kozhikode l tuesday l may 21, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION Iran’s hardline President Raisi killed in helicopter crash Ebrahim Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian were found dead on Monday morning, hours after their helicopter crashed a confidant of supreme leader Khamenei one-day state mourning In india today They were returning from the Azerbaijan border after inaugurating a dam. The crash happened in the Jolfa region of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province amid poor weather conditions. Raisi, who was close to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, took power in 2021. His tenure has seen Iran rocked by mass protests amid an economic crisis deepened by US sanctions ■ Iran’s first Vice President Mohammad Mokhber was appointed as acting president on Monday. Mokhber has held top posts within the country’s power structure, especially in its influential charitable foundations ■ A one-day state mourning will be observed across India on Tuesday as a mark of respect for Raisi, the Union home ministry announced | P9, P11 50 days The time frame within which iran must elect a new president 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 Guj police nab 4 IS men from Lanka with plans to attack India int’l organ trafficking racket with Kerala links exposed A r u n M @ KOCHI D i l i p S i n g h K s h at r i ya @ Ahmedabad Four alleged Islamic State-affiliated terrorists from Sri Lanka, who had come to India to carry out terror attacks, were arrested by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) at the Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad on Monday, days before the city is to host two key IPL matches. As per the police, the four arrived in Chennai from Colombo on Sunday. Subsequently, they traveled to Ahmedabad on an Indigo flight. “The ATS received a tip-off about the arrival of four terrorists by air or rail on May 18 and 19. Under discreet surveillance, they were apprehended at the (Ahmedabad) airport,” Gujarat Director General of Police (DGP) Vikas Sahai said. The four were being handled by one Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi, based in Pakistan, who had given them four lakh Sri Lanka rupees to fund the operation. Abu Bakar encouraged them to carry out terrorist activities in India, to which they agreed, and even showed readiness to carry out suicide bombings, Sahay claimed. Based on the geo-coordinates and photographs found on their mobile phones, the ATS team recovered three Pakistan(From top) Mohammad made pistols and 20 cartridges lying abandoned at a location Nusrat, Mohammad in the city’s Nana Chiloda Nafran, area.“Their Pakistani handler Mohammad had stashed the weapons at this Rasdeen, and location for the accused to use Mohammad in terrorist acts,” Sahai said. A Faris flag of IS was also found at the location, he said. A case has been registered under sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), Indian Penal Code (IPC), and Arms Act, 1959 and the probe is on. A first-time voter with grandma at a polling booth in Aska, Odisha | Shamim Qureshy 60% turnout in 5th phase of polls Baramulla polling at 59%, an all-time record P r ee t h a Na i r @ New Delhi The fifth phase of the Lok Sabha polls on Monday registered a 59.93% voter turnout at 11 pm, slowing closing in on the 61.82% tally for the same seats in 2019. With 49 seats across eight states and Union Territories voting, the fifth phase had the fewest seats in the seven-phase elections, which began on April 19. This phase wrapped up Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra and Ladakh. According to the Election Commission, Baramulla in J&K recorded a voter turnout of 59%. It is the highest-ever polling percentage in the constituency since 1984. Baramulla had witnessed a fierce three-cornered fight between National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah, People’s Conference President Sajad Gani Lone and jailed head of the Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) Sheikh Abdul Rashid alias Engineer Rashid. In 1984, Baramulla had recorded a turnout of 58.90%. Ladakh, too, registered a record voter turnout of 68.47% till 8 pm. This is the first major electoral battle in the region after it was carved out of J&K and granted Union territory status in 2019. Of the 49 seats in the fifth phase, the BJP had pocketed 32 in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The most watched would be the 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, seven in West Bengal, and 13 in Maharashtra. All eyes are on UP’s Rae Bareli and Amethi, where Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and his family loyalist K L Sharma are in the fray Rahul was fielded in . Rae Bareli after his mother Sonia Gandhi moved to the Rajya Sabha. In Amethi, Sharma is facing off against incumbent BJP MP Smriti Irani. The fifth phase is crucial for the