BHUBANESWAR l friday l november 07, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 l LATE CITY EDITION ED attaches properties worth `11.14 cr of dhawan, raina Enforcement Directorate has said it has attached assets of ex-cricket stars Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina as part of a money-laundering probe Shikhar Dhawan Suresh Raina stars endorsed knowingly, says agency Assets considered as proceeds of crime The ED’s probe has found that the former cricketers ‘knowingly’ entered into endorsement agreements with foreign entities for the promotion of 1xBet and its surrogates. A provisional order has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to attach a commercial land in Delhi of Dhawan worth `4.5 cr and a mutual fund of Raina worth `6.64 cr ■ ■ The ED considers the two ex-cricketers’ assets as “proceeds of crime” of illegal betting. ED order can be appealed before Adjudicating Authority of the PMLA and other legal forums ED also said it has detected 6,000 mule bank accounts. Multiple police FIRs formed the basis for ED to launch the probe | P9 `1,000 cr expected to be total amount involved in the scam 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 Pune land scam puts Ajit Pawar’s son in trouble Govt bid to delay S udhir S urya w anshi @ Mumbai In a major embarrassment to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, his elder son Parth on Thursday faced charges of grabbing 40 acres of prime land in Pune at a throwaway price of `300 crore against the market rate of `2,000 crore. The land in question is part of ‘Mahar Vatan’, which was distributed by the government to landless Dalits for cultiva- Secretary Vikas Kharge into tion on the condition the scam. An FIR was that it can’t be bought also registered against or sold. Yet, Parth manboth the buyer and the aged to acquire the land seller, and a revenue deparcel from Gaikwad partment official was families. placed under suspenWhile Ajit Pawar sion for waiving stamp claimed he had no idea duty and land registraParth Pawar about the land deal, tion fees. Chief Minister DevenJust a few months dra Fadnavis ordered a high- ago, Parth and his relative, level probe by Additional Chief Digvijay Amarsinh Patil regis- tered an infotech firm called Almada and passed a resolution on April 22 to develop an IT park in Pune. Almada then submitted a proposal to develop an IT park on that 40-acre parcel of land, saying it will generate thousands of jobs. Almada paid just `500 as fees for the land title, against `25 crore as real stamp duty and registration fees. Uddhav raps Fadnavis Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray attacked the Fadnavis government for the land scam. He said while farmers are struggling, the ministers’ children are grabbing the prime land at throwaway prices. “Earlier, scams against DCM Eknath Shinde’s group were coming out; now, Ajit Pawar is on target from the BJP, Uddhav alleged Tech glitches disrupt RI test across centres E x press N e w s S er v i c e @ Bhubaneswar express read Voters wait in a queue to cast votes at a booth at Danapur in Patna during the first phase polling on Thursday | PTI Record 64.7% turnout in 1st phase of polling comparison of bihar Assembly voter turnout Phase 2 : Nov 11 Phase 1 Population distribution by social group(%) Phase 1 Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar (top) and others after casting their votes in Patna; RJD’s Tejashwi with Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi | PTI 3 Hindu ST 23.3 Phase 1 Hindu SC Highest voting (%) Muzaffarpur 70.96% Samastipur 70.63% Begusarai 47.2 69.27% Hindu OBC Lowest voting (%) 15.5 Hindu Others Source: NFHS 2019-21 62.57 56.91 52.73 46.5 2020 2015 2005 2010 OCT 45.83 Feb 2000 1995 1990 1985 1980 1977 1972 1969 1967 43.24 Take a bow as Sheetal matches the able-bodied Sheetal Devi | PTI Sheetal in English translates to ‘cool’, ‘calm’ and even ‘peaceful’. Employing the bow with her leg and string pulled by mouth, she is all of the above while releasing the arrow. Sheetal Devi doesn’t have hands to pull and shoot but compensates with other limbs and whatever means she can to pursue her passion — archery . The para-archer who has broken quite a few glass-ceilings in her short but astonishingly successful career set another gold standard on Thursday She . became the first para-archer in the country to secure a place in the junior able-bodied India team for the Asia Cup Stage 3 to be held in Jeddah next month. Any player would have been satisfied with a para-world archery championships gold. But Sheetal has not stopped with para-Olympic and para-World Championships medals. Because of her exceptional talent, she was adamant on competing with able-bodied archers. She shifted her base from Katra in Jammu to Patiala and started training with renowned coach Gaurav Sharma. She was very clear — she wanted to model herself with her hero Oznur CM Majhi hits back at Naveen, asks who was the