KOLLAM l Thursday l January 09, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Bombay HC grants bail to wilson, Dhawale in elgar parishad case The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted bail to Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale arrested in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case Rona Wilson Sudhir Dhawale Trial unlikely to conclude soon: high Court Bail granted so far to 10 of 16 arrested The Bombay High Court noted the two had spent more than six years in jail as under-trial prisoners. “Even the charges in the case are yet to be framed,” a division bench of Justices A S Gadkari and Kamal Khata observed, adding the trial is unlikely to conclude in the near future. The court clarified it was not dealing with the merits of the case at this stage ■ ■ The NIA said Wilson was an urban Maoist leader and Dhawale a member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). The NIA didn’t seek a stay to the order. So far, 10 have gotten bail in the case The case pertains to provocative speeches delivered at 2017 Elgar Parishad conclave in Pune, triggering violence at Koregaon-Bhima 2018 when rona wilson and sudhir dhawale were arrested 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 JPC begins with robust exchange of ‘1 poll’ views Oppn members say it’s an attack on basic structure of the Constitution and federalism P r eet h a N a i r @ New Delhi Thrissur ends 25-year wait 1,008 Points secured by Thrissur to lift the coveted golden trophy of the 63rd State School Arts Festival Palakkad secured second place with 1,007 points 25 years since Thrissur lifted the trophy in 1999 Race against time to save trapped miners P r a s a nta M a z u md a r @ Guwahati The body of one of the nine miners trapped inside a flooded coal mine in Assam’s Dima Hasao was retrieved on Wednesday even as hopes of rescuing the others began fading. The deceased was identified as Ganga Bahadur Srestho from Nepal. The state government had on Tuesday stated that three bodies had been seen in the mine. Rescue efforts by a joint team comprising the Army Navy and disas, ter response forces are on, but senior officials said that the murky and acidic water has made the task of rescuers Herculean. Special DGP Har meet Singh said the Navy’s remote underwater vehicle has recceed the shaft but didn’t find anything. He said efforts were on to drain the mine. “It seems the well is connected below with some water source because of which even though we are pulling out water, its level is not receding,” he said. The BJP-ruled North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council, under which Dima Hasao district falls, and the state’s BJP government are facing the heat after Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the mine appeared to be illegal. Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi, while demanding an investigation, said, “It is shocking that rat-hole coal mining continued unabated in Assam despite a ban by the National Green Tribunal.” 456 Number of appeals received These included 345 lower-level appeals from districts and 111 higher-level appeals H52.25 General lakh collected by Education Dept in appeal fees from parents. After review, L8.1 lakh refunded | P4 General Education Minister V Sivankutty presents the golden trophy to overall champions Thrissur at the conclusion of the 63rd State School Arts fest at Central Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday in the presence of Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan, actor Tovino Thomas and other dignitaries | B P Deepu PT Usha at loggerheads with ministry on sports governance E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Chennai When Mansukh Mandaviya took office, he was one of the few sports ministers to visit the Indian Olympic Association Bhawan in Delhi last year. He met IOA president PT Usha and had the sports secretary and other officials along with him. Just about six months down the line, the IOA and ministry seemed to be at loggerheads. All this over the recognition of Indian Golf Union — both ministry and the IOA have recognised different IGUs. The controversial elections of the IGU that was held in December last year saw two different factions claiming to be legitimate. While IOA recognised Harish Kumar Shetty-led faction and the ministry backed Brijinder Singh, who was reelected as president. The ministry took exception and shot a letter questioning the action of the IOA. What seemed to have irked the IOA president was the tone and tenor of the letter and that P T Usha and Mansukh Mandaviya The manner in which this letter has been issued appears procedurally incorrect and reflects a lack of verification of the facts on record and a complete non application of mind by the Under Secretary P T Usha, IOA president it was sent by an under-secretary. The sports ministry had pulled up PT Usha and the IOA on January 2 