mangaluru l friday l september 12, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION Trump ally shot at utah college ceremony, dies shortly after Charlie Kirk, who played a huge role in rallying young Republicans, was assassinated while speaking at a campus early on Thursday utah governor: a political assassination Kirk was speaking on gun violence Authorities say Kirk was killed with a single shot from a rooftop. The killer then slipped away amid the hubhub of screams at Utah Valley University campus. “This is a dark day for our state. It’s a tragic day for our nation,” said Utah governor Spencer Cox. “I want to be very clear, this is a political assassination.” Authorities did not immediately identify a motive ■ ■ Immediately before the shooting, Kirk was taking questions from an audience member about mass shootings and gun violence Trump announced he’ll posthumously award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Charlie Kirk, co-founder and CEO of Turning Point; while blaming the rhetoric of the ‘radical left’ for the killing | P11 3,000 people were in attendance at the university when kirk was shot 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 Delhi court junks plea CRPF missive to Rahul for probe against Sonia on security irks Cong E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi Protesters outside Nepal’s army headquarters during a curfew in Kathmandu on Thursday | AFP Nepal talks stuck on new govt head Gen Z wants Karki, Army favours pro-monarchy Prasai C urfew remains in effect across much of Nepal, particularly in the Kathmandu Valley as the Gen , Z protests enters the fourth day Life is becoming . increasingly difficult for ordinary citizens, especially those who depend on daily wages to sustain themselves. “We are leaderless at the moment, but we are not without a country As long as we have . our Constitution, we are secure,” Tanuja Pandey, a Gen Z protester, told this reporter. She explained that multiple reasons had been presented against their choice of Sushila Karki as prime minister of the Interim Government. However, Gen Z had united in support of Karki because of her corruption-free reputation. Pandey added that Gen Z had repeatedly requested the Army to facilitate a meeting with President Ram Chandra Poudyal, though so far, all meetings have been conducted only with the Chief of Army Ashok Raj Sigdel. The determination of Gen Z to establish the Interim Government with Sushila Karki as PM is growing stronger by the day. Karki agreed and received widespread support from the public. However, some backlash has emerged. Namrata Sharma Opposition seems to be coming primarily from the Army, which reportedly Senior journalist and women rights advocate. favours Durga Prasai, a pro-monarchy Sharma can be reached at figure. The President also appears to namrata1964@yahoo.com prefer another candidate from among @NamrataSharmaP the current parliamentarians rather than Sushila Karki. This push to nominate someone from the existing parliament, rather than Karki, is causing friction with Gen Z. A press release signed by the President stated that he is seeking a solution based on constitutional provisions and urged citizens to remain calm and patient, emphasising respect for the current Constitution. Meanwhile, under repeated pressure from Army Chief to propose a new candidate, Gen Z may now hold another virtual discussion. One potential alternative being considered is Santosh Pariyar, Chief Whip of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and a proportional representative from the Dalit category elected in 2022. An excellent choice, nonetheless, the majority of Gen Z remains united in supporting Sushila Karki, preferring a leader outside of existing political parties to guide the Interim Government and oversee elections under the current constitution.  Continued on: P9 express read Nod to Karnataka Ratna for Vishnu, Saroja Devi Bengaluru: The state Cabinet on Thursday decided to recommend the Union government to confer the Bharat Ratna posthumously to Rashtrakavi Kuvempu, and also gave its approval to award the Karnataka Ratna posthumously on actors Vishnuvardhan and B Sarojadevi. 10 Maoists gunned down by forces in Chhattisgarh Raipur: Ten Maoist cadres, including a Central Committee member of CPI (Maoist), were gunned down by security forces in Gariaband district of Chhattisgarh on Thursday. The exchange of firing is still on close to the Matal forested hilly terrain | P10 A Delhi court on Thursday rejected a plea seeking a probe against Congress leader Sonia Gandhi over her inclusion in electoral rolls prior to becoming an Indian citizen in 1983. While dismissing the complaint, filed by advocate Vikas Tripathi, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Vaibhav Chaurasia said the court has no jurisdiction over matters of citizenship and electoral rolls. The authority to determine a person’s eligibility to be included in or excluded from the electoral roll is vested