betrayer at Bijepur? CM Mohan Charan Majhi during the election roadshow at Komna in Nuapada M AYA N K B H U S A N PA N I / D A N I S R O Y @ Nuapada unstoppable c handra prabhu @ Chennai battery of lawyers and then you file midnight applications seeking reference to larger benches!” said the bench, also comprising justices K Vinod Chandran and Vipul M Pancholi, adding that the court does not expect the Union “to indulge in such tactics”. The bench eventually asked senior advocate Arvind Datar representing one of the petitioners, to continue with his submissions on Friday and accommodate the A-G’s submissions on Monday “If he (A-G) . does not come, we will close the matter,” the CJI said. Non-Muslim and non-Hindu Muslim 61.79 50.51 42.6 A request for adjournment was made on Monday as well, when Attorney General R Venkataramani raised a preliminary objection saying the matter needs to be referred to a larger bench. However, the CJI rejected it, saying it should have been raised at an earlier stage 0.03 11 44.47 Lowest CJI irked by repeated adjournment pleas Patna 56.27 51.51 CHIEF Justice of India B R Gavai on Thursday expressed strong displeasure over the Centre’s repeated attempts to seek adjournment of the hearing on a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021. The matter was slated for hearing on Friday. On Thursday additional solicitor gener, al Aishwarya Bhati moved a request for adjournment on behalf of Attorney General R Venkataramani, citing the latter’s international arbitration commitments. Making a sharp observation, Gavai said it looks like the government is trying to avoid the bench headed by him since he has only a few days left for retirement. Gavai will demit office on November 23. Mentioning the matter before the bench, Bhati said the case is important and requires the A-G’s assistance and hence the adjournment request be accommodated. “We have accommodated you twice already How many more? . If you want it after November 24, tell us then. Very unfair to the court. Every time you seek accommodation for international arbitration. You have a 57.93% 57.29 57.28 @ New Delhi Bhojpur Highest 62.04 S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y 58.27% 52.79 1957 THE first phase of the Bihar assembly election on Thursday recorded a voter turnout of 64.66% at the close of polling in 121 constituencies in 18 districts, marking a largely peaceful exercise. This is the highest turnout since 1951 in Bihar. Chief Electoral Officer Vinod Singh Gunjiyal said polling was conducted at 45,341 booths, including 36,733 in rural areas. The election follows a special revision of electoral rolls, which now lists 7.24 crore voters — around 60 lakh fewer than before the exercise. Wo m e n v o t e r s turned out in large numbers, outpacing men at several booths. Many first-time voters also flocked enthusiastically to polling stations, officials said. A minor incident occurred when Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha’s convoy was attacked with slippers and stones in Khoriari village, Lakhisarai. Sinha, who is contesting from Lakhisarai, alleged that RJD supporters were behind the attack and demanded the deployment of special forces. Local residents said the protest reflected anger over poor roads and civic neglect. In another incident, CPI(ML) candidate from Manjhi, Satyendra Yadav, faced stone pelting in Saran’s Jaitpur area. No injuries were reported, said Add i t i o n a l D G P Ku n d a n Krishnan. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar cast his vote in Bakhtiyarpur, while RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav voted in Patna, asserting that ‘badlaav hoga’ (there will be change). Rabri Devi, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Tej Pratap Yadav, and MP Misa Bharti also cast their votes early in the day . Rabri Devi extended good wishes to both her sons as they contest separately from Mahua and Raghopur. For the first time in 20 years, voters in Naxal-hit Bhimbandh of Munger participated in polling. Voting had been suspended there since 2005 following the killing of SP C Surendra Babu and seven policemen. The RJD alleged deliberate power cuts in Mahagathbandhan strongholds to slow down voting, a charge the CEO dismissed as baseless. Prominent candidates in this phase include Tejashwi Prasad Yadav (RJD–Raghopur), Samrat Choudhary (BJP–Tarapur), Maithili Thakur (BJP–Aliganj), Khesari Lal Yadav (RJD–Chhapra), and Ritesh Pandey (Jan P10 Suraaj–Kargahar). 