for recognising Shetty faction. One must also take into consideration that Usha and the executive council members are caught in a bitter in-fighting and most of the decisions are being taken by Usha. In her strong worded reply Usha said, , “The manner in which this letter has been issued appears procedurally incorrect and reflects a lack of verification of the facts on record and a complete non application of mind by the Under Secretary. Sir, since I have assumed office in the lOA, it has become more and more apparent that the staff of the Ministry deliberately never appraises the true and correct facts to the Hon’ble Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports.” Copies of the letter have also been marked to the International Olympic Committee and International Golf Federation. Usha also claimed that the ministry’s concerns that the IOA recognition of the IGU elections violates the National Sports Code ‘unfounded’. In fact, she gave examples of several NSFs which have failed to conduct elections even after completion of their terms. Usha also said selective application of norms undermines credibility of sports governance.  The first meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the ‘One Nation, One Election’ (ONOE) bills on Wednesday saw strong exchanges of opinion from both the opposition and ruling NDA’s members on simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies. According to sources, several opposition MPs including Congress’ Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, DMK’s P Wilson and TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee questioned the claim that simultaneous polls cut expenditure. The 39-member committee is headed by former Union minister P P Chaudhary . Priyanka asked if the Election Commission has any estimate on the cost of a general election after the 2004 Lok Sabha polls, when electronic voting machines (EVM) were used for the first time in all 543 parliamentary seats. She and DMK’s Wilson sought evidence to establish the claim that ONOE would cut cost. The opposition said the bills are an ‘attack on the basic structure of Constitution as well as federalism’. Defending the bill, BJP MPs, including Anurag Thakur, argued that a continuous cycle of elections disrupts development and is a drain on the exchequer. NDA ally JD(U)’s Sanjay Jha recalled incidents of booth capturing in Bihar when ballot papers were in play to pushback on demands , to revert to that mode. However, Jha also expressed apprehensions, including whether a government elected for a short term would have the required governance focus that an incumbent with a five-year term has. Earlier, in a letter to the panel chairman, DMK’s Wilson shared a slew of suggestions and concerns regarding the need for a rigorous, transparent and inclusive approach in the deliberations on the bill. “Extensive hearings should be conducted across all states and Union Territories, and the committee must prepared and share a detailed schedule outlining a systematic and inclusive consultation process,” he said. Chaudhary earlier said, “We will make an effort to listen to all stakeholders.” Boby Chemmanur at Ernakulam Central police station | T P Sooraj Bizman Boby Chemmanur held for making lewd remarks E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Kochi All get patient hearing An opposition MP told this paper that adequate time was given to members to express their views irrespective of the political affiliation. “The chairman gave a patient hearing,” the member said YSR cong changes stance Vijayasai Reddy (YSR Congress) argued that ONOE will marginalise regional parties, dilute diversity of representation and focus on local issues. YSRCP had earlier backed ‘one poll’ A day after registering a case against him, the police on Wednesday arrested Boby Chemmanur for making obscene remarks against actor Honey Rose, even as the businessman denied any wrongdoing. Boby was taken into custody from his estate in Me ppadi, Wayanad, and brought to Ernakulam. The Ernakulam Central police had on Tuesday booked Boby under Section 75(1)(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for making sexually coloured remarks and Section 67 of the IT Act for publishing and transmitting obscene material in electronic form. The action followed the complaint lodged by Honey Rose against the businessman on Monday. The police said the incident in connection with the case took place at Alakode in Kannur in August last year when the actor inaugurated Boby’s jewellery store. After registering the case, the police began tracking Boby’s location and learnt he was at his estate at Meppadi in Wayanad. The information was passed to the Wayanad police, which confirmed his whereabouts. The police said Boby moved to his estate in Wayanad anticipating that a case would be registered ● More on P4 against him.  jumbo 22-year-old K’taka youth killed in wild elephant attack Mega