kannur l monday l july 14, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION CCTV cameras in trains to enhance passenger safety In a first, the Ministry of Railways has decided to install CCTV cameras in all passenger train coaches and locomotives ‘Will deter miscreants, organised gangs’ vaishnav asks officials to make use of ai The decision follows positive outcomes from experimental installations of CCTVs in Northern Railway. Railway officials said the move is expected to bolster passenger safety and help deter miscreants and gangs who exploit travellers. To preserve privacy, CCTVs will be installed in the common area near the doors | P7 ■ Officials said each locomotive will be equipped with six CCTVs. Additionally, each cab of a loco will be fitted with one dome-type CCTV camera and two desk-mounted microphones, they added ■ Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnav has encouraged officials to explore the use of AI on the data captured by the CCTV cameras 74,000 Coaches and 15,000 locomotives will be fitted with cctv cameras 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 Khalistani terrorist Batala, 7 others arrested in US HARPR E E T BA J WA @ Chandigarh in a major crackdown on international terror network, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested eight Khalistani terrorists across the US, including Pavittar Singh Batala—a gangster from Punjab wanted by the National Investigation Agency for terror activities linked to the banned Babbar Khalsa International. The eight men were picked up from San Joaquin County during an investigation into a gang-related kidnapping and torture case. During the raid, a been charged with various ofcache of arms including a fully fences including kidnapping, automatic Glock, hundreds of torture, unlawful confinement, rounds of ammuniwitness intimidation, tion, several high-caassault with a semipacity magazines, and automatic firearm, isover $15,000 in cash suing criminal were seized. threats, and gang-reBatala had an Interlated enhancements. pol Red Corner Notice “On July 11, the San against him. The othJoaquin County Sherer arrested men are iff ’s Office AGNET Amritpal Singh, Dil- Pavittar Singh Batala Unit—alongside the preet Singh, ArshStockton Police Depreet Singh, Manpreet Rand- partment SWAT, Manteca Pohawa, Gurtaj Singh, Sarabjit lice Department SWAT, StanisSingh, and Vishal. They have laus County Sheriff ’s Office SWAT and FBI SWAT—executed five coordinated search warrants across San Joaquin County as part of a gang-related kidnapping and torture investigation,” the San Joaquin County Sheriff ’s Office said. NIA sources said they are in touch with their US counterparts for Batala’s extradition. The accused used virtual numbers and encrypted apps to promote a pro-Khalistan network. The module was reportedly operating under the instructions of terrorist Harwinder Singh Rinda. BJP’s aggressive posturing clear in Sadanandan’s nomination Ex-foreign secy Shringla, Nikam among 4 nominated to Rajya Sabha M a n o j V i s w a n at h a n @Kochi President Droupadi Murmu has nominated former foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, lawyer Ujjwal Nikam, Kerala BJP leader C Sadanandan, and historian Meenakshi Jain. In a notification issued late Saturday night, the Ministry of Home Affairs said that the President has nominated the four eminent persons to the Rajya Sabha to fill vacancies necessitated by the retirement of nominated members. A 1984 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Shringla had served as India’s Ambassador to the US and Thailand and as By nominating senior RSS leader C Sadanandan, who lost both his legs in a political feud in Kannur, to the Rajya Sabha, BJP has sent a strong message to its opponents in Kerala. The move, coming shortly after Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s declaration in Thiruvananthapuram that BJP will form the government in the state in 2026, has taken both the ruling LDF and Opposition UDF by surprise. In his statement on Sunday, BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar unequivocally clarified the party’s aggressive posturing. “We are not the victims of CPM’s politics of violence. We are the fearless warriors of the public movement to defeat it,” he said quoting an earlier statement of Sadanandan. The message is clear. BJP will project itself as the real opposition in Kerala and claim only it possesses the grit to stop the CPM juggernaut. The party believes this aggressive posturing will facilitate a political polarisation in its favour ahead of the 2026 assembly polls in the state. Sadanandan’s nomination has also boosted the morale of RSS cadre who risk their lives to build the organisation in villages where CPM does not allow any other party to func● More on P4 tion. E XPR E SS N E WS S E RVIC E @ New Delhi Harsh Vardhan Shringla Ujjwal Nikam high commissioner to Bangladesh. He was foreign secretary from 2020 to 2022. Maharashtra lawyer Nikam was the special public prosecutor in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks case. Sadanandan, a retired school teacher from Kerala, lost both his legs in an attack allegedly carried out by CPM workers in 1994. Historian and author Jain Sadanandan Master Meenakshi Jain served as a lecturer at Delhi University’s Gargi College. In 2020, she was awarded the Padma Shri in recognition of her contributions to the fileds of literature and education. The President of India can nominate 12 people to the Rajya Sabha. These are well-known individuals from diverse backgrounds including art, literature, and public service. Now, EC mulls pan-India revision of electoral rolls Move follows SC view that SIR is a ‘constitutional mandate’ MU K E SH RA N J A N @ New Delhi UNDETERRED by the controversy over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar, it is learnt that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has sent a communication to chief electoral officers (CEOs) of all states to activate poll machinery for a possible rollout of the exercise on a pan-India basis. The ECI’s decision comes in the backdrop of the Supreme Court’s observation last week that SIR is a “constitutional mandate” and that ECI can go ahead with the revision exercise in Bihar. Several opposition parties and civil society organisations had moved the Supreme Court challenging the intensive revision, saying it deprived eligible citizens of their right to vote for want of documents specified by the poll panel for inclusion in the voters’ list. Union Home Minister Amit Shah in an interview with this newspaper on