1962 ramashankar @ Patna People trust Modi–Nitish duo to deliver: Pradhan As Bihar is in the middle of a crucial election, the BJP is banking on its longstanding social engineering and record in governance. Dharmendra Pradhan, one of the party’s key strategists, in an exclusive interview with Santwana Bhattacharya, Editor of The New Indian Express, talks about the three pillars of the NDA campaign, the continuing resonance of the ‘jungle raj’ narrative, and the challenge posed by Prashant Kishor | P10 Bihar Convoy of Deputy CM attacked in Lakhisarai; RJD claims ‘discrepancies’ in its strongholds 1951 THE Combined Recruitment Examination (CRE)-2023 for revenue inspector (RI) posts, conducted by the Odisha SubOrdinate Staff Selection Commission (OSSSC), was disrupted at many of the examination centres across the state due to technical glitches on Thursday . Aspirants had to wait for over an hour at several centres to write the test which is being held in computer-based recruitment examination (CBRE) mode since October 8. Aspirants said they were asked to report at 7.30 am but had to wait outside till 8.45 am to 9 am as the servers were down. In the capital, server glitches were reported at four examination centres in Mancheswar, Patia, Chandrasekharpur and Nayapalli. Close to 5 lakh aspirants are appearing for the test across the state. The examination was being held in three slots on Thursday and the first slot was scheduled at 9 am. After the servers resumed, registration of candidates and other works were carried out and by the time they could enter the examination hall, it was well past 9.30 am, the aspirants alleged. At some centres, the server resumed around 9.30 am. Exams in the second and third slots were, however, conducted smoothly . The OSSSC conducts the CRE for the posts of RI, ARI, Amin, ICDS supervisors and statistical field surveyors, through a third party agency. After last year’s irregularities in the examination, the government had cancelled the examination and OSSSC announced to conduct the preliminary examination for all posts under CRE-2023 again in computer-based recruitment examination mode from October 8. It has roped in TCS for the job this time. OSSSC chairman Lalit Das admitted to the technical glitches prior to the exam but said the first sitting was carried out smoothly after the servers were resumed. “These are technical things and one has no control over it but the TCS personnel fixed the servers and the exams started,” he said. The examination will continue till November 13. hearings to avoid my bench: Gavai Cure Girdi of Turkey who also , competes with able-bodied archers. “I didn’t make it at first, but I kept going, learning from every setback. Today, that dream is one step closer,” she wrote on social media. Sharma later gave an insight to her resolve and resilience. She competed alongside 60 archers over four days. “She was coming back from a month’s break and we wanted to take part in some competition,” said the coach. “We did not think beyond that. All she wanted was to perform well. She worked hard and her qualification is a result of it.”  P19 In a blazing counter-attack, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Thursday returned the ‘betrayer’ jibe to leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik and reminded the BJD supremo of his past electoral decisions. Addressing a massive gathering after a high-octane roadshow at Komna, Majhi said: “When your party fielded the kin of a Congress leader in the Bijepur by-election, was that not betrayal?” Taking a further swipe at Naveen, he said the former CM was too image-conscious to use the word himself. “Perhaps, it was his scriptwriter’s idea,” he said. Majhi was referring to Naveen’s choice of words for BJP’s Nuapada candidate Jay Dholakia - son of former BJD minister Rajendra Dholakia - who switched to the saffron party ahead of the bypoll. Questioning the BJD’s nomination of Snehangini Chhuria, Majhi wondered if there were no deserving leaders in Nuapada that the regional party had to bring one from neighbouring Attabira and justify it through a vague maternal-uncle connection. The people of Nuapada will decide whether this is fair, he said. Majhi said he has visited Nuapada five times since assuming office and assured his commitment for the district’s development. The government has already announced projects worth `1,420 crore for Nuapada, including `800 crore for irrigation alone, he said. The CM said a compassionate, hard-working and local youth like Jay is the most deserving to lead the district’s development journey His late father was elected thrice, served . as a cabinet minister and had big dreams for Nuapada’s progress. Yet, despite his seniority he could not get an audi, ence from the former chief minister. “Today his son, inspired , by the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has joined the wave of development.” Jay who got emotional on the occasion, said when his father , was on his deathbed, no leader from the BJD came to check on him. “Not even after his death. I will not allow anyone to misuse his goodwill for political gains. That’s why I decided to part ways with the BJD,” he said. The chief minister, accompanied by deputy CM KV Singh Deo, BJP state president Manmohan Samal and senior leader Basanta Panda, went on a 7-km-long roadshow that continued from Udyanbandh to Komna, witnessing a crowd of around 25,000 people.