MANGALURU l sunday l september 28, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l city EDITION Blockbuster India-Pak Final at t20 Asia cup tourney today Men in Blue take on arch rivals in the T20 Asia Cup final in Dubai today. This will be their firstever meeting at this stage of the competition... Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav Pakistan skipper Salman Agha Time for cricket to take centre stage Emotions running high on both sides The controversies, largely non-cricketing, between India and Pakistan have been the biggest talking point of the tournament. India refused to shake hands with the Pakistan team. The reactions from either side since has only added to the prevailing tensions. Under pressure, both teams will look to hold their nerves and focus on playing good cricket ■ ■ India have maintained that they are there to play cricket, but the Super 4s match showed how much it matters to them On the eve of the final, Pakistan captain Salman Agha said that every individual has the right to express emotions. “I won’t stop anyone as long as it is not disrespectful,” he said.  More on P11 Eight The number of Asia Cup titles India have won 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 Stampede in Vijay’s Karur rally 36 Dead 62 Injured Stalin announces `10 lakh each to kin of dead Rift between Siddu, DKS shows up in nominations to posts | P4 Keep ‘looter’ Cong out: Modi at Odisha rally | P5 At least 36 people, including eight children and 16 women, died following a suspected stampede and crowd surge during Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) leader Vijay’s election campaign at Veluchamipuram in Karur on Saturday evening. At least 62 people are under treatment at various hospitals across the city The death toll may . rise as 13 people are critical. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin is expected to visit Karur on Sunday , former minister Senthil Balaji told reporters. Actor-politician Vijay arrived at the Tiruchy International Airport in the morning from Chennai by a chartered flight and proceeded directly to Namakkal for the first leg of the campaign. Although he was scheduled to address his cadre around 12 pm, he reached the venue only around 2.30 pm. After completing his campaign in Namakkal, he reached Karur at 7 pm, though the scheduled arrival was at 3.30 pm. As hundreds of cadre and members of the public lined the route, it took nearly four hours for him to reach Veluchamipuram. Even as Vijay was addressing the rally the crowd swelled and be, came uncontrollable, and a number of persons, including party workers and a few children, fainted and fell down in the crowd. They were rushed to the Karur Medical College Hospital and other private hospitals. Several party workers noticed the situation and raised an alarm. Police now looking at possible Pakistan links of Wangchuk, says DGP ment, as he referred to the Arab Spring and the recent unClimate activist and Mag- rest in Nepal, Bangladesh, and saysay awardee Sonam Wang- Sri Lanka,” Jamwal said. The chuk, who was arrested on Fri- DG also referred to Sonam’s day in connection with the Leh recent visits to Pakistan and violence, is being investigated Bangladesh. for alleged links to Pakistan “He attended an event orand violation of foreign ganised by The Dawn funding rules, Ladakh in Pakistan and also Director General of Povisited Bangladesh,” lice S D Singh Jamwal Jamwal said. said on Saturday . The police are also Wangchuk is accused probing Wangchuk’s of being a key instigaforeign funding. “There tor in the Leh violence, is an investigation into Sonam in which four persons foreign funding and viWangchuk were killed and 80 otholation of FCRA reguers injured. “We recentlations against him,” ly arrested a Pakistani intelli- Jamwal said. gence operative who sent Curfew in violence-hit Leh videos of Wangchuk’s speech- was relaxed in the afternoon es across the border,” Jamwal in a phased manner for a few said, adding that the operative hours. Wangchuk’s arrest and was also in contact with the way the the situation was Wangchuk. handled drew criticism from “His speech acted as incite- all Opposition parties. W I T H T H I S I SS U E F ay w a z w a n i @ Srinagar Small Town, Big Deal PLUS 12 PAGES Vijay arrived at the Tiruchy International Airport in the morning from Chennai by a chartered flight The actorpolitician proceeded directly to Namakkal for the first leg of the election campaign 3 Ambulances carrying the victims pass by actor-politician Vijay’s caravan, in Karur, Tamil Nadu, on Saturday | Express Vijay halted his speech and threw water bottles from atop the custombuilt campaign bus. Ambulances had a tough time negotiating the heavily crowded thoroughfare to reach the spot. “Police, please help,” he was heard saying as people fell unconscious at the rally After mul. tiple patients were rushed to hospitals, the state health department mobilised doctors from Tiruchy, Dindigul, Namakkal and Salem. Health Minister Ma Subramanian who was at Salem for a conference rushed to the spot, while the health secretary, director of medical education and other senior health officials were on their way to Karur from Chennai. Speaking to TNIE, Dr R Suganthy Rajakumari, director of medical education, said that as of now around 30 doctors have been mobilised.  Sharif’s absurd theatrics at UN glorify terror: India Mocks Pak’s victory pitch despite Op Sindoor destroying its runways J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi 2 D V i n c en t A r o c k i a r a j @ Karur press Intake 1 Scheduled to reach Namakkal by 12 pm, he reached the venue only at 2.30 pm, over two hours late 4 From Namakkal, he reached Karur by road. It took him nearly four hours to cover 34km due to heavy crowd 5 As Vijay was speaking in Karur, the crowd turned uncontrollable, and a few cadre and children started fainting express read Nationwide cyber mafia ring busted in Gujarat Ahmedabad: Cybercrime sleuths have busted a multi-crore online betting and stock market fraud disguised as an e-commerce business in Surat. The crackdown exposed a `20.08 crore racket spread across 43 bank accounts, with links stretching from Gujarat to Maharashtra | P8 Inhuman, humiliating: Deported US resident Tiruppur garment industry in crisis Chandigarh: US resident Harjit Kaur (73), who was deported to India recently, said she faced the most “inhuman and humiliating” experiences of her life when she went to the immigration centre with all valid documents. It was the start of her worst nightmare | P8 Chennai: The Tiruppur garment industry is staring at an existential crisis, as job losses and shutdowns of factories in the