mangaluru l saturday l january 18, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION former pakistan pm Imran Khan, wife sentenced for corruption A Pakistani court sentenced jailed former PM Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi to 14 and seven years in prison respectively in a graft case Imran Khan (right) with his wife Bushra Bibi | file photo all about the al-qadir trust case pti cadres livid; imran can file appeal The couple are accused of accepting a gift of land from Malik Riaz, a realty tycoon. The case centres on allegations that $240 million, returned to Pakistan by the UK as part of a settlement with Malik Riaz, was misused. Instead of going into the national treasury, the funds were redirected to benefit the businessman who helped Khan and Bibi establish a university ■ ■ The judgment comes amidst the ongoing negotiation between the government and Khan’s PTI to address the instability in Pakistan Shortly after the verdict, lawmakers from Khan’s PTI protested outside Parliament in Islamabad, saying the former PM had been wrongly punished. Khan can file an appeal against the order | P11 $240 mn said to be misappropriated by khan and his accomplice 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 Israel nod to truce deal a step away ED attaches 142 assets MUDA case First hostages to be freed Sunday; Hamas should furnish hostages’ names by Saturday Naysayer in cabinet a p & a g en c i e s @ Jerusalem ISRAEL’s security cabinet on Friday recommended approval of a ceasefire deal after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed an agreement had been reached that would pause the 15-month war with Hamas in Gaza and release dozens of hostages held by militants there. Mediators Qatar and the US announced the ceasefire on Wednesday, but the deal was uncertain as Netanyahu insisted there were last-minute snags he blamed on Hamas. The truce deal now goes to the full Israeli cabinet for its final approval. The cabinet is Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir threatened to quit if a ceasefire is approved, although his resignation wouldn’t derail the ceasefire deal. His resignation could, however, destabilise the coalition govt cobbled together by Netanyahu expected to approve the pact. Netanyahu instructed a special task force to prepare to receive hostages returning from Gaza, and said their families were informed about the deal. The prime minister’s office said the ceasefire could start Sunday when the first hostages are freed. Under the deal, 33 of some 100 hostages in Gaza will be released over six weeks in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. As for Israel, its forces will have to pull back from many areas in Gaza, allowing hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to return to what’s left of their homes. The remaining hostages, including male soldiers, are to be released in a second — and much more difficult — phase. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir voted against the deal at the security cabinet, but were in a minority . Israel’s Justice Ministry published a list of Palestinian prisoners slated for release in the first phase. The list includes 95 women and children held in Israeli jails. The deal stipulates that Hamas provide Israel with names of the hostages it will release by Sunday . Several clues found in Saif case, says CM A g en c i e s @ Mumbai A day after actor Saif Ali Khan was stabbed multiple times in Mumbai home, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said the police have found several clues in the case and will arrest the culprit soon. Fadnavis, who holds the home portfolio, said: “Police investigation is going on....they have got many clues and I feel the police will very soon zero in.” More than 30 teams are on the lookout for the culprit. And minister ruled out an underworld link to the brutal attack. The police picked up a carpenter as he resembled the intruder, and brought him to the Bandra police station for questioning, but released him later. “This seems to be a stray incident. The intruder was not working for any gang as per prima facie investigation. He probably was not even aware whose house he had entered in,” a police officer said on condition of anonymity . Budget session from January 31 Parliament’s Budget session will begin on January 31. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will table her 8th straight budget on February 1 | P9 khel ratnas President Droupadi Murmu presents Khel Ratnas to (from left) Paris Olympic double medallist Manu Bhaker, Paris Para-Olympics gold winner Praveen Kumar, Paris Olympic hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh and world chess champion D Gukesh | PTI | P13 BJP decides to go all out on one-nation-one-poll plan RA J E SH KUMAR THAKUR & J AYA N TH J ACOB @ New Delhi Signalling its resolve to roll out the ‘one nation, one election’ plan, the BJP has constituted a high-powered committee chaired by Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan to shape public opinion and align its own state and local body governments with the importance of the idea. BJP leaders Sunil Bansal, Om Prakash Dhankhar, Surendra Nagar, Kamakhaya Prasad Tasa and Anil Antony are the other members of the panel. The six-member team will plan th e outre ach p ro grammes and campaigns in this regard even as a Joint Parliamentary Committee on the matter, chaired by BJP leader P P Chaudhary, is deliberating the issue. In March last year, a panel led by former President Ram Nath Kovind proposed the idea of holding state and general elections simultaneously in its 18,626-page report. An introductory meeting of the Chauhan-led committee has already been held, and a detailed meeting will take place in the coming days, where the complete roadmap for the plan will be chalked out, sources told this newspaper. The committee may also be expanded, they added. According to a BJP functionary, the plan is to draw a strategy to bring on board every stake holder as the party is confident of getting past the hurdles for passing the necessary constitutional amendments. The BJP wants to have a synchronised approach from its leaders, office-bearers, legislators, and local body representatives to “constantly and comprehensively” address the topic in public forums. The party also intends to engage Bar Associations, Chambers of Commerce, women’s self-help groups and various student organisations in the campaign. Armed gang storms M’luru bank,  loots jewellery worth `4 crore lice teams have been formed to nab the gang. