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 ■ ■ 6.50 am: CJP founder Abhijit Dipke leaves Mumbai hotel for Delhi, boards flight with Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka 10 am: YouTuber Dhruv Rathee detained from Gurugram house 10.50 am: Dipke, Das and Ranka detained from the aircraft as their flight from Mumbai lands at IGI Airport in Delhi 11.30 am: Police chase away CJP protesters trying to reach Jantar Mantar. Protesters kept regrouping for the next few hours Several Left members, lawyers march from Supreme Court towards Jantar Mantar, detained Police step up security at Dipke’s home in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar People heading to Jantar Mantar detained and taken to Chhatrasal Stadium in north Delhi Dipke, Das and Ranka sent to three different locations 12.20 pm: Mahatma Gandhi’s greatgrandson detained from his residence in Mumbai 12.30 pm 6 am: Stringent traffic restrictions imposed in New Delhi district, especially on roads leading to Jantar Mantar 12 noon Dawn to dusk HYDERABAD l sunday l october 11, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l LATE CITY EDITION CJP’s Abhijeet Dipke and Ashutosh Ranka before their detention on Saturday | PTI Contempt plea filed in SC against authorities for violation of the court’s direction to ensure no inconvenience to common people during protest CPM MP John Brittas and former Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, on their way to Jantar Mantar, detained Delhi interrupted Massive crackdown during CJP-led agitation, its top brass picked up from plane; 7,000 protesters and 4 former CMs detained, special hearing of SC today on detentions INSIDE Riyadh airport attacked again | P9 Police detain activists during a protest organised by CJP demanding the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar in Delhi; and (inset) Pinarayi Vijayan detained | parveen negi Who is Ajinkya Shinde BJP hits out at Oppn A native of Latur district in Maharashtra, Shinde will lead the next phase of CJP’s agitation. Shinde, 35, hails from Ujani of Latur, and is a computer engineer. He played a key role in planning CJP’s five-week-long July protest. The BJP said the protest meant to take the city “hostage” turned out to be a “flop show”. BJP president Nitin Nabin accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Kejriwal and CJP of destabilising the country with the backing of foreign forces. CM Rekha Gupta asserted that Gandhi and Kejriwal are turning Delhi into a battleground. What next: SC hearing, INDIA march INSIDE The Delhi Police is expected to continue with its deployment on Sunday as well, with the CJP saying the protests would continue “with or without leaders”. Later, Ajinkya Shinde issued a call to CJP followers to assemble at Jantar Mantar at 10 am on Sunday. In a related development, the Supreme Court will hold a special Sunday hearing on a petition by senior advocate Maneka Guruswamy against the detentions the previous day. On Monday, the INDIA bloc has planned to submit a memorandum to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant seeking his intervention in the stir against the CEC, Gyanesh Kumar Congress sits out | P7 INDIA bloc plans protest | P7 Sonam Wangchuk’s warning | P7 1.15 pm: Dipke releases a video that he recorded in the flight, hands over the protest’s command to Ajinkya Shinde 2 pm:AISA national president Neha Bora detained in south Delhi 2.30 pm: Former West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and other Trinamool leaders detained after dharna in Delhi’s South Avenue 3 pm: Former Delhi CM and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal detained; released later at night 5.15 pm: Rahul Gandhi issues statement backing CJP U d aya n K i s h o r e & A n u p V e r m a @ New Delhi THE national capital was placed under siege on Saturday as police launched a sweeping crackdown on protesters attempting to march to Jantar Mantar to demand the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Police detained Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, and four former chief ministers: Pinarayi Vijayan, Mamata Banerjee, Manik Sarkar and Arvind Kejriwal. In all, about 7,000 protesters were taken into custody . While the government managed to thwart mass mobilisation at Jantar Mantar by putting up barricades at every 50 metres, the Opposition denounced the situation as “worse than the Emergency”. Throughout the day , loudspeakers blared warnings to protesters against assembling amid the deployment of over 30,000 security personnel and waves of barricades in Lutyens’ Delhi, giving it a fortresslike look. CPM general secretary M A Baby, veteran leader Brinda Karat, CPI(M-L) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, activist Yogendra Yadav, lawyer Prashant Bhushan and All India Students’ Association (AISA) president Neha Bora were also detained from different places during the day Several Left leaders were de. tained outside Kerala Bhawan, where some CPI(M) leaders had stayed overnight. They raised slogans against the government before being taken away in buses. Dipke, Das and Ranka were de- With the rupee sniffing at 97 a dollar, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Saturday announced a slew of measures in a desperate bid to stem the freefall of the national currency . It drastically