aftermath of US tariffs implementation started playing out. Exporters say some of them rely on the US for nearly 70-100% of their sales | P10 In a sharp rebuttal at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), India strongly rejected Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ’s remarks on the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and subsequent the Indian military response, Operation Sindoor, calling them “absurd theatrics” and accusing Islamabad of glorifying terrorism on a global platform. Exercising India’s Right of Reply Petal Gahlot, First Secre, tary at India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, delivered a scathing response following Sharif ’s speech earlier on Friday during the General Debate of the UNGA’s 80th session. “This Assembly witnessed absurd theatrics in the morning from the Prime Minister of Pakistan, who once again glorified terrorism that is so central to their foreign policy Gahlot ,” said, underscoring Pakistan’s continued attempts to shield terrorist entities and distort regional realities. Sharif, during his address, referred to the Pahalgam inci- Petal Gahlot exercising the Right of Reply to Pak PM’s address at UN GA | PTI dent and ensuing conflict, claiming credit for preventing escalation through diplomatic channels, notably praising US President Donald Trump for allegedly averting a war between the two nuclear-armed nations. He also called for a “comprehensive and result-oriented dialogue” with India on Kashmir and other issues. India, however, dismissed the remarks as revisionist and misleading. “The Prime Minister of Pakistan also advanced a bizarre account of the recent conflict with India,” Gahlot countered. “Till 9 May Pakistan was , Corruption has doubled, contractors’ assn tells CM E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Bengaluru Karnataka State Contractors’ Association (KSCA) has alleged that the rate of corruption under the Congress-ruled state government has almost doubled compared to the previous BJP regime. The association, in a hard-hitting letter dated September 25, addressed to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, said that KSCA fought against corruption and that it was also instrumental in helping the Congress to come to power. KSCA President R Manjunath and General Secretary GM Ravindra, who signed the letter, alleged that the government has failed to clear the long-pending dues of contractors for nearly two years. The charges in the letter could come as a setback and major embarrassment to the state government, as the Congress ran an aggressive campaign against then BJP government with its ‘PayCM’ and ‘40 per cent commission sarkara’ campaigns, which dented the BJP’s chances of retaining power in the state assembly elections in 2023. “When you (Siddaramiah) were the leader of the opposition, you had said that no commission would be asked to clear bills if your (Congress) party comes to power. However, we regret to inform you that compared to the previous government, the commission has doubled in eight departments that execute projects,” Majunath said in the letter.  CONTINUED ON: P5 CM on B’luru rounds suspends GBA engineer E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Bengaluru Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s event-filled Bengaluru rounds led him to lose his cool several times and order the suspension of an engineer on Saturday. His inspection of the capital city, along with ministers and officials, came after days of complaints by people, who are frustrated with the condition of roads and other infrastructure issues. He warned new commissioners and chief engineers of the five city corporations falling under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) that they should fix potholes by Octoberend or face action. Seeing the condition of Hennur-Bagalur road, which falls under the Bengaluru North City Corporation, Siddaramaiah flew into a rage and said the assistant executive engineer (AEE) attached to the Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Limited (BSMILE) should be suspended. He found that potholes were covered with just gravel and no tar on them.  CONTINUED ON: P5 Residents perform pooja to a pothole in Bengaluru on Saturday | Kevin Nashon threatening more attacks. But on 10 May its military pleaded , with us directly for a cessation to the fighting.” She stated that Pakistan’s retreat came only after Indian forces launched precision strikes on multiple Pakistani airbases. “If destroyed runways and burnt-out hangars look like victory, as the Prime Minister claimed, Pakistan is welcome to enjoy it,” she added. Gahlot said Pakistan’s track record of harbouring terrorists, citing the country’s decade-long sheltering of Osama bin Laden and recent admissions by Pakistani officials of running militant camps. She accused Pakistan of glorifying terrorists killed during Operation Sindoor. “We saw many pictures of terrorists slain in Bahawalpur and Muridke terror complexes… When senior Pakistani military and civilian officials publicly pay homage to such notorious terrorists, can there be any doubt about the proclivities of this regime?” Gahlot also accused Islamabad of trying to derail accountability within the UN. CBI raids 12 builders in B’luru, Kolkata, Mumbai E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Bengaluru In a major crackdown on builders allegedly involved in cheating and defrauding thousands of home-buyers, the CBI on Saturday conducted nationwide searches at 12 locations in Bengaluru, Kolkata and Mumbai after registering six cases against builders and officials of financial institutions for allegedly cheating and defrauding homebuyers, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) stated in an official release. Some unknown officials of various financial institutions are also under the agency’s scanner. “Various incriminating documents and some digital electronic evidence have been seized during the ongoing searches,” stated the CBI spokesperson. Four out of the six cases are to do with companies that are either registered in Bengaluru or have a project in the city . According to the CBI, the six companies against which it has registered cases, three -- Ithaca Estate Pvt Ltd, LGCL Urban Homes (India) LLP and Ozone Urbana Infra Developers Pvt Ltd -- have registered offices in Bengaluru, while Shashwati Realty Pvt Ltd has a registered office in Mumbai and a project in Bengaluru. The other two -MKHS Housing LLP is from Kolkata and Acme Realties Pvt Ltd is from Mumbai. The development follows the apex court’s order in July when , it allowed the CBI to file 22 cases into these allegations. P5