PIC: P ravi kumar chennai l Monday l April 08, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l vellore EDITION IPL 2024: Mumbai get off the mark with emphatic victory After three losses, Mumbai Indians pocketed their first points with a 29-run victory vs Delhi Capitals while Lucknow secured their third win... MI out-hit Capitals; LSG too good for GT Rohit Sharma (49 off 27), Ishan Kishan (42 off 23), Tim David (unbeaten 21-ball 45) and Romario Shepherd (39 n.o from 10 balls) exhibited a sixhitting show as Mumbai posted a massive 234/5 against Delhi. Despite Tristan Stubbs’ heroic efforts (71 n.o), DC could only manage 205/8. In the second game, Lucknow Super Giants beat Gujarat Titans by 33 runs ■ 284 Can chennai get back to winning ways? ■ Chennai Super Kings are back at Chepauk after two away losses as they take on Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday While Mustafizur Rahman is expected to be back, the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led side will be hoping that their batting fires to perfection against KKR who have some serious hitters in the ranks | P13 STubbs’ 71 n.o IS third Best sR amongst 25-plus ball knocks in IPL 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 Trouble for Nainar as trio caught with `4 cr in cash EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Chennai Flying Squad Teams (FST) at Tambaram seized `3.98 crore — among the largest cash seizures so far — from three men, allegedly linked to BJP’s Tirunelveli candidate Nainar Nagendran, travelling on the Nellai Superfast Express from Egmore to Tirunelveli on Saturday night. Police said the accused told them the cash was being taken for distribution to voters in Tirunelveli on the instructions of Nagendran. Nagendran, the sitting MLA for Tirunelveli, told reporters in the southern town on Sunday he had no connection to the trio and blamed the ruling DMK for trying to malign him. The DMK has demanded that election officials search all properties belonging Flying Squad teams at Tambaram seized `3.98 crore in `500 notes from three men travelling on the Nellai Superfast Express on Saturday night | Express to the BJP legislature party leader as well as other BJP candidates in the state. The FST made the seizure at the Tambaram railway station and informed the Tambaram police. The latter registered a case and arrested the trio. Of the three men, S Sathish (33), a BJP member, is manager of Hotel Blue Diamond in Purasalwalkam, which is owned by the candidate. The other two men were identified as S Naveen (26) and S Perumal (26). “The three men were travel- ling in the AC two-tier compartment. They had five bags of cash containing `3,98,91,500 in `500 notes. When questioned, they said they were taking the money to Tirunelveli to distribute to the voters. They were instructed by Nainar Nagendran to do so, they claimed,” a senior police officer told TNIE. Police booked them under Section 171 (c) (Undue influence at elections) (e) (Punishment for bribery) (h) (Illegal payments in connection with an election) and 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of IPC. Three other people whose involvement is suspected are being investigated, police said. The cash has been handed over to the tahsildar after informing the Income Tax department. Further probe is on. P5 Vistara cutting 30 flights daily E N S E c o n o m ic b u re a u @ New Delhi Having to cancel over 150 flights in the first week of April due to non-availability of pilots, Vistara on Sunday said it is cancelling 10% of its daily flights in April as it looks to normalise operation. “We are carefully scaling back our operations by around 25-30 flights per day. This will take us back to the same level of flight operations as at the end of February 2024, and provide the much-needed resilience and buffer in the rosters,” said a Vistara Spokesperson. The cancellations are done mostly in the domestic network of Vistara, a joint venture between the Tata Group and Singapore International Airlines. Vistara operates about 300 flights daily and 1,000 pilots on its rolls. Earlier this week, the DGCA sought a daily report from the airline as the issue snowballed into a major embarrassment. Vistara pilots were not happy with the revised salary structure, which is being “forced upon them” ahead of its merger with Air India, they said. Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan, a day ago said that 98% of its pilots have signed the new contracts with the revised salary structure. “We are aware that some pilots have some concerns and queries regarding the contract. We are engaging with them to clarify and resolve the same. However, this has not caused any visible spike in attrition among the pilots,” Kannan said. Palestinians return to Khan Yunis after Israel pulled its ground forces out of southern Gaza Strip on Sunday | afp Israel partially retracts from gaza under pressure FROM allies E xpress N ews S ervice Under pressure from the US and allies over the ‘unintentional’ killing of aid workers, Israel on Sunday adopted a conciliatory approach and pulled out troops from southern Gaza. The Israeli military in a statement said the 98th commando division has “concluded its mission” in Khan Yunis and left “in order to recuperate and prepare for future operations”. However, the Israeli military said it will continue to have presence in the rest of the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is ready for a deal but is not ready to surrender. The partial withdrawal from Gaza should aid the truce talks expected to resume in Cairo. “There will be no ceasefire without the return of hostages. It just won’t happen,” he said. Netanyahu has been under pressure from the international community after Israel on April 1 dropped bombs on humanitarian workers of US-based food charity World Central Kitchen by mistake. Last week, US President Joe Biden said his support for the war would depend on Israel curtailing the death of civilians and improving humanitarian conditions in Gaza. Britain also demanded that the conflict must end. Israel’s public broadcaster Channel 11 reported that the remaining forces would be located along the Netzarim Corridor, a route that splits the Gaza Strip in two. Following the global outcry over the death of aid workers, Israeli military sacked two senior officers on Friday. Israeli military’s inquiry into the incident revealed that the drone operators did not follow rules and thought the World Central Kitchen’s cars were carrying Hamas gunmen. The Israel Defence Forces apologised for its mistake and sacked a colonel and major for the failure and added that those who carried out the attack could face criminal prosecution. While welcoming the action, World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres called for an independent probe into the Israeli strike that killed his staff, and warned that the conflict had become a “war against humanity itself.” Reacting to Israel’s partial withdrawal, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said: “As we understand it, and through their public announcements, it is really just about rest and refit for these troops that have been on the ground for four months and not necessarily, that we can tell, indicative of some coming new operation for these troops.”  P11 HC allows Nadda rally on fresh route in Tiruchy, says permission can’t be denied over traffic woes E xpress N ews S ervice @ Madurai Hindrance to traffic and the free movement of people cannot be grounds to refuse permission to conduct a rally, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court ruled in a special sitting on Sunday and directed the Tiruchy district authorities to allow BJP national president JP Nadda’s rally in Tiruchy town later that evening. The court told officials to permit the rally on an alternative route with conditions. Justice K Murali Shankar gave the order after hearing a petition filed by Tiruchy BJP district secretary Rajasekaran seeking direction to authorities to permit Nadda’s rally from the Gandhi Market Arch to Rock Fort as district authorities had refused permission. The court directed the Assist- ant Election Officer (AEO) of the Tiruchirappalli Lok Sabha constituency to grant permission for the rally on an alternative route from Kannappa Hotel to ESI Hospital between 5.30 and 8 pm on Sunday. The city police commissioner was told to allow the rally on the condition that the BJP should not erect any flex boards. The BJP had filed an online petition to the AEO on April 4 seeking permission for the rally which was refused, considering heavy traffic, movement of people and prohibition against allowing vehicles on the route. The counsels for the government told the court that the Samayapuram Mariamman Temple festival is underway and the district authorities had already granted permission to 52 vehicles for the Poochooridhal Vizha during which they move on the same route. Further, as it is the month of Ramzan, people also assemble in the area to attend prayers. The petitioner’s counsel said Nadda has Z-category security and is ready to change the route. He was willing to commence the rally from Kannappa Hotel and end it at the ESI Hospital, a distance of 1.5 km. BJP national president campaigning for the party’s Virudhunagar candidate Radhikaa Sarathkumar in Madurai on Sunday | express Day after Bengal mob attack, NIA officers face FIR Police register case against central agency’s officials for ‘molestation’ and ‘trespassing’ eXPRESS nEWS sERVICE @ Kolkata A day after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) team probing the 2022 Bhupatinagar bomb blast case came under attack by an unruly mob in West Bengal’s East Midnapore district, the local police said on Sunday that they have booked the agency’s officials for ‘molestation’ and ‘trespassing’. The NIA team had