roadshow Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his deputy Pawan Kalyan participate in a roadshow in Vizag on Wednesday. The was Modi’s first visit to the state after he won the third consecutive mandate to lead the country | G SATYANARAYANA Tribal youth Vishnu, a resident of Kutta in Karnataka, was trampled by a wild elephant in Kollivayal area of the Pathiri Reserve Forest in Wayanad on Tuesday evening. Vishnu was returning to Karnataka through the forest path when he was attacked | P5 5 Women among six Last among known Kerala Maoist cadre surrender killed in ticket counter stampede M P P r a s h a nt h @ Kozhikode E XPR E SS N E WS S E RVIC E @ Tirupati SIX devotees, including five women, died in a stampede during distribution of tokens for Vaikuntha Dwara darshan at Ramanaidu Municipal School in Bairagipatada area of Tirupati on Wednesday . As many as 16 people were injured and rushed to SVR Ruia Government General Hospital and Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS). A large number of devotees had gathered at several token distribution centres, leading to a chaotic situation. The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) had set up nine centres with 94 counters for token distribution, scheduled to start at 5 am on Thursday But devotees began arriv. ing in huge numbers on Wednesday evening itself. Chaos prevailed at the Bairagipatteda centre when a staff member fell ill, prompting officials to open a separate space for his evacuation. Mistaking it as a queue for token distribution, devotees surged forward, leading to the stampede. Eyewitnesses said inadequate security measures led to the crush and deaths. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu expressed shock over the tragedy and offered , condolences to the bereaved families. He conducted a review meeting with top officials on the stampede. YSRCP president and former Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy called the deaths deeply saddening. He urged authorities to ensure urgent medical care for the injured. Six hardcore CPI-Maoist activists, including Jisha from Wayanad, surrendered before Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru on Wednesday . The surrender of the last known armed ultra-left cadre operating in Kerala marks a decisive turn in the third phase of the Naxalite movement in the state that began with the formation of the Western Ghats Special Zonal Committee in 201112. Kunnikkal Narayanan, Ajitha, Philip M Prasad and A Decisive turn Surrender of the last known armed ultra-left cadre operating in Kerala marks a decisive turn in the third phase of Naxalite movement in Kerala that began with the formation of Western Ghats Special Zonal Committee in 2011-12 Varghese led the first phase of the movement in late 60s. K Venu, K N Ramachandran and others were in the forefront after the formation of the CRCCPI (ML) that was disbanded in 1991. CPI-ML (Naxalbari) led by M N Ravunni and Kannam- balli Murali was the only remnant of the militant Naxalite movement in Kerala though there were a few other peripheral groups. The third phase in Kerala began with the formation of the state unit of the CPI-Maoist in 2004. The party came into being in India after the merger of the CPI-ML (Peoples War) and the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI). Their activities gained momentum in Kerala after carving out a guerrilla zone that included areas in the Western Ghats coming under Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu states. Kuppu Devaraj, a central committee member of the party, was in charge of the guerrilla zone and at one point of time there were four armed squads or dalams of Peoples Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) in Kerala. More than 50 persons attended the party camp organised inside the forests in 2015. The party mounted ten symbolic attacks at various places in Kerala as part of the politico-military campaign (PMC) in 2014 to mark the tenth anniversary of the formation of the party. CPI-Maoist in Kerala was further strengthened when the CPI-ML (Naxalbari) merged with the party on May ● More on P4 1, 2014.  EXPRESS READ Periya murder: HC suspends sentence of ex-MLA, 3 others Cabinet nod for G778.17-cr Sabarimala layout plan US-based Panattoni, Adani to set up logistics parks in Kochi Kochi: The Kerala High Court has suspended the sentence passed by the CBI special court against former MLA K V Kunhiraman and three local CPM leaders in the Periya twin murder case | P4 T’Puram: The cabinet has approved the layout plan for Sabarimala, Pampa and the trek route prepared as per the Sabarimala masterplan. The total expenditure of all three phases of development comes to J778.17 crore | P5 Kochi: The state’s logistics sector is set for explosive growth with a slew of major companies including US-based Panattoni and Adani Group identifying Kochi and its suburbs for establishing logistics parks | P5