F I E RY L S D E BAT E O N PA H A L GA M AT TAC K 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 ■ ■ Rajnath Singh, defence minister SAMBALPUR  TUESDAY  JULY 29, 2025  `9.00  PAGES 14  CITY EDITION Pak warned of retaliation in case of fresh misadventure, Congress demands accountability No more dossiers: Rajnath to Pak J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi ANY future misadventure from Pakistan would trigger the immediate resumption of Operation Sindoor, which was only “paused” after achieving its strategic objectives and not under any external pressure, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday during a fiery Lok Sabha debate brimming with political heat, as the Opposition mounted pressure over the Pahalgam terror attack. “Today, dossiers have been replaced by decisive action. Today’s India thinks differently and acts differently We believe . that if the adversary uses terrorism as part of strategy and does not understand the language of peace, then standing firm and being decisive is the only option,” Singh said. “Operation Sindoor is a symbol of our strength,” Singh said. “India first extends a hand of friendship, but knows how to twist the wrist if betrayed.” He underscored the operation’s success, saying that the armed forces conducted an effective strike on nine terror sites across Pakistan and Pakistanoccupied Kashmir. “The attacks were nonescalatory and carried out with utmost precision,” he told the House, defending the rationale and execution of the military action. “If Pakistan indulges in fresh misadventure, it will resume again,” Singh asserted. Responding to President Donald Trump’s claims of mediating a ceasefire, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar intervened in the debate to clarify: “At no stage in any conversation with the US was there any linkage with trade or military operations. There was no call between PM Modi and President Trump from April 22 to June 17.” Home Minister Amit Shah, too, stepped in, asking the Opposition why they placed more faith in the words of a foreign leader than in India’s own External Affairs Minister. Singh further stated that no critical Indian assets were lost and India has concrete evidence of the damage inflicted on terror infrastructure in Pakistan. Launching a searing counter-attack, Congress Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi questioned the very premise of the government’s triumphalism. He demanded answers on why Shah had not accepted responsibility for the security failures that led to the Pahalgam killings, which claimed 26 civilian lives. “They are calling Operation Sindoor a success while also admitting Pakistan may strike again. Then how is this a success?” Gogoi asked. He pressed the government for details on how many Indian fighter jets were lost. “We have only 35 Rafale jets. If any were downed, the country deserves to know.” S Jaishankar, foreign minister Gaurav Gogoi, Congess Supriya Sule, NCP (SP) “Today, dossiers have been replaced by decisive action. Today’s India thinks differently and acts differently At no stage in any conversation with the US was there any link with trade or military operations India has the courage to listen to the truth on how many jets were downed, the govt must answer Sindoor is not a success till you find those terrorists. Until you catch the terrorists, it cannot be celebrated PAHALGAM ATTACK MASTERMIND KILLED F AYA Z W A N I @ Srinagar Security forces on Monday gunned down wanted Pakistani terrorist Suleman alias Hashim Musa, the mastermind and executioner of the April 22 attack on tourists in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. Two more Pakistani militants with suspected links to the Pahalgam attack were also killed in the encounter in the upper reaches of Dachigam forest area in Harwan, Srinagar, sources said. A security official said after receiving inputs about the presence of 2-3 militants, the Army, police and paramilitary forces launched Operation Mahadev to track the hiding militants down. Hashim Musa “The communication device used by militants led security forces to them. A satellite phone used in Baisaran on April 22, was found active in the upper reaches of Dachigam forest. Once it was confirmed militants were hiding in the dense forest area, specially trained para commandos also joined the operation. Drones and other surveillance gadgets were used to pinpoint the militant location,” the official said. Shah assails Cong for not trusting Jaishankar Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday rapped the Congress for not trusting the statement of foreign minister S Jaishankar on Op Sindoor and instead going by US President Donald Trump’s claims. “They (opposition) do not have faith in the minister. They trust some other country...,” he said in a brief intervention when Jaishankar was speaking Tharoor opts out of speaking on Op Sindoor Shashi Tharoor declined a Congress invite to speak on Operation Sindoor in Parliament, choosing instead to focus on the Indian Ports Bill, 2025. Speculation had mounted over whether Tharoor would be selected to speak after his endorsement of the government’s response to the Pahalgam terror attack reportedly strained his ties within the Congress | P9 Include Aadhaar, voter ID for SIR, Food Supplies minister falls victim to land says SC, refuses to stay draft roll fraud of `25L, files complaint with police SCTO JUSTICE POSER YASHWANT VARMA A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and A G Masih asked the judge why he appeared before the inhouse inquiry panel if he had questions about its remit | P9 EXPRESS READ 2 dead, 40 injured in stampede at temple Lucknow: Two people died, and more than 40 others were injured in an early morning stampede at the Ausaneshwar Mahadev temple in Barabanki, around 90 km from state capital Lucknow | P10 S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the publication of the draft electoral roll in Bihar on August 1 but asked the Election Commission to include Aadhaar and voter ID in the list of acceptable documents in the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. On Sunday, the EC had said the first phase of the SIR was over and it received enumeration forms from 92% of voters. The poll panel plans to publish the draft roll on August 1 and final roll on September 30. Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the Association for Democratic Reforms, sought the court’s intervention and pass a direction to stop the notification of the draft list. He also alleged in his submission that the EC was not considering the SC’s suggestion in the last hearing on July 10 that Aadhaar, electoral photo identity card (EPIC) and ration cards be considered as valid documents for SIR. EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE PRESUMPTION OF GENUINENESS @ Dhenkanal/Bhubaneswar “As far as ration cards are concerned we can say they can be forged easily but Aadhaar and voter cards have some sanctity and have presumption of genuineness,” the bench said Senior lawyer Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the EC, said there were reservations about these documents, adding that many fake ration cards were found to have been issued. A bench of justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, however, suggested that two documents be considered on the ‘presumption of genuineness’, adding that there should be ‘en masse inclusion’ instead of ‘en mass exclusion’. While the court refused to stay publication of the draft list, it said it would examine the case in a detailed manner. The bench also made it clear that the court could strike down the entire process if any illegality was found. Flood situation improves, CM Majhi likely to visit affected districts today E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bhubaneswar WITH rains abating over the past 24 hours and major rivers showing a receding trend, the flood situation in the northern districts of the state improved on Monday However, several . low-lying pockets of Balasore and Mayurbhanj districts continued to remain submerged under floodwater. Revenue and Disaster Management minister Suresh Pujari told mediapersons that water-level in Subarnarekha and Baitarani rivers have decreased, but it will take time for floodwater to completely recede from the low-lying areas. “The government is constantly monitoring the situation. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi is likely to visit the flood-affected areas on Tuesday, if weather permits,” Pujari said. He said over 11,000 people in six districts of Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Sundargarh and Keonjhar have been affected by the floods. The district administrations have already started assessing the damage. Assistance will be provided to the people within 24 hours of receiving the re- ports, he added. The minister said relief camps opened in the affected districts, particularly in Balasore and Mayurbhanj, where over 1,000 people were shifted to are still functional. The government will provide cooked food as long as people are in the relief centres. Official sources said Subarnarekha river was flowing above the danger level of 10.36 mtr at Rajghat in Balasore district till 6 am in the morning flooding low-lying areas of Balasore and Mayurbhanj CONTINUED ON P5 district. BREAKING BARRIERS Divya new GM on-board with WC title S W A R O O P S W A M I N AT H A N @ Chennai IN a clash billed as one between generations, a generational talent has walked away with the women’s chess World Cup. In the end, the handshake was symbolic of what the win meant within the wider context of Indian women’s chess. For so long, Koneru Humpy and D Harika have been the torchbearers of the board game from an Indian perspective. Over the last two weeks, Divya Deshmukh quietly emerged from the shadows of these two giants to etch her name in indelible ink. Just after 2.30 PM local time in Batumi (4.00 PM IST) on Monday, the 19-year-old teen scaled another height as she became India’s first ever women’s World Cup winner (2nd after Viswanathan Anand). Just to give you a sense of the enormity of her achievement, when the Nagpur resident boarded the flight to Georgia, she didn’t have a single GM norm. Yet, over the course of the last two weeks, she beat four GMs in as many as matches to not only win the the crown but become the country’s 4th woman GM (88th overall). After the two game Classical final was drawn, the feeling was Humpy would have an edge. Humpy, of course, is the defending women’s world rapid champ. But Deshmukh held her own with the white before forcing Humpy to resign when the latter had the white pieces in the second of the first pair of tiebreak games. As soon as the 38-year-old offered her hand, Deshmukh placed both her hands over her eyes and wept inconsolably. Skipping school to spend a week in Chennai Divya Deshmukh breaks down after beating Koneru Humpy in the chess World Cup final on Monday | FIDE once every month to attend RB Ramesh’s coaching sessions. Trading in a normal life for one spent studying the benefits of the London system at 3.00 PM. “I think it was fate that I got the grandmaster title this way because before this, I didn’t even have one norm. Before this event, I was thinking, “where can I get a norm?”, and now I’m P13 a GM!” she told FIDE. It definitely means a lot, but there’s a lot more to achieve. So, hopefully, this is just the start Divya Deshmukh World Cup winner FOOD Supplies Minister Krushna Chandra Patra has lodged a complaint with Dhenkanal police accusing a man of cheating him of `25 lakh on the promise of providing a plot of land in 2021. In his complaint filed on July 26, Patra alleged that one Niranjan Satpathy of Banasingh offered to sell him a plot of land at an affordable price in Dhenkanal town and took `25 lakh as the first installment. However, Satpathy did not execute the deal and return the money despite repeated requests by Patra. The accused reportedly gave him two cheques of `25 lakh which later bounced. Legal notice was served on Satpathy but it failed to yield any result. Efforts were also made to One Niranjan Satpathy of Banasingh offered to sell a plot of land in Dhenkanal town and took `25 lakh. However, he did not execute the deal and return the money – Police complaint settle the case amicably in January this year but to no avail. Subsequently the min, ister decided to approach the police. Acting on the complaint, Dhenkanal Town police registered a case and launched a probe into the matter. A senior police officer said the transaction had taken place over four years back. The accused is absconding and efforts are on to trace him. A detailed investigation is underway and further action will be initiated accordingly he added. ,