hyderabad l friday l november 07, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 36 l late city EDITION ED attaches properties worth `11.14 cr of dhawan, raina Enforcement Directorate has said it has attached assets of ex-cricket stars Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina as part of a money-laundering probe Shikhar Dhawan Suresh Raina stars endorsed knowingly, says agency The ED’s probe has found that the former cricketers ‘knowingly’ entered into endorsement agreements with foreign entities for the promotion of 1xBet and its surrogates. A provisional order has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to attach a commercial land in Delhi of Dhawan worth `4.5 cr and a mutual fund of Raina worth `6.64 cr ■ `1,000 cr Assets considered as proceeds of crime ■ The ED considers the two ex-cricketers’ assets as “proceeds of crime” of illegal betting. ED order can be appealed before Adjudicating Authority of the PMLA and other legal forums ED also said it has detected 6,000 mule bank accounts. Multiple police FIRs formed the basis for ED to launch the probe | P7 expected to be total amount involved in the scam 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 Pune land scam puts Ajit Pawar’s son in trouble Govt bid to delay S u d h i r S u r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai In a major embarrassment to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, his elder son Parth on Thursday faced charges of grabbing 40 acres of prime land in Pune at a throwaway price of `300 crore against the market rate of `2,000 crore. The land in question is part of ‘Mahar Vatan’, which was distributed by the government to landless Dalits for cultiva- Secretary Vikas Kharge into tion on the condition the scam. An FIR was that it can’t be bought also registered against or sold. Yet, Parth manboth the buyer and the aged to acquire the land seller, and a revenue deparcel from Gaikwad partment official was families. placed under suspenWhile Ajit Pawar sion for waiving stamp claimed he had no idea duty and land registraParth Pawar about the land deal, tion fees. Chief Minister DevenJust a few months dra Fadnavis ordered a high- ago, Parth and his relative, level probe by Additional Chief Digvijay Amarsinh Patil regis- tered an infotech firm called Almada and passed a resolution on April 22 to develop an IT park in Pune. Almada then submitted a proposal to develop an IT park on that 40-acre parcel of land, saying it will generate thousands of jobs. Almada paid just `500 as fees for the land title, against `25 crore as real stamp duty and registration fees. Uddhav raps Fadnavis Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray attacked the Fadnavis government for the land scam. He said while farmers are struggling, the ministers’ children are grabbing the prime land at throwaway prices. “Earlier, scams against DCM Eknath Shinde’s group were coming out; now, Ajit Pawar is on target from the BJP, Uddhav alleged Bets match JH skyscrapers as bypoll nears i r e d dy s r i n i vas r e d dy @ Hyderabad Voters wait in a queue to cast votes at a booth at Danapur in Patna during the first phase polling on Thursday | PTI Record 64.7% turnout in 1st phase of polling Bihar Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar (top) and others after casting their votes in Patna; RJD’s Tejashwi with Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi | PTI comparison of bihar Assembly voter turnouts 3 Hindu ST 23.3 Phase 1 Hindu SC Highest voting (%) Muzaffarpur 70.96% Samastipur 70.63% Begusarai 47.2 69.27% Hindu OBC Lowest voting (%) Bhojpur 58.27% Patna 57.93% 15.5 Hindu Others 0.03 Non-Muslim and non-Hindu 11 Muslim Source: NFHS 2019-21 Highest 62.04 62.57 57.29 57.28 61.79 56.91 52.79 52.73 56.27 51.51 44.47 46.5 2020 OCT 2005 2015 2000 1995 1985 1990 1980 1977 1972 1969 1967 1962 43.24 1957 45.83 Feb 42.6 2010 50.51 Lowest 1951 THE first phase of the Bihar assembly election on Thursday recorded a voter turnout of 64.66% at the close of polling in 121 constituencies in 18 districts, marking a largely peaceful exercise. This is the highest turnout since 1951 in Bihar. Chief Electoral Officer Vinod Singh Gunjiyal said polling was conducted at 45,341 booths, including 36,733 in rural areas. The election follows a special revision of electoral rolls, which now lists 7.24 crore voters — around 60 lakh fewer than before the exercise. Wo m e n v o t e r s turned out in large numbers, outpacing men at several booths. Many first-time voters also flocked enthusiastically to polling stations, officials said. A minor incident occurred when Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha’s convoy was attacked with slippers and stones in Khoriari village, Lakhisarai. Sinha, who is contesting from Lakhisarai, alleged that RJD supporters were behind the attack and demanded the deployment of special forces. Local residents said the protest reflected anger over poor roads and civic neglect. In another incident, CPI(ML) candidate from Manjhi, Satyendra Yadav, faced stone pelting in Saran’s Jaitpur area. No injuries were reported, said Add i t i o n a l D G P Ku n d a n Krishnan. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar cast his vote in Bakhtiyarpur, while RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav voted in Patna, asserting that ‘badlaav hoga’ (there will be change). Rabri Devi, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Tej Pratap Yadav, and MP Misa Bharti also cast their votes early in the day . Rabri Devi extended good wishes to both her sons as they contest separately from Mahua and Raghopur. For the first time in 20 years, voters in Naxal-hit Bhimbandh of Munger participated in polling. Voting had been suspended there since 2005 following the killing of SP C Surendra Babu and seven policemen. The RJD alleged deliberate power cuts in Mahagathbandhan strongholds to slow down voting, a charge the CEO dismissed as baseless. Prominent candidates in this phase include Tejashwi Prasad Yadav (RJD–Raghopur), Samrat Choudhary (BJP–Tarapur), Maithili Thakur (BJP–Aliganj), Khesari Lal Yadav (RJD–Chhapra), and Ritesh Pandey (Jan Suraaj–Kargahar). P8 Phase 1 Population distribution by social group(%) Convoy of Deputy CM attacked in Lakhisarai; RJD claims ‘discrepancies’ in its strongholds r a m a s h a n k a r @ Patna Phase 2 : Nov 11 Phase 1 Astronomical sums are reportedly at stake ahead of the high-profile Jubilee Hills byelection, with punters taking wagers in crores on Congress candidate Naveen Yadav and his BRS opponent Maganti Sunitha. According to sources, betting networks involving politicians from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have become active, with several current and former AP legislators allegedly wagering large sums. The volume of bets from AP leaders is reportedly higher than that from Telangana. Some AP leaders are said to have bet on BRS candidate Sunitha at 1:4 odds, where a `1 crore wager could yield `4 crore, while others backed Congress candidate Naveen Yadav at 1:2 odds, expecting `2 crore returns for every `1 crore if Congress wins. The betting operations are reportedly being managed from a prominent club in Jubilee Hills, where organisers conduct their own surveys and accept bets late in the evening, after 9.30 pm, when high-profile campaigners wrap up their day’s events. Meanwhile in Hyderabad, sources claimed that individual bets range between `2 crore and `10 crore. Wagers placed on the BRS candidate could return four times the investment, while those on the Congress candidate could double the original amount. A few former MLAs and MPs from AP are said to be staying in Hyderabad and plan to do so until polling concludes. Some participants are also betting on victory margins, with wagers on either candidate winning by fewer than 5,000 or 3,000 votes. These bets, too, are reportedly being offered at a 1:2 ratio. Sources estimated that the overall betting volume could exceed `500 crore by polling day and continue until exit polls are released by leading survey agencies. hearings to avoid my bench: Gavai SUCHITRA K A LYAN M O HANTY @ New Delhi CHIEF Justice of India B R Gavai on Thursday expressed strong displeasure over the Centre’s repeated attempts to seek adjournment of the hearing on a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021. The matter was slated for hearing on Friday. On Thursday additional solicitor gener, al Aishwarya Bhati moved a request for adjournment on behalf of Attorney General R Venkataramani, citing the latter’s international arbitration commitments. Making a sharp observation, Gavai said it looks like the government is trying to avoid the bench headed by him since he has only a few days left for retirement. Gavai will demit office on November 23. Mentioning the matter before the bench, Bhati said the case is important and requires the A-G’s assistance and hence the adjournment request be accommodated. “We have accommodated you twice already How many more? . If you want it after November 24, tell us then. Very unfair to the court. Every time you seek accommodation for international arbitration. You have a CJI irked by repeated adjournment pleas A request for adjournment was made on Monday as well, when Attorney General R Venkataramani raised a preliminary objection saying the matter needs to be referred to a larger bench. However, the CJI rejected it, saying it should have been raised at an earlier stage battery of lawyers and then you file midnight applications seeking reference to larger benches!” said the bench, also comprising justices