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e  @ Mangaluru In a daring daylight robbery a , gang of 5-6 members broke into Vyavasaya Seva Sahakara Sangha Bank at Kotekar near Mangaluru on Friday and took away gold jewellery and other valuables estimated at Rs 4 crore. According to Mangaluru city police commissioner Anupam Agrawal, the gang members, aged between 35 and 40, entered the bank between 1pm and 1.20pm. They wore masks and carried a pistol and machetes. They threatened the bank employees in Hindi and forced them to open the vault, where gold jewellery and other valuables were kept. The gang members damaged a printer, forci- CM holds meeting Chief Minister Siddaramaiah meets top police officers after the bank robbery in Mangaluru on Friday | Express bly took mobile phones from the employees and snatched a ring from a CCTV technician in the bank. At the time of robbery, there were only five employees and there was no security guard. After putting the valuables into bags, the gang members escaped in a black car towards KC Road junction. Special po- Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who was in Mangaluru, held an emergency meeting with senior police officers and directed them to initiate swift action to nab the gang members. Expressing shock over the daylight robbery, Siddaramaiah sought to know how the gang members managed to cross the toll gates on the city’s outskirts. “How can they cross the toll gates if security was tight?” he asked the officers. The CM ordered the officers to  tighten security at all toll gates and start “nakabandi” across Dakshina Kannada and neighbouring districts. Shivraj Singh Chauhan Chauhan to lead outreach Six-member panel to direct campaigns and outreach initiatives to bring on board stakeholders Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan to head the panel BJP believes constant poll preoccupation is disrupting the country’s development press Intake Preliminary CID probe reveals Ravi used abusive language | P4 HC stays proceedings against Rahul in defamation case | P4 Indians in Russian army: 12 dead, 16 missing, 18 serving | P9 Agree with Army Chief’s stand on LAC, says MEA | P9 worth `300 crore E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e  @ Bengaluru The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Bengaluru, has provisionally attached 142 immovable properties with a market value of about Rs 300 crore under the provisions of the PMLA, 2002, in connection with a case against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and others.  The attached properties are in the names of individuals working as real estate businessmen and agents, according to a statement issued by the ED. The ED launched an investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by Lokayukta Police, Mysuru, under various Sections of IPC, 1860, and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, against Siddaramaiah and others. The Lokayukta Police are investigating the MUDA sites allotment case against Siddaramaiah and others. It is alleged that Siddaramaiah used his political influence to get 14 compensation sites in the name of his wife BM Parvathi in lieu of 3 acres and 16 guntas of land acquired by MUDA. The land was originally acquired by MUDA for Rs 3,24,700. The compensation in the form of 14 sites at a posh locality is said to be worth Rs 56 crore.For mer MUDA commissioner DB Natesh played an important role in the alleged illegal allotment of sites to Parvathi. Searches conducted during the investigation revealed that many sites, other than those allotted to Parvathi, have been illegally allotted by MUDA as compensation to real estate businessmen, who in turn sold them generating a huge amount of unaccounted cash. The profit so generated has been laundered and showed as derived from legitimate sources, the release stated. The searches revealed that sites were allotted to benamis of influential persons and real estate businessmen. The incriminating evidence with regard to payment of illegal gratification to then MUDA chairman and MUDA commissioner in the form of immovable property, MUDA sites, cash, etc., were recovered. The illegal gratification was laundered and showed as derived out of legitimate sources, the release stated. It was also revealed that money was routed through a cooperative society for purchase of property luxury vehi, cles, etc., in the names of relatives of GT Dinesh Kumar, who was the commissioner of MUDA, the release stated. 24,000 quintals of jowar found worm-infested E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bengaluru Nearly 24,000 quintals of jowar worth Rs 6 crore stored in the godown of the Karnataka State Warehousing Corporation (KSWC) in Ballari was found unfit for consumption. However, this worm-infested jowar was supplied to fair price shops in and around Ballari district. This came to light when Upa Lokayukta Justice B Veerappa visited the godown of Unit-2 of KSWC on Friday . In all, 48,000 bags of jowar, each weighing 50kg, were found worm-infested. When Justice Veerappa, accompanied by deputy registrar Aravind NV and others questioned, Sharavathi, manager of the Ballari unit of the KSWC, and Sakina, deputy director of Food and Civil Supplies, said they obtained a certificate from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) on March 29, 2024, that “jowar is fit” for consumption. Jowar was sent to Haveri and other districts for distribution through fair price shops. The Upa Lokayukta told the officials that it was not fit even for animals to consume. In all, 48,000 bags of jowar were wasted because of negligence on the part of the officials concerned, he said. CONTINUED ON: P5