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 ■ ■ chennai l Monday l July 15, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l LATE CITY EDITION Trump survives assassination bid Major security lapse as ex-US president shot in the ear at campaign rally; gunman killed a G EN C IES 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 20-year-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.  P9 One of the 11 suspects in Tamil Nadu BSP president K Armstrong’s murder case, K Thiruvengadam (33) of Kundrathur, was shot dead by police in ‘selfdefence’ near Puzhal on Sunday after he allegedly tried to attack the police team and attempted to flee from its custody . According to a police statement, when Thiruvengadam was being taken to his house in Manali to recover the murder weapons on Sunday morning, he asked the cops to stop the vehicle near Retteri to answer nature’s call. Immediately after getting out of the vehicle, he pushed the police personnel who were near him and fled to a thatched hut in a place called Vegetarian Village near Puzhal. When the police surrounded the hut after Cauvery will give 8k CUSECS to TN PER DAY, NOT 1 TMCFT, SAYS k’TAKA express read Congress appoints Gaurav Gogoi as deputy leader in LS 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. Gogoi was the party’s deputy leader in the last Lok Sabha as well Puri temple’s Ratna Bhandar opened after 46 years Bhubaneswar: Ratna Bhandar, the revered treasury of the 12th-century 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. The reopening of the Ratna Bhandar became a major political issue during the recent assembly elections tracking him down, the historysheeter opened fire at them with a country-made pistol that he had hidden there. In ‘selfdefence’, police shot him. Though the injured Thiruvengadam was rushed to a private hospital nearby he was declared , dead on arrival. The Puzhal police have registered a case regarding the incident and produced the FIR before the judicial magistrate. The encounter comes just six days after Chennai City Police Commissioner A Arun, in his first press briefing after taking charge, said that the police would ‘speak in a language that rowdies understand’. While the AIADMK, BJP, and PMK have raised suspicion over the encounter, the demand for a CBI investigation into Armstrong’s murder has also gained momentum. P5 Siddaramaiah, after all-party meet, said dams in Cauvery basin have just 63% water. If rain fails, Karnataka can reduce the quantum of water released to TN, says CM | P5 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 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 Lured with job offer in Malaysia, Lucknow youth held captive, tortured in Myanmar Armstrong murder case suspect shot dead by cops G a u t h a m S e lv a r a j a n @ Chennai Former US president Donald Trump is rushed offstage by Secret Service agents moments after shots were fired at him in Butler, Pennsylvania | AFP 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 Y e s h i s e l i @ New Delhi Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz beat Serbia’s Novak Djokovic 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (4) to defend his Wimbledon title on Sunday | ap Welcome to the Era of Alcaraz S w a r o o p S w a m i n at h a n @ Chennai 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 him on his way to paradise land.  P11 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 in Myanmar. Moei River