slashed the forex derivative positions a bank can hold in the net open position to just $5 million from the already curbed $100 million, to curb speculation. The central bank also barred authorised dealers from rebooking cancelled rupee-linked derivative contracts and introduced a 20% cash reserve requirement for large transactions to strengthen market discipline. That apart, it also opened a special dollar window for oil importers. On Friday, it had raised the minimum daily maintenance requirement for the cash reserve ratio (CRR) from 90% to 99% of the prescribed requirement, effective October 16. This was the first time since July 2013 that the RBI had increased the daily CRR requirement following pressure on the rupee, which OMCs get spl window The RBI created a special window for oil marketing companies (OMCs) to take the dollar demand away from the spot market. Three state-run OMCs are one of the biggest consumers for the dollar has already lost more than 7% this year after the US Fed began tightening. The measures come amid evolving conditions in the forex market and are aimed at ensuring its orderly function- ing, the central bank said. Under the revised norms, authorised dealers will not be permitted to allow users to rebook any foreign exchange derivative contract involving the rupee, whether deliverable or non-deliverable, if it was cancelled with an authorised dealer after issuance of the directions. Rollover of contracts on maturity will continue to be permitted, subject to existing regulatory requirements. The RBI also tightened documentation requirements to prevent the same underlying exposure from being hedged through multiple authorised dealers. NIA probes mid-air attack on Captain Machchhar Sr minister’s bid to push MLC nominee out has Congress walking a tightrope Express News Service A senior minister is reportedly pressing one of the MLC nominees to withdraw from the contest, once again bringing differences within the Telangana Congress to the fore. According to highly placed sources, the minister has repeatedly asked the candidate to step aside, warning that it would be difficult to establish a political foothold in the districts without his support. T h e c a n d i d a t e, however, does not ap- @ New Delhi The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has registered a case and launched an investigation into the September 30 hijacking attempt of a Flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv, in which Indian Captain Smit Machchhar was injured. The probe is to “unearth the larger conspiracy”, officials said. The NIA is empowered to investigate terror cases abroad that involve Indian citizens. The FIR, registered on October 9, invokes Section 3 of the Anti-Hijacking Act, 2016, and Section 16 read with Section 15(1)(a) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. It said the information “discloses the commission of offences against an Indian national, Captain Smit Machchhar.” According to the FIR, on September 30, 2026, the Omani first officer of flydubai flight no 1073 stabbed the Indian pilot, Captain Machchhar, mid-air “in an apparent attempt to hijack or cause it to crash”. The case was registered on the direction of the Union home ministry . I r e d dy S r i n i vas R e d dy @ Hyderabad pear ready to throw in the towel and has approached the state leadership and senior AICC leaders for their intervention. This has left the state leadership in a fix: How does it handle an accusation against a senior minister without ruffling feathers? Even as preparations for the election continue, the candidate seems to be weighing a trip to Delhi to take up the matter directly with the Congress high command if the pressure persists. The question doing the rounds is whether the minister has a personal grouse against the candidate or is simply miffed that his opinion was not sought before the AICC finalised the name. There was apparently an attempt to settle the matter. Sources said a meeting was held with the minister three days ago to discuss the minister’s objections to the candidature, and party leaders came away believing the issue had been resolved. Yet, the pressure on the candidate to withdraw is said to have intensified over the past two days. The minister is also accused of abusing the candidate, adding to concerns among the candidate’s supporters about what might happen next. Continued on p4 8.15 pm: SC agrees to hear habeas corpus plea by TMC MP and senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy on detention of lawyers on Sunday tained from inside the aircraft as soon as their flight landed at the IGI Airport from Mumbai. “We are here to be arrested, come and arrest us,” Dipke could be heard telling police officers who entered the aircraft. Rathee, who lives abroad and had come to India to join the CJP protest, was detained from Gurugram. The Congress was conspicuous by its absence from the protest. However, Rahul Gandhi, who was in Chennai for the Chhatron Ki Goonj event, urged the youth to “keep protesting” and asserting that “we are going to ensure that this regime and the people who have attacked the Constitution are defeated.” The detentions did not deter the protesters from trying to reach the venue. Left student unions managed to reach the BJP headquarters. However, they were detained as soon as they started