gone to the Bhupatinagar village in the wee hours on Saturday to conduct raids and take into custody two key conspirators of the 2022 attack. During the raids, the antiterror agency arrested Balai Charan Maity and Manobrata Jana, a Trinamool Congress leader. A police officer said an FIR was filed against officials of the NIA as well as the accompanying security personnel after Jana’s wife lodged a complaint that the officials forcibly entered her residence and tried to outrage her modesty . Strongly refuting the allegations, the NIA pointed out that the searches were conducted at five locations in the presence of independent witnesses and under the security cover provided by the CRPF, which included women constables. NIA said Maity and Jana were taken into custody following extensive searches conducted at five different locations. As the team commenced its search operation, the officials were reportedly confronted by a hostile mob, which included women. The situation quickly escalated as the mob launched an assault on the NIA officers, resulting in injury to an official and damage to a vehicle’s windscreen. The attack on the NIA team evoked memories of January 5 when a team of the Enforce- BJP bid to intimidate TMC, says Abhishek Trinamool leader Abhishek Banerjee accused the BJP of using central agencies to intimidate TMC and asserted that people are with the Bengal party. “BJP can have ED, CBI on their side. They are threatening those who are raising their voices against their undemocratic acts. A section of media friends are also siding with the BJP. But people of Bengal are with the TMC,” he said ‘Attack on officials was unprovoked’ The NIA refuted allegations of ‘mala fide’ in its raids and said the attack on its officials was ‘unprovoked’. “NIA made it clear that its actions were bona fide, lawful, and legally mandated, as part of its ongoing investigation into the heinous crime related to fabrication of crude bombs, leading to an explosion that killed three persons in Naruabila village, PS Bhoopatinagar,” it said ment Directorate was attacked by an angry mob in North 24 Parg anas district’s Sandeshkhali. The ED team came under brutal attack during a search at the house of Trinamool Congress leader Shajahan Sheikh in connection with alleged irregularities in the public distribution system. The NIA said it has filed a written complaint about the attack on its officials at the Bhupatinagar police station. However, no one has been arrested in connection with the attack yet. TMC targets probe agencies to shield the corrupt: Modi E xpress N ews S ervice @ Kolkata THE political slugfest over the attack on NIA officials escalated on Sunday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday allegING that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) was “orchestrating attacks on central investigative agencies” in the state to shield its extortionist and corrupt leaders. Speaking at a rally in Jalpaiguri in West Bengal, Modi said: “When central investigative agencies come here, the TMC attacks them...it’s a party that crushes the law and the Constitution of the country... you saw what happened in Sandeshkhali. Everyone in the country knows it.” On Saturday, TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had blamed the NIA personnel for the incident. “They are carrying out raids without prior information and barging into houses. What would the women do if someone entered their house when everyone was asleep in the dead of night,” she said on Sunday at an election rally in Purulia district. She also alleged the central investigating agencies were asking TMC leaders to either join the BJP or face action. TMC leader Kunal Ghosh alleged that a senior BJP leader, who was with TMC, had met an NIA officer at his apartment on March 26 evening and handed over a list of TMC leaders to be arrested by ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP dismissed the claim, saying the TMC is “concocting lies and fictitious narratives”. Modi attacks Kharge The prime minister, reacting to Kharge’s charge on why Modi referred to abolition of Article 370 in a Rajasthan rally, said several youths of Rajasthan and Bihar have made supreme sacrifices for safeguarding Kashmir express read Heatwave warning for north TN Chennai: The Regional Meteorological Centre has warned of heatwaves over the plains of north interior districts of TN for the next two days. A bulletin on Sunday said Chennai, Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, Tiruvallur, Cuddalore, Villupuram, Tirupattur, Vellore and Krishnagiri could be hit | P5 Drone attack on nuke plant in Ukraine Kyiv: The Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant came under attack on Sunday by Ukrainian military drones, including a strike on the dome of the plant’s sixth power unit, according to plant officials. There were no casualties, radiation levels at the plant were normal after strikes