Saturday had said, “I believe that if anyone has any concerns about the process, he/she should approach the Election Commission. Not with presumptions, but with examples of the outcomes of the process. Roll revision is not happening for the first time. It happened in 1991, too. Also, it’s not being done only in Bihar. I think it will be done across India. Anyway, the Election Commission has always been a “puppet” in the hands of the BJP government, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal alleged, adding that the poll body’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar is “unconstitutional” that date would be included in the voters’ list. According to sources, a few CEOs have already started putting out voters’ list published after the last SIR held in their states. The website of Delhi CEO has the 2008 voters’ list when the last revision took place. According to sources, ECI will take a final call on nationwide exercise after July 28 when the Bihar SIR case will come up again for hearing in the top court. E x p r e s s ne w s s e r v i c e @ New Delhi BOOTH-level officers of Election Commission of India (ECI) conducting the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar have found a number of individuals from Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar possessing Indian documents such as Aadhaar, domicile certificates, and ration cards, sources said on Sunday . According to ECI officials, ground-level officials have so far established direct contact with nearly all voters in the state as part of the exercise. “During house-to-house visits, a large number of people from Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar have been found. They have got Aadhaar, domicile certificates, ration card,” said an official. Sources said a thorough verification will be carried out between August 1 and 30, and names found not eligible will be excluded from the final voter list to be released on September 30. The ECI had said SIR was necessary in Bihar due to a number of reasons, including inclusion of foreigners in the current list. CM urges PM to save Nimisha Deceased man tests Nipah +ve F8-cr diesel goes up in smoke Smoke billows from a diesel-laden freight train that derailed and caught fire near Tiruvallur in Tamil Nadu early on Sunday. Around 8.64 lakh litres of high-speed diesel worth nearly H7.94 crore was destroyed in the fire | Ashwin Prasath | P5 T’Puram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention to save Nimisha Priya, who has been sentenced to death by a Yemen court in a murder case. “It is learnt...the execution of Nimisha Priya has been fixed for July 16. Considering that this is a case deserving sympathy, I appeal to the Hon’ble PM to take up the matter and intervene with the authorities concerned to save the life of Nimisha Priya,” Pinarayi said in a letter to Modi. Puppy badly hurt in acid attack E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kochi Carlos Alcaraz took the first set while Jannik Sinner came back to win the next as the top two players in world battle for the coveted Wimbledon crown | AFP In a disturbing act of animal cruelty , a puppy was reportedly attacked with acid at its home in Thiruvaniyoor, Ernakulam. The three-month-old male Indian Spitz, Pooppi, belonging to Nayanamol Gibi of Palappady suffered se, vere burn injuries, resulting in complete loss of vision in one eye and organ damage. The owner and her family were away during the incident. Following a complaint, Puthencruz police registered a case under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including criminal trespass and causing harm to an animal, along with relevant charges under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. “On being informed by the pet owner of the suspected attack we rushed to the spot. We noticed that the dog’s face and body had turned red, indicating possible chemical burns. We instructed the owner to rush the pup to the nearest veterinary hospital,” said Jithin, station house officer (SHO) with Puthencruz station. Two days later, the pet owner lodged a complaint. “We have registered a case and begun an investiga● More on P4 tion,” he added.  spe c i a l t r i b u t e Ex-teacher sculpts ‘jumbo’ token of love for school Though retired, former teacher Govindhan P P turns up at Government LP School in Kannur’s Kozhummal every morning like clockwork. However, the 80-year-old does not go there to teach. The purpose of his visit is an elephant sculpture that he is making as a token of love for the students and the school where he himself once studied, and later taught. Sibal says SIR is unconstitutional ‘People from Nepal, B’desh, in Bihar list’ EXPRESS READ contest for ages J i t h u l N a r aya n a n @Kannur matter is before the Supreme Court.” On the opposition calling it a shadow CAA-NRC, Shah had said, “They opposed everything the EC does. They need to justify their poll defeats, so they present fake narratives.” In the communication to the CEOs, the ECI asked them to prepare for conducting SIR in their respective jurisdictions with January 1, 2026 as the qualifying date, which means that above 18 years on Every day the native of Kozhum, mal in Kannur’s Karivellur Peralam grama panchayat arrives in the early hours, quietly works on the cement sculpture and leaves before the students start arriving. Govindhan, who is making the around 4.5-ft-tall sculpture using his own money started in May and , plans to finish it by August. While he has dabbled in sculpting at his home, this is Govindhan’s first time sculpting an elephant. He said he chose to build Govindhan P P working on the elephant sculpture at GLPS Kozhummal in Kannur the sculpture for the school as the place holds a special place in his heart – it was where he studied as a child and later served as a teacher for many years. “Creating the sculpture is my tribute to the school,” he said. Govindhan has never received any formal training in sculpting. He developed his skills through self-learning, driven by a deep passion for the art, and honed his craftsmanship with each sculp● More on P4 ture.  Palakkad: Contact tracing has begun after a 57-year-old man from Palakkad district, who died at a private hospital in Malappuram on Saturday night, tested positive for Nipah virus, Health Minister Veena George has said. The infection was detected through tests conducted at Manjeri Medical College. So far, 46 people have been identified as primary contacts of the second confirmed case in recent weeks in the state. Veena has directed officials to strengthen the response team further | P5