, law and order failure in the hope of an early return of peace but the government appears appeasing only the troublemakers,” it said. Meanwhile, the Kuki CSO Working Committee, Ukhrul, which announced NH shutdown, threatened to pursue “larger for ms of intense agitation”. The outfit had enforced a similar blockade on NH 202, which connects the state capital of Imphal with Ukhrul, from July 27 till August 11. of each victim’s family and `5 , lakh to every injured, besides bearing treatment costs. A separate team of Rajesh Singha,secretary of the disaster management department; Anuj Sharma, D-G (fire) and Javed Shamim ADG (STF) have been tasked with inspecting infrastructure, fire safety and crowd management at bigbudget pandals. A helpline, 18003455678, is operational, said an official. The tragedy occurred around 7.30 pm on Saturday, when a downpour sent thousands rushing into the pandal on a narrow stretch off Central Avenue. Those inside could not get out as people outside pushed in, and many lost balance on a makeshift staircase. A part of the iron structure gave away, leading to the stampede. A speeding truck headed to Punjab with paddy crushed 15 devotees to death and injured another 26 outside the Sheetla Mata temple, 17km from Gwalior city, in the wee hours of Sunday The Circle Super. intendent of Police and eight other cops were suspended after the heavy vehicle sped through a no-entry zone. The devotees had queued up for early morning prayers on Navratri’s most auspicious Mahashthami day . Among those injured, the condition of at least four persons is critical. Police said the victims are from Gwalior and neighbouring Shivpuri, Morena and Sheopur districts. Fifty-year-old Sarla Tomar was the sole woman among the deceased. Of the other 14, nine were aged between 13 and 18 years. A view of the overturned truck The tragedy occurred at around near Gwalior city | X 1.30 am, when truck driver Dilbag Singh, taking paddy from Gwalior’s Dabra Anaj Mandi to Punjab, lost control of the vehicle on the sloping, narrow road. A Gwalior police official said that despite entry in the area being barred to vehicles, none of the cops on duty stopped the truck. “Investigation suggests the brakes of the truck failed, causing the vehicle to ram the boundary wall and entry gate of the temple, which was teeming with devotees. The out-of-control-truck ran over the devotees lined up to enter the temple,” the official said. Many were trapped under debris of the temple’s wall due to the crash. Dilbag Singh, from Punjabi Colony in Delhi, and the truck’s owner Harpreet Singh from Ludhiana, were taken into custody . Gunmen open fire at Tiger Shroff’s car; actor safe, driver among 2 hurt S u d h i r s u r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai Unidentified gunmen opened fire at Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff ’s vehicle in the Juhu area of Mumbai on Sunday evening. The actor escaped unhurt, while his driver and a local autorickshaw driver sustained injuries. A viral video on social media showed two bike-borne assailants firing at Shroff ’s car from close range and escaping on a bike. Police said seven shots were fired at the car. The incident took place near Pushpa Park at JVPD Grounds in Juhu when Shroff was travelling in his car. Soon after the incident, an audio file emerged in which an alleged representative of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang claimed responsibility for the attack, saying Shroff had ignored their warning and continued to work with actor Salman Khan. The police said 12 specialised teams have been formed to analyse CCTV footage and track the suspects. The attack drew sharp criticism from the Opposition. “This is very unfortunate that no one is safe in Mumbai. This is a failure of intelligence agencies,” Nationalist Congress Party MLC Zeeshan Siddiqui said. Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad demanded that Maharashtra have a separate home minister, blaming Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for the situation. “If actors and political leaders are not safe, what can we say about the safety of ordinary citizens?” she asked.