HYDERABAD  THURSDAY  MAY 30, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 16  LATE CITY EDITION CRPF SEEKS 35 NEW BATTALIONS TO BOOST ANTI-TERROR OPERATIONS The Central Reserve Police Force has sought the Union home ministry’s approval to raise 35 new battalions, senior officials said on Wednesday STRENGTH OF FORCE TO GROW BY 35,000 FIRST CAPACITY EXPANSION SINCE LAST YEAR If the Centre approves the proposal, the total strength of the force will increase by 35,000. At present, the CRPF has 246 battalions. With the added strength, the force aims to raise specialised units with a particular emphasis on tackling terrorist threats in Jammu and Kashmir. It comes at a time when the Central force is tightening its noose around Maoists in insurgency-hit areas ■ ■ The decision to raise new battalions comes amid a sense of career stagnation among officers of the CRPF with many working in the same post for years. Some have left the force as a result Last year, the government approved the creation of two Signal Battalion headquarters for the CRPF, in first expansion since 1988 3.13 lakh THE TOTAL STRENGTH OF THE CRPF AS PER THE UNION HOME MINISTRY 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 PM sees plot in Patnaik ‘ill health’ Cites video of Odisha CM’s aide V K Pandian grabbing his boss’ hand to make the charge ODISHA CM’S PUSHBACK B I J O Y P R A D H A N @ Bhubaneswar WITH Narendra Modi leading the BJP’s charge to wrest power from the BJD in Odisha, the prime minister on Wednesday made a rather unusual remark on the health of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Modi wondered if there was a conspiracy behind the ‘deteriorating health’ of the Odisha CM. The statement came a day after a video of Naveen’s close aide V K Pandian grabbing the CM’s left hand at an election rally went viral. “I want to bring to your notice a very grave concern about Naveen Babu. Well wishers of Naveen Babu are worried at the sudden deterioration of his health in the last one year. People who have long been work- EXPRESS READ Cash loader flees with `3cr meant for SBI ATMs Hyderabad: CCS, Hyderabad, have launched a manhunt to nab Lakshman who allegedly fled with `3 crore meant for loading into SBI ATMs. The CCS registered a case following a complaint by Square Value, the cash loading firm 4 COPS BEATEN UP BY ARMY MEN IN J&K Four policemen were allegedly beaten up by army personnel in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir over a dispute Modi at a rally in Balasore district | PTI “Let me assure the PM that I am in perfect health and I have been campaigning for the last month,” Naveen told the media in his pushback. He blamed the BJP for spreading rumours about his health ing with him now say Naveen Babu can’t do anything on his own. They also speculate that it could be a conspiracy,” Modi said at the three public meetings he addressed at Baripada, Balasore and Kendrapara on the day “Is there a lobby behind . this, the one which is enjoying power in the state taking advantage of Naveen Babu?” the PM wondered. In his rather sharp rebuttal, Naveen said: “If the PM is so concerned, all he had to do was to pick up the telephone and ask, as he had stated publicly before that he was a good friend of mine.” Modi went on to claim that when BJP forms government in the state, a special committee will be formed to investigate the issue. “We will make 52.9ºC J I T E N D R A C H O U B E Y @ New Delhi DELHI hit an all-time record with the weather station at Mungeshpur on Wednesday recording a maximum temperature of 52.9 degrees Celsius, triggering concern across the country . However, scientists at the Indian Meteorological Department are examining sensors and data of the weather station for any potential error or a local factor for the reading spike. During the day the maximum , temperature over other parts of the city varied from 45.2°C to the findings of that report public,” he said. It was Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma who started the row by posting the video on micro-blogging site X on Tuesday “After today’s viral . video, there is no need for a medical report on Naveen Babu’s health. Our issue is not with Naveen Babu but with Pandian who is illegally controlling Odisha,” he alleged. Sarma, who has been campaigning extensively in the state, claimed a retired officer has tried to physically control the hands of a sitting CM for the first time in history . On Wednesday he posted an, other such video, which was mentioned by BJP national vice president Jay Panda at the Kendrapara event of the PM. All-time record as Delhi sizzles 49.1°C. In the evening, drizzles accompanied by winds brought some relief for the people in the area adjoining Delhi-NCR. North India has been reeling from an unprecedented heatwave with temperatures soaring to record-breaking highs in many cities. In the past few days, many weather stations in the northwestern region have reported temperatures close to 50°C. In many places, the heat was about 8 degrees above normal. In Bihar, over 50 students reportedly fainted on Wednesday due to the heat. In Rajasthan, the deaths of at least 33 people over the past week are blamed on the prevailing heatwave. Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena directed officials to ensure a paid break for labourers from noon to 3 pm. The weather office has predicted that the prevailing heatwave conditions over the northwest are likely to reduce from May 30 on account of a western disturbance that will bring light to moderate rainfall in the region. Thereafter, heatwave days will continue in June. In the south, Kerala is expected to welcome the southwest monsoon on Thursday . TAPGATE 50 HDDs changed in 45 mins on results day EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad ON December 4, 2023, the day the Congress won the Assembly elections, CCTV cameras in the premises of the SIB were switched off from 7.30 pm to 8.15 pm. In these 45 minutes, around 50 hard disks of computer systems and servers that were part of the equipment used for tapping phones, were changed, according to the confessional statement of the then Deputy SP D Praneeth Kumar. He also confessed that the money seized from Opposition leaders was shown as ‘hawala’ money to avoid criticism from Election Commission and political parties. “I used to get the targets for profiling and surveilling from IGP Prabhakar Rao and Venugopal Rao, a retired Additional SP We used to moni. tor the targets and send the updates to the chief of operations. On completion of Assembly elections i.e., on November 30, 2023, we stopped P R I YA R AT H N A M @ Hyderabad A parent of one of the rescued kids cries after the baby was handed over to CWC Mirzapur has a chequered history, having sent the likes of Bandit Queen Phoolan Devi and dreaded dacoit Shiv Kumar Patel’s brother Bal Kumar Patel to Parliament in the past. The constituency has a good number of OBCs, SC/ST communities, Thakurs and Brahmins, and the caste dynamics can influence the results. Anupriya’s recent statement that “now kings are born from EVMs and not the wombs of queens” triggered a controversy as it was interpreted as targeting the powerful Thakur politician Raghuraj Pratap Singh, descendent of an erstwhile royal family His supporters . are now campaigning against Patel. However, some see the controversy as a blessing in disguise for Anupriya, who was earlier facing polarisation of backward sections towards SP’s Bind. “Now there is reverse polarisation of Brahmins, OBCs and most backward voters in support of her,” says senior jour nalist Neeraj Pandey . Anupriya Patel (C), Ramesh Bind (L) and Manish Tiwari Available on Scan the QR code for further details *Basis lab test in controlled environment on protein damaged hair after five washes ILLUSTRATION: MANDAR PARDIKAR MINISTER of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel, 43, is braving the heat and dust of Uttar Pradesh’s Mirzapur to reach out to the constituency’s voters who elected her in 2014 and 2019. She is eyeing a third term to boost the prospects of her party Apna Dal-Sonelal, which has grown to become a staunch ally of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh. Daughter of Apna Dal founder and OBC leader Sonelal Patel, Anupriya is pitched against Ramesh Bind, the sitting BJP MP from adjoining Bhadohi who joined the SP after the saffron party denied him a ticket. According to observers, Anupriya’s hat-trick chances are not that strong as she is facing multiple challenges including anti-incumbency, allegations of bias towards her Kurmi vote base, and a possible electoral backlash from the Thakur community following her remarks against Raghuraj Pratap Singh ‘Raja Bhaiya’. CONTINUED ON P2 N A M I TA B A J PA I @ Luncknow TWO youth on a bike were killed after thet were hit by a speeding SUV which was allegedly part of the convoy of Karan Bhushan Singh, the BJP candidate in Kaiserganj, on Wednesday in UP’s Gonda district. Karan Singh is the son of sitting MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, former chairman of Wrestling Federation of India, who faces allegations of sexual harassment. Police have seized the SUV and arrested the driver. It was not immediately known if the Bhushans were in the convoy . Karnalganj SHO Nirbhay Narayan Singh identified the deceased as Shehzad Khan (20), who was riding the bike, and his cousin Rehan Khan (17). After ramming the bike, the SUV also hit Sita Devi (60), who was walking on the roadside. She has been hospitalised and police personnel have been deployed in the area to ensure law and order. The speed of the vehicles in the convoy was above 100 kmph, said an official. HC junks pleas of 2 couples who bought kids Mirzapur weighs the hat-trick question A N U R A A G S I N G H @ Varanasi surveilling our targets. After the exit polls, the SIB chief told us to destroy all documentary and electronic evidence,” Praneeth Rao said. Praneeth Rao’s confessional statement continued: “As per his (SIB chief ’s) orders, about 50 hard disks of computer systems and servers were replaced with new ones and the removed hard disks were destroyed. Of these 50 systems, 17 systems and one laptop were used by me and my team for our clandestine and unauthorised activities. On December 4, 2023, after the Congress won the elections, Prabhakar Rao, the chief of operations, resigned from his post. Before leaving the office, he ordered us to destroy all traces of political profiles and hard disks of the systems used for monitoring. As per his orders, I got the hard disks (around 50), documents and clandestine profiles’ data destroyed by getting the CCTV cameras in the SIB premises switched off with the help of Anil Kumar RSI.” Bhushan’s convoy hits bike, kills 2 THE Telangana High Court on Wednesday rejected lunch motion petitions filed by two of the 11 couples that adopted children illegally, seeking return of the kids who were handed over to the Child Welfare Committee by the Medipally police on Tuesday . Meanwhile, the Medipally police rescued two more children who were illegally sold to childless couples by the traffickers. These two children have also been handed over to the CWC which sent them to Shishu Vihar at Ameerpet. Police said these children are from Karimnagar and Bapatla in Andhra CONTINUED ON P4 Pradesh.