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 ■ ■ HYDERABAD  MONDAY  JULY 15, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 12  LATE CITY EDITION Trump survives assassination bid Major security lapse as ex-US president shot in the ear at campaign rally; gunman killed AGENCIES FORMER US president Donald Trump survived an attempt on his life when a gunman fired multiple shots at him during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday evening (US time) with a bullet grazing his right ear. While the 78-year-old presumptive Republican presidential nominee was left bleeding, the shooting killed one attendee and critically injured two spectators. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said Trump was the target of the attack, which is being investigated as an attempted assassination. Trump was standing on a stage and addressing his supporters at the packed outdoor election rally in Butler town when bullets started flying. Video footage showed the former president grabbing his ear as he ducked to escape bullets. Trump was seen with blood on his ear and cheek while he was rushed off the stage by Secret Service agents. Secret Service snipers returned fire and killed the shooter, who attacked from the rooftop of a building just about 100 metres away from rally venue. While the motive of the attack is not clear yet, the FBI has identified the shooter as 20year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. The attack raised questions about the robustness of the security for the ex-president. That the shooter managed to reach a vantage point with a semi-automatic gun, bypassing security is intriguing. , Multiple witnesses said they saw the gunman crawling on a roof and alerted authorities. “It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country It was God alone who pre... vented the unthinkable from happening,” Trump said in a social media post. US President Joe Biden condemned the attack and spoke to Trump. Biden faces Trump in the November presidential elections. Former US president Donald Trump is rushed offstage by Secret Service agents moments after shots were fired at him in Butler, Pennsylvania | AFP AR-15: GUN BEHIND MASS SHOOTINGS The AR-15, the gun used by the attacker, is one of the most popular guns in the US and has been used in some of the country’s worst mass shootings. It is a semi-automatic weapon, meaning a user can fire multiple shots in quick succession. The gun fires high-velocity bullets that can travel at three times the speed of a handgun round, are accurate over long distances, reports said. It is affordable and easy-to-use WHO FIRED THE SHOTS AND WHY  20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks lived in Pennsylvania’s Bethel Park, an hour’s drive from the rally site  He was registered to vote as a Republican, but had donated $15 to a Democratic-aligned political action committee  Public Pennsylvania court records show no past criminal cases against Crooks  Motive remains unknown In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand united, and show our true character.... remaining strong and determined, and not allowing evil to win Donald Trump, ex-US president There is no place in America for this kind of violence. It’s sick. It’s one of the reasons why we have to unite this country. We cannot allow this to be happening. I’m grateful to hear that he’s (Trump) safe and doing well Joe Biden, US president Deeply concerned by the attack on my friend, former President Donald Trump. Strongly condemn the incident. Violence has no place in politics and democracies Narendra Modi, Prime Minister Won’t defer DSC, 1 more notification soon: Bhatti Lured with job offer in Malaysia, Lucknow youth held captive, tortured in Myanmar EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE Y E S H I S E L I @ New Delhi @ Hyderabad STRESSING the urgency to recruit teachers in state-run schools, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka on Sunday clarified that the government would not defer the scheduled District Selection Committee (DSC) examination for filling 11,062 posts in the education department. He assured students that the government would release another notification for recruitment of 6,000 more teachers in a few months. “We desire that the youth should get jobs and settle down at the earliest,” Vikramarka said and appealed to teacher job aspirants to concentrate on preparing for the examination. The deputy chief minister’s response came in the wake of a series of protests by teacher job aspirants demanding postponement of the DSC examination, citing insufficient time for preparation. Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan, Vikra- The government is ready to listen to the problems of job aspirants. I advise them to meet ministers if they have any problems. The government will address them Revanth Reddy, chief minister Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz beat Serbia’s Novak Djokovic 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (4) to defend his Wimbledon title on Sunday | AP As an opposition leader, Revanth Reddy participated in agitations at coaching centres in Ashok Nagar. Now, he claims that the same coaching centres are indulging in politics WELCOME TO THE ERA OF ALCARAZ KT Rama Rao, BRS leader S W A R O O P S W A M I N AT H A N @ Chennai marka said that the very foundation of the separate state movement was employment and blamed the previous BRS government for not issuing notifications for recruitment. He said that after the Congress came to power in Telangana, a fresh Group 1 notification was issued and the exam was successfully conducted. He expressed satisfaction that the results of the Group 1 preliminary examination had already been announced. THIRTEEN minutes into the men’s Wimbledon final, the contest promised to live up to the occasion. Carlos Alcaraz may have broken Novak Djokovic but the first game was taut with tension. Every point had a lot riding on it. There were 20 points, seven dueces, uncharacteristic errors from both, multiple second serves... a typical fare to open proceedings. That game was one of the few times this match remotely had the feel of a