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 ■ ■ DHARMAPURI l tuesday l august 06, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Ex-PM moved to safe house in Delhi-NCR Indian cultural centre, four temples attacked BSF keeps close tab on movements on border Train, air services to Dhaka suspended Sheikh Hasina was moved to a safe location within the DelhiNCR region, sources said. She wanted to fly to London, but her demand not to be tried in the UK for alleged rights violations, was not accepted Mob vandalised the Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre located in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi area on Monday. Four Hindu temples were also targeted. The temples suffered minor damages, a community leader said Border Security Force is on high alert along the 4,096-km IndiaBangladesh border. “A high alert has been issued and we are keeping a close tab on the movement in the bordering areas,” a BSF official said Indian Railways supended all train services, including freight operations, between India and Bangladesh indefinitely. Air India and IndiGo cancelled scheduled flights to and from Dhaka with immediate effect timeline 10-11 am: Protests begin in various parts of Dhaka 2 pm: Mobile internet restored 2.30 pm: A military chopper with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina takes off 3-3.30 pm: Protesters storm Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s official residence B a n g l a d e s h U N R ES T people’s power uproots hasina Y E S H I S E L I @ New Delhi Bangladesh’s longest-serving prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday resigned and fled the country amid violent protests against her government, bringing an end to her 15-year rule. The move came after around 300 people were killed in the past two weeks during clash between protesters and security forces. Bangladesh Ar my Chief General Waqar-uz-Zaman said the Army has taken over and an interim government would be formed. According to sources, Sheikh Hasina, 76, left Dhaka on Monday afternoon on a chopper and reached Tripura’s capital Agartala. From there, an Indian Air Force aircraft took her to the Hindon airbase in Ghaziabad on the outskirts of Delhi. From Delhi, Hasina plans to fly out to Belarus on a char- tered aircraft. However, sources said she would remain in Delhi for a day or two. Hasina is said to have made huge investments in Belarus. Soon after she landed in Hindon, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval visited Hasina. Later, Doval attended a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and briefed him about the unfolding situation. The meeting was also attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, and Finance Minister Nir mala Sitharaman. Earlier in the day, unruly mobs in Bangladesh went on a rampage after news spread that Hasina resigned. Her official residence Ganabhaban, Parliament, the Supreme Court, and even the offices of some media out- I’m taking all responsibility (of the country). Please cooperate — Bangladesh Army Chief General Waqar-uz-Zaman lets were ransacked and looted. Even the police headquarters was not spared as violent mobs burned down the building, forcing the Police Commissioner to be airlifted. In view of the volatile situation, India has issued an advisory for its nationals in Bangladesh and asked them to exercise caution. Meanwhile, the BSF has beefed up patrolling around the India-Bangladesh border. According to some political observers in Dhaka, the dramatic way with which the protests — which began as an agitation against a job quota scheme but quickly morphed into a mass movement demanding Hasina’s ouster — shows the involvement of a hand, probably the US. Hasina’s growing proximity to China may not have gone down well with the US, they argue. Meanwhile, reports say that some senior officials, including judges, have taken refuge in the Indian High Commission in Dhaka. The interim govt, with leaders from all political parties barring Awami League, will run the country for now – under army’s supervision Professor Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah Khaleda Zia released Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin ordered the release of opposition leader and former PM Khaleda Zia from jail Market crash wipes All 12 acquitted out `15 lakh crore in murder case Cops goof up probe A R S H A D K H A N @ New Delhi Mirroring the meltdown in key markets worldwide, India’s equity markets on Monday fell sharply, wiping out investor wealth to the tune of `15 lakh crore. The overall market cap of the firms listed on the BSE slipped to `442 lakh crore from `457 lakh crore in the previous session. Several factors came into play in pulling down the Indian markets. These included concerns related to an appreciating Japanese Yen and its impact on the global economy, looming fears of the US sliding into a recession, rising tensions in West Asia, and India Inc giving below-par earnings results in the June quarter. On Monday, the BSE Sensex nose-dived 2,222 points or 2.74% to close at a month’s low of -12.4% -8.8% BIG FALL -2.74% -2.68% Nikkei Kospi (Japan) (S Korea) BSE NSE 78,759.40. At one point during the session, the index plunged more than 3% to hit the day’s low of 78,295. The NSE Nifty50, too, cracked 662 points or 2.68% to settle at 24,055. It plunged as much as 3.33% to hit the day’s low of 23,893. The broader market underperformed the benchmarks, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 indices falling by around 3.55% and 4.57%, respectively . express read Auto topples as cop tries to stop it; 5-year-old dies Chennai: A five-year-old boy died after an autorickshaw in which he was travelling overturned on Kamarajar Salai on Monday when a police constable allegedly got in the way to stop it to make way for the CM’s convoy. Police have registered a case against the constable | P2 Three MDMK functionaries killed in road accident Madurai: Three MDMK functionaries were killed and two others sustained severe injuries after their car rammed a stationary lorry at Vellaripatti toll gate in Melur on Monday. They were returning from Chennai after attending the party’s general body meeting | P4 of RTI activist S iddhar t h P ra b hakar @ Chennai Eight years after RTI activist J Parasmal (59) was brutally murdered in Vepery just 1.5 , km away from the Chennai police commissioner’s office, a city trial court acquitted all 12 accused in the case, citing Periamet police’s inability to prove the case beyond doubt. The police’s case was that the main accused, a realtor Ramesh Kumar Modi, had paid `5 lakh to henchmen to murder Parasmal, aggrieved by his RTI activism which exposed violations in his build- J Parasmal ings leading to action by Greater Chennai Corpora`5 lakh for tion and Chennai Metropolithe crime tan Development Authority (CMDA). Around 10 am on Police’s case June 7, 2016, three men in an was that the auto and four others on two main accused bikes had cornered Parasmal realtor Ramesh on Bakers Street and hacked Kumar Modi him to death. was aggrieved Parasmal was set to attend by Parasmal’s a hearing of the Tamil Nadu RTI activism & State Information Commis- paid `5 lakh to sion (TNSIC) the following henchmen to day and obtain documents murder him which would have exposed Ramesh, said the prosecution. Apart from Ramesh, police had also arrested D Sadasivam, N Jayapal, K Murali, Rajan, Kumar, Ameer Hamza, Vinodhkumar, Appu, ‘Mana’ Rajendran, ‘Ramu’ Janakiraman and Mohammed Ali in the case. P5 Time not ripe to make Udhaya Dy CM: Stalin E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai In what is perhaps his first public response to the speculation surrounding Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development Udhayanidhi Stalin’s elevation as deputy chief minister, Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday said the time is not ripe yet. Stalin was on a visit to Kolathur Assembly constituency to inspect various infrastructure projects being undertaken when a journalist asked about ‘requests strengthening’ for Udhayanidhi’s elevation. In a terse reply, Stalin said, “It may be strengthening, but it is not ripe yet.” His response came amidst recent rumours that Udhayanidhi would be elevated as deputy CM before the chief minister’s planned visit to the US later this month. Highly placed party sources had, however, said that no such decision was taken by the CM. When asked about the elevation during a function of DMK’s youth wing on July 20, Udhayanidhi told the media that the decision has to be taken by the CM. Speaking at the function, he had said that the post of party’s youth wing secretary would be the one closest to his heart even if moved to different positions.  P5 Reply amid rumours CM’s response came amidst recent rumours that Udhaya would be elevated as deputy CM before the Stalin’s planned visit to the US later this month 3.25 pm: Hasina has resigned, says Bangaldesh Army chief Waker-uz-Zaman 4 pm: Awami League’s Dhaka office set on fire Bangladesh protesters celebrate Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s resignation in Dhaka on Monday | AP 5.36 pm: Plane carrying Hasina lands at Hindon Air Base, near Delhi Uncertainty rules First person A nind o Baner j ee @ Dhaka T he situation was turning volatile as the day began. From my accommodation in an upscale Dhaka locality, I could see thousands of youths thronging the streets since morning. They stormed Ganabhaban, the prime minister’s residence, and took their spoils of war with whoops of joy . Others projected the war outwards and took on everything that came their way, looting shops and ransacking houses — their own country became like Rome to the Vandals. The only certitude was that the regime had collapsed, otherwise uncertainty reigned. Even at the basic level of the idea of Bangladesh: protesters were, after all, even going for the statue of its architect, ‘Banga Bandhu’ Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, with hammer blows. Is history being rewritten — or even unwritten — for this small nation, no stranger as it is to juntas and assassinations? I could see a strange irony playing out: a moment of joy for a whole mass of people out there, and yet streaked through with contrary emotions like despair and doubt. The Army chief says he has spoken to all parties, barring the deposed Awami League, and his words signal at an interim government. Yet, perhaps he too has little clarity about how events will unfold. I have been in Dhaka — the city of mosques and muslin — for one-and-half years. Of late, the city has resembled a northern Indian city of the early ’90s, roiled by the anti-Mandal Protesters vandalise the statue of Mujibur Rahman in Dhaka on Monday agitation. This too started as an anti-quota protest. But its joyous climax has descended ominously into chaos — which comes in to fill the gap at all points when authority collapses. On Sunday, more than 100, including cops, had died across the country. Monday being the ‘Long March’ day , I was afraid a lot of blood would be spilt on Dhaka streets. Fortunately that didn’t happen.