protesting. A large number of police personnel detained groups of protesters from several places, including Hanuman Temple, Akashvani Bhavan, Safdarjung Flyover and Kerala House. The police detained a few others who managed to reach the Jantar Mantar site. Around 1 pm, some protesters hurled stones at security personnel near Akashvani Bhavan after jumping barricades, injuring two police personnel. The protesters were quickly detained by security personnel. Police had arranged over 200 buses, being used to detain and transfer protesters. In an unprecedented move, police entered Gurdwara Bangla Sahib, and detained several protesters who had taken refuge there. All mosques and temples in the vicinity of Jantar Mantar were shut. Slew of RBI steps to rescue the rupee B e n n K o c h u v e e d a n @ Mumbai protestors all hands on deck Chalo Delhi, Revanth tells Cong leaders Express News Service @ Hyderabad Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy chairs a review meet in Hyderabad on Saturday El Nino: State to focus on power, water supply E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Hyderabad The state government on Saturday made it clear that it would take all possible measures to ensure uninterrupted power supply and adequate water for citizens despite the rainfall deficit. Chairing a review meeting at his Jubilee Hills residence on Saturday Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy directed offi, cials to prepare comprehensive action plans to offset the impact of El Nino, warning that the next eight months would be crucial in managing the emerging challenges. The meeting focused on ensuring drinking water, irrigation and electricity supplies, besides protecting standing crops from the impact of deficient rainfall. The chief minister said the government must anticipate potential problems and take precautionary measures rather than wait for the situation to worsen. With power availability in the market becoming increasingly scarce, Revanth directed officials to ensure the prudent use of electricity and consider temporarily postponing power-intensive activities wherever possible. He said the government was prepared to incur the necessary expenditure to procure electricity to meet the state’s requirements. He also instructed senior officials in the Chief Minister’s Office to monitor power supply arrangements continuously and ensure that consumers did not face avoidable disruptions. On water management, Revanth directed officials to assess standing crops and ensure adequate water availability until the harvest was completed.  Continued on p4 Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has asked key Congress leaders from Telangana to reach Delhi on October 12 and participate in a protest to be organised by the All India Congress Committee (AICC). The chief minister has called upon all Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members, Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), Members of the Legislative Council (MLCs), corporation chairpersons, District Cong ress Committee (DCC) presidents, and key Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) leaders to attend the protest programme in Delhi. Earlier, Delhi Police stopped Revanth as he was on his way to express solidarity with Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders protesting against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. WITH THIS ISSUE Child’s Play PLUS 12 P AGES At least 5 shot dead, houses torched in fresh Manipur Kuki-Naga faceoff P r a s a n ta m a z u m d a r @ Guwahati At least five persons, including a woman and a member of the Gorkha community, were killed in fresh violence in Manipur since Friday night. The deaths occurred in the Naga-majority districts of Kamjong, which border Manipur, and Ukhrul. The violence began after a Kuki woman, 42, was shot dead in the Kuki-dominated Chassad village in Kamjong district on Friday night. Her killing triggered an exchange of fire between Kuki and Naga armed groups, which continued on Saturday morning. A 22-yearold man was killed in the ensuing clashes and about 10 houses were torched. Later in the day, suspected militants shot dead two persons in Ningchou village in Kamjong. In another incident in Ukhrul district, a 40-year- old man identified as Sandeed Rai, a member of the Gorkha community was shot dead near , Chepu Yaolen. Reports of two more deaths could not be offi- Chief Minister Khemchand Singh meets Modi The incidents of violence came on a day Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. Modi assured all possible help to the Manipur government in its efforts to restore peace and normalcy in the state, a statement said cially confirmed. The Working Committee of the Tangkhul Naga Long, a Naga organisation, alleged that a team of the India Reserve Battalion (IRB) opened fire at Kuki militants in Chassad village, leading to a gunfight in which the woman was killed after being caught in the crossfire. It alleged that Kuki militants later launched an armed offensive targeting Naga civilians in Kamjong headquarters and Ningchou village. Meanwhile, the Kuki Students’ Organisation, Kamjong district, condemned the alleged firing by the IRB personnel. It also claimed that Naga militants have infiltrated the IRB to carry out “their nefarious designs against the Kuki community”.