K Vinod Chandran and Vipul M Pancholi, adding that the court does not expect the Union “to indulge in such tactics”. The bench eventually asked senior advocate Arvind Datar representing one of the petitioners, to continue with his submissions on Friday and accommodate the A-G’s submissions on Monday “If he (A-G) . does not come, we will close the matter,” the CJI said. new bombshell Gopinath’s mom: Wasn’t allowed to see son in hospital E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Hyderabad Maganti Mahananda Kumari, the mother of late MLA Maganti Gopinath, on Thursday alleged that BRS working president KT Rama Rao and the pink party’s candidate for the Jubilee Hills seat Maganti Sunitha had made her son’s death a “mystery”. She said that Rama Rao “should answer for this”. It may be mentioned here that following Gopinath’s death on June 6, Sunitha had requested the deputy collector and tahsildar of Serilingampally to issue a family certificate. Based on her request, the tahsildar issued a notice inviting claims or objections. As none were received, a family certificate was issued in Sunitha’s favour on July 4. Subsequently, Gopinath’s mother filed a complaint against Sunitha, levelling allegations and seeking cancellation of the certificate. The Rajendranagar RDO conducted an inquiry set aside the earlier certifi, cate, and directed the tahsildar to hold a fresh inquiry . As part of the proceedings, Mahananda Kumari appeared before the tahsildar on Thursday. Speaking to reporters later, she said, “They did not allow me or Gopinath’s brother to see him when he was in hospital. Even when I asked KTR, he refused to let me see my son. The hospital was instructed not to inform us about his health.”  Continued on P4 unstoppable unbeatable Sheetal matches the able-bodied She’s always been a winner, says Arundhati’s mom c h a n d r a p r a b h u @ Chennai Sheetal in English translates to ‘cool’, ‘calm’ and even ‘peaceful’. Using the bow with her leg and string pulled by mouth, she is all of the above while releasing the arrow. Sheetal Devi doesn’t have hands to pull and shoot but compensates with other limbs and whatever means she can to pursue her passion — archery . The para-archer who has broken quite a few glass-ceilings in her short but astonishingly successful career set another gold standard on Thursday She . became the first para-archer in the country to secure a place in Sheetal Devi | PTI the junior able-bodied India team for the Asia Cup Stage 3 to be held in Jeddah next month. Any player would have been satisfied with a para-world archery championships gold. But Sheetal has not stopped with para-Olympic and para-World Championships medals. Because of her exceptional talent, she was adamant on competing with able-bodied archers. “I didn’t make it at first, but I kept going, learning from every setback. Today, that dream is one step closer,” she wrote on social media. Sharma later gave an insight to her resolve and resilience. She competed alongside 60 archers over four days. “She was coming back from a month’s break and we wanted to take part in some competition,” said the coach. “We did not think beyond that. All she wanted was to perform well. She worked hard and her qualification is a result of it.”  P11 Arundhati Reddy from Hyderabad, a member of the World Cup winning Indian cricket team, hugs her mother upon arriving at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport on Thursday | SRI LOGANATHAN K h yat i S h a h @ Hyderabad It was not long ago in Hyderabad that Bhagya Reddy a single , mother, juggled multiple jobs and household responsibilities while nurturing her daughter Arundhati Reddy’s dream of playing cricket for India. Her days began before sunrise — preparing meals, managing work, and finding time to watch her daughter practise in the lanes of their neighbourhood where Arundhati often played with boys. The whispers of doubt from neighbours never stopped, but Bhagya chose to ignore them. Years later, when Prime Min- VELMURUGAN ister Narendra Modi spoke to the Indian women’s cricket team after their historic World Cup win, his words struck a deep chord. For Bhagya, those words were personal. “He motivates not just athletes, but families like ours,” she said in an interview with TNIE. For this mother, the victory was more than a sporting milestone. It was the culmination of years of sacrifice and faith, and relentless belief. Arundhati, who could not play in the tournament due to injury, still remained at the heart of the team. As fireworks lit up skies across the nation, the celebration felt especially intimate in one corner of Hyderabad. For Bhagya Reddy, this triumph was not just India’s win — it was a victory for every parent who dared to believe in their daughter’s dreams.  Full interview on P5