Congress as the BJP had won 13 of the 14 seats going to polls barring Rae Bareli. In Maharashtra, 10 seats out of 13 witnessed a pitched battle between the two factions of the Shiv Sena. Voting in five seats in Bihar, three in Jharkhand and five in Odisha were also held. West Bengal recorded a turnout of 73.14%. Key candidates include Piyush Goyal, Bharati Pawar, Rajnath Singh and Chirag Paswan. water project French MNC officials face wrath of Left trade unions E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ Kochi Available on Scan the QR code for further details *Basis lab test in controlled environment on protein damaged hair after five washes At a time when the Pinarayi government is wooing big investments into the state, the officials of a French multinational company (MNC) which won the bid for a mega drinking water supply project in Kochi had to face the wrath of the Left trade unions. The company representatives, who arrived for discussions with Kerala Water Authority (KWA) in Kochi on Monday, were forced them to return without holding talks following protests. Representatives of Suez India, the Indian arm of Suez Group that won the `2,511-crore project jointly implemented by the Asian Development Bank, Union government and KWA, faced protests from CITU and AITUC members, who alleged that the private firm’s business model would make drinking water unaffordable for common man. The project involves overseeing the water supply network and replacement of pipes in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi. The trade union workers raised slogans and staged a blockade at the superintendent engineer’s cabin when three representatives from Suez India arrived at the office of the Ernakulam Water Authority executive engineer for discussions. ● More on P4 Police have exposed an international organ trafficking racket with Kerala links, with the probe finding that several youths from Hyderabad and Bengaluru were trafficked to Iran for kidney transplantation. The shocking revelations followed the arrest of a Thrissur native and the detention of another in Kochi over the past two days. The racket is believed to have lured people from financially weak sections to donate organs abroad. As per the statements of the arrested person, a few people who were taken to Iran for organ donation died there. Central agencies, including NIA, are also investigating the case, and they have completed the preliminary probe, said sources. While Sabith Nasar, 30, of Valapad in Thrissur— a suspected member of the organ trafficking racket — was arrested from the Kochi air- Sabith Nasar being taken to the Angamaly Judicial First Class Magistrate Court on Monday| Express port on Sunday another youth, a Ko, chi native, who allegedly assisted Sabith, was taken into custody and interrogated by the police on Monday . Sabith, who has been remanded in judicial custody, allegedly confessed to police that he took 20 people from India to Iran for organ donation. As per the remand report in possession of TNIE, Sabith told the police that he was part of a racket recruiting people from India for kid- ney transplantation illegally . “Youths from Hyderabad and Bengaluru were recruited to Iran as kidney donors,” said the report produced by the police before the Angamaly Judicial First Class Magistrate Court on Monday. As per the report, the recruited youths were admitted to a private hospital in Iran, where they donated kidneys to suitable recipients. They were then treated for three days at the hospital. Subsequently, the donors were provided a 20-day stay at a flat and then flown back to India, it said. “The donors are paid up to `6 lakh for the donation. He confessed that Shameer, a youth from Thirunellayi in Palakkad, had donated a kidney this way about six months ago,” said the report. Shameer was facing a severe financial crisis and may have donated a kidney to settle his debts, it said. Meanwhile, officers said more arrests are likely in connection with ● More on P6 the case. express read Jisha murder: HC confirms Assam man’s death sentence Delimitation process for local bodies set to start ICC prosecutor seeks arrest of Israel PM, Hamas leaders Kochi: Observing that the rape and murder of Jisha at Perumbavoor in 2016 was a cold-blooded murder without provocation, the High Court on Monday confirmed the death sentence awarded to Muhammed Ameer-Ul-Islam, an Assam native | P5 T’Puram: The state government on Monday decided to begin the delimitation process in local self-government institutions ahead of 2025 local body elections. As per the decision, wards in various LSGIs will be divided and new boundaries fixed as per Census-2011. The Hague: The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Monday applied for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top Hamas leaders on suspicion of war crimes in the ongoing conflict in Gaza | P11
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