Pak President says he was asked to ‘hide in bunker’ during Op Sindoor chennai l Monday l December 29, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari revealed that he was advised to ‘hide in a bunker’ when India launched Operation Sindoor in May this year Zardari says he turned down the advice “My MS (military secretary) came to me and said, ‘Sir, the war has started. Let’s go to a bunker’,” Zardari said. Zardari claimed he refused to move to a bunker, quoting himself as saying: “If martyrdom is to come, it will come here” ‘Knew that Tensions Would rise’ Zardari said he knew in advance that a conflict was about to break out 4-day Op Sindoor is the most serious conflict between India and Pakistan in decades 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 e x p r e ss r e a d EPS: Will ensure 150 days of work under job scheme Chennai: Resuming his statewide tour, AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami on Sunday said his party will ensure 150 working days under the new rural job guarantee scheme. Addressing the public in Chengalpattu, he alleged that CM MK Stalin has been ‘lying’ that the scheme would be scrapped | P2 SL Navy arrests three TN fishermen, seizes boat Ramanathapuram: The Sri Lankan Navy arrested three fishermen from Ramanathapuram on Sunday for alleged violation of the IMBL and seized their boat. Condemning the arrest, the Mandapam Fishermen Association has announced an indefinite strike from Monday | P2 History-sheeter wanted in 80 cases arrested BSF rejects B’desh claims about Hadi killers e x pre s s ne w s s er v i c e @ Guwahati THE Meghalaya Police on Sunday dismissed media reports in Bangladesh that two suspected killers of student leader Sharif Osman Hadi had fled to the northeastern state and that, two persons, who helped the fugitives, have been arrested/detained here. Quoting a senior official in the country, the Daily Star reported that suspects Faisal Karim Masud and Alamgir Sheikh had crossed over into the Indian territory of Meghalaya with the help of local associates. “According to our information, the suspects entered India via the Haluaghat border. After crossing, they were initially received by an individual named Purti. Later, a taxi driver named Sami transported them to Tura city in Meghalaya,” the news- Border Security Force personnel patrol along the India-Bangladesh border on the outskirts of Agartala in Tripura | PTI paper quoted Additional Commissioner SN Nazrul Islam in a press conference. The report further stated that Purti and Sami had been detained by authorities in India. Some other media houses reported that the duo had been arrested. However, Meghalaya Director General of Police Idashisha Nongrang said, “No arrests have been made.” Tenkasi: The Tenkasi police on Sunday arrested history-sheeter Balamurugan (30), wanted in over 80 criminal cases across Tamil Nadu and Kerala, when he visited Uthumalai to meet his daughter. He had escaped from custody after assaulting police personnel in November | P2 Dhaka terms attacks on Hindus ‘isolated crimes’ e x pre s s ne w s s er v i c e @ New Delhi DHAKA on Sunday strongly rejected India’s concerns over the safety of religious minorities in Bangladesh and said recent incidents involving members of the Hindu community were “isolated criminal acts” and not reflective of any systematic persecution. The response came amid international reactions and parallel diplomatic engagements in Dhaka. Responding to a query from IANS, a US State Department spokesperson said the United States “unequivocally condemns religious violence in all its forms” and supp o r t s re l i g i o u s f re e d o m , freedom of expression, and peaceful assembly adding that , Washington welcomed steps taken by Bangladesh’s interim government to ensure safety of all communities. The MEA had earlier described continuing violence against minorities in Bangladesh as a matter of “grave concer n” and condemned the December 18 lynching of Hindu youth Dipu Chandra Das in Mymensingh over allegations of blasphemy . French cinema icon Brigitte Bardot dies at 91 In a cinema career spanning some 28 films and three marriages, Brigitte Bardot symbolised a nation bursting out of bourgeois respectability, and became one of best-known stars in French history | P9 Amid row, Digvijaya backtracks on BJP-RSS praise P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi Y-plus category security to West Bengal CEO New Delhi: The Centre has provided Y-plus category security cover to West Bengal’s Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal in view of safety concerns due to the ongoing SIR. A team of 11-12 armed personnel of the CISF security wing has been deployed for the CEO’s security | P8 Another senior police official said Meghalaya Police had not received any formal or informal communication from Bangladesh Police or other Bangladesh authorities in this regard. The BSF also dismissed the reports. “We learnt about the news circulating in media and social media handles. We verified at our end. This is completely false,” a senior BSF official told this newspaper. He further stated that the demography along the Meghalaya-Bangladesh border is such that an outsider is easily identifiable. Inquilab Moncho leader Hadi (32) was shot in Dhaka by two motorcycle-borne assailants on December 12 during an election campaign , and died three days later. His death triggered violent protests across Bangladesh. President’s sortie President Droupadi Murmu with Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi on indigenous Kalvari class submarine INS Vaghsheer at Karwar Naval Base | PTI Even as the Congress grapples with internal unease triggered by Digvijaya Singh’s remarks praising the organisational power of the RSS and the BJP, the senior leader on Sunday went into damage control mode, saying there were no ideological differences within the party and that it stood firmly united under the Nehr u-Gandhi leadership. Speaking to the media, Singh sought to clear the air on suggestions of factionalism and accused the BJP of attempting to create discord within the Nehru-Gandhi family. “There is no difference in ideology We are all united. . The Nehru-Gandhi family is one in which two members have been mar tyred. I strongly condemn the BJP’s attempts to create divisions within this family he said. ,” The former chief minister also appeared to walk back his earlier criticism of the party’s lack of decentrali- sation. “Rahul Gandhi has started the decentralisation process from the district level and below. The work is underway and will be completed soon,” he added. Singh reiterated his opposition to the BJP-RSS ideolog y, saying there was nothing to learn from “Gandhi’s killers”. “I oppose RSS and BJP ideology,” he said. Singh’s earlier remarks did not go down well with several leaders as the BJP seized on them to attack the Congress, terming it as an ‘open dissent’ against Rahul’s leadership. Party leaders, including Pawan Khera, Manickam Tagore and Supriya Shrinate, differed with Singh’s view saying that Godse’s supporters cannot be aligned with Gandhi’s principles. Meanwhile, Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor extended a guarded support, saying that it is only logical for an organisation to have discipline and be strengthened.