contest. In one of the great beatdowns of a bonafide legend in the Open Era, the Spaniard zoomed past Djokovic. The 37-year-old, vying to become the sole owner of most number of Majors across genders, was surprisingly flat. His siege mentality was missing and the Spaniard didn’t need a second invitation to defend his crown on grass. The Serb launched a fightback in the third set but it only delayed the inevitable. The near flawless third seed pushed it to a tie-break before one jaw-dropping drop-shot winner set P11 him on his way to paradise land. TG STAYS AT 11 IN NITI AAYOG’S SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS INDIA INDEX RAIN PAIN A GHMC worker is seen trying to unclog a flooded road near Secretariat in Hyderabad on Sunday following heavy rain | SRI LOGANATHAN VELMURUGAN EXPRESS READ Puri’s Ratna Bhandar opened after 46 years Bhubaneswar: Ratna Bhandar, the revered treasury of the 12thcentury Jagannath Temple in Puri, was reopened on Sunday after 46 years for an inventory of valuables and the repair of its structure, officials said. The members of a committee set up by the state government for the purpose entered the temple around 12 pm, and after performing rituals, the treasury was reopened at 1.28 pm, the auspicious moment which was decided at a meeting in the morning, they said | P5 Cong appoints Gaurav Gogoi as deputy LS leader New Delhi: Gaurav Gogoi was on Sunday appointed the deputy leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha. Eight-time Member of Parliament from Kerala, Kodikunnil Suresh, was appointed Congress’ chief whip while Virudhunagar MP Manickam Tagore and Kishanganj MP Mohammad Jawed will be the party’s whips in the Lower House, AICC general secretary, organisation, K C Venugopal said. Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi has written to Speaker Om Birla informing him about the appointments. With 74 points out of 100, Telangana stood in 11th place in the country. Niti Aayog SDG Index evaluates the progress of states on economic, social, poverty, environmental and other parameters FULL REPORT: P4 Car crash deaths turn out to be murder by Hyd physio E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Khammam A physiotherapist in Khammam district allegedly killed his wife and two daughters and projected their deaths as having been caused in a car crash. These coldblooded murders came to light in an investigation conducted by the Raghunadhapalem police in the district. Khammam ACP SV Ramanamurthy said that Boda Praveen, a 32-year-old physiotherapist working in Hyderabad, staged a road accident drama between Manchukonda and Harya tanda in Raghunadhapalem mandal on May 28 while he was travelling along with his family to his native village from Hyderabad. The police rushed to the spot and found Praveen’s wife Boda Kumari and two daughters Krushika and Kruthika dead in the car that crashed into a roadside tree. Praveen had suffered minor injuries. However, the scene of the accident raised suspicions among the police, compelling them to register a case of suspicious death. During inquiries, the police found that Boda Praveen had developed an extra-marital affair with his colleague at the hospital where he worked in Hyderabad. His wife Boda Kumari, who came to know about her husband’s affair, confronted him and asked him to end the SCENE OF ACCIDENT RAISES COPS’ SUSPICION The police, who rushed to the accident spot, grew suspicious after finding the accused with minor injuries while his wife and two daughters were dead in the car that crashed into a tree. relationship. Finding his wife and children an obstacle to his illicit relationship, Praveen decided to eliminate them. On May 17, he had gone to his native place, Bavaji tanda, along with his wife and children. On May 28, after completing his work in Khammam, Praveen was retur ning to his village in his car with his family when his wife Kumari complained of a health issue. Praveen administered an injection to her promising that it would alleviate her problem. Shortly after being administered the injection, Kumari passed away. Praveen then strangled his two daughters to death. After making sure that they were dead, he crashed his car into the tree to project the murders as accidental deaths. The police arrested Praveen and produced him in court on Sunday . THERE have been numerous reports about Indians being lured with fake job offers abroad and forced to work for a cybercrime racket based in Myanmar and Cambodia, but survivor accounts detailing the scale of horror have been few. This newspaper spoke to a youngster who ended up in Myanmar after being lured by an IT job offer in Malaysia. He managed to escape from the racket’s clutches after arranging a ransom. “We got to know of IT sector jobs in Malaysia through a friend. We gave an online interview and within a few days, three of us got visas and tickets and were headed to Malaysia,” 25-year-old Sagar Chauhan from Lucknow told this newspaper. Sagar and his friends Ajay and Rahul left India on March 27. They were form who claimed to be from the Myanmar Army . They eventually ended up at a MEGALAHPO well-appointed facility (which Sagar says was named Chuangishan), which had over 5,000 workers of difMYANMAR ferent nationalities including Sri (BURMA) Lanka, Pakistan and China. Sagar Sagar Chauhan said their boss was Chinese and spoke through an interpreter. Their to land in Thailand’s Bangkok, which job was to convince rich people was a transit point. However, on around the world to invest in various reaching Bangkok, they were booked fraudulent schemes. “Those refusing into a hotel, and later that day, taken to work would be brutally beaten up for sightseeing. The foland kept in a dark room. lowing day, they were While Ajay and Rahul PRESS ordered to get into a veSaCLUSIVE relented, I didn’t,”was hicle and were driven gar added. Sagar towards Myanmar. Aftortured. But a few days ter about eight hours of driving, later he was told he could go home if they reached the Myanmar border. he transferred `8 lakh. He reached In Megalahpo on the Myanmar side, India on April 14. Ajay and Rahul are they were handed over to men in uni- still there. MOEI RIVER