solely in the Election Commission of India, the court said, adding that the issue of citizenship falls within the domain of the Central government. According to the petition, Gandhi’s name was added to the New Delhi constituency voter list in January 1980, three years before she became an Indian citizen. During the hearing, the complainant’s counsel senior advocate Pavan Narang pointed out that Gandhi’s name was deleted in 1982 and re-entered in 1983, coinciding with her getting Indian citizenship. He claimed the Election Commission must have detected an anomaly that prompted the deletion. This, he argued, merited investigation. Driver stripped, beaten up for harassing girl I am consulting and making every effort to find a way out of the current difficult situation in the country within the constitutional framework Ramchandra Paudel, Nepal President SC, banks to resume functioning Nepal’s Supreme Court and banks are set to open in Kathmandu with the relaxation in curfew for a few hours Visa power for foreign nationals Foreigners with valid visas up to Sept 8 and who want to depart shall be granted exit nod without more fee, the govt said E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Bengaluru SWIFT justice is here, in full public view. A 22-year-old private bus driver was stripped and assaulted by the public and the family members of a minor girl near Sri Basaveshwara Circle (Chalukya Circle) on Thursday after he allegedly harassed the girl sexually . The accused has been identified as Mohammed Arif (22), a native of Hyderabad in Telangana who was the spare driver of the bus. The High Grounds police have arrested the accused under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. According to the police, the 15-year-old victim was travelling from Hyderabad to Bengaluru in the sleeper bus. She had gone to her elder sister’s house in Hyderabad. Her sister had booked a bus ticket to Bengaluru for her. The victim boarded the bus on Wednesday night. Since her mobile phone battery was running low, she approached Arif around 1 am on Thursday and gave him her phone for charging. CONTINUED ON P5 Student’s mom forced to hand over mangalsutra to meet fees R a g h o t ta m K o p pa r @ K o p p a l TILL death do them apart, a woman does not remove her mangalsutra tied by her man. But Renukamma Valikar had to do that with her inconsolable husband in front of her to ensure that her daughter can pursue her nursing education dream. Kaveri, a first-year student of BSc Nursing at a private nursing college in Gangavathi, had paid Rs 10,000 as fee during the admission process a few days ago and had requested more time to pay the remaining amount, Rs 90,000. Meanwhile, she got a free merit seat in Government Nursing College in Gadag. When Kaveri’s parents went to the college with their daughter to ask for the original documents submitted during the admission, the college chairman demanded full payment of fees. He said if they did not have the cash, they should give their gold ornaments, including mangalsutra. Left with no choice, Renukamma removed her mangalsutra and other gold ornaments and gave them to the chairman. Renukamma said: “I am sad that I had to remove my mangalsutra in front of my husband.”  CONTINUED ON P5 I have been asking for the fees and they used to postpone it. They said they do not have money and her mother removed her mangalsutra and ornaments and gave them to me. But we returned them the next day BC Chinawalar, college chairman PR E E THA N AIR @ New Delhi Sonia Gandhi Rahul Gandhi ‘Misuse of process of law’ ‘Sudden changes pose risk’ The court said the plea amounts to a misuse of the process of law by projecting a civil dispute in the garb of criminality CRPF does recce of the locations to be visited by Rahul, but his unannounced movements pose a risk to his security, officials said THE Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has written to Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi about security protocol violations during his travel within India and outside. The letter, also addressed to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, drew a sharp reaction from the Congress, which questioned the timing of the communication and wondered whether it was a ‘veiled attempt’ to intimidate its leader who just announced ‘another imminent disclosure’ on the alleged ‘vote theft’. In the letter, the VIP security unit of the paramilitary force flagged several instances of Rahul Gandhi’s “unscheduled movements without intimation” during his travel. The letter also referred to his trips to Italy, Vietnam, Dubai, Qatar, London, and Malaysia. An official said the CRPF had sent similar letters to Gandhi in the past too. The official added that the politician violated the protocols mentioned in the Yellow Book of the CRPF. The CRPF VIP security wing provides the top category Z plus (ASL) armed protection to Gandhi, while 10-12 armed commandos give proximate security cover during his travel.