kochi l wednesday l december 31, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l late city EDITION India trounce Sri Lanka in 5th T20I to complete 5-0 sweep Bowlers produced a spotless effort after skipper Harmanpreet Kaur led the way with a 68 as India defeated SL by 15 runs in Thiruvananthapuram Harmanpreet Kaur plays a shot during the match in Thiruvananthapuram | PTI InDia women’s Impressive run continues Shafali, Renuka rise in T20I rankings Following up on its ODI World Cup victory, India women’s team continued its impressive run, winning the T20I series comprehensively. In the 5th T20I, Harmanpreet’s 43-ball 68 took India to 175 for five. In reply, visitors finished at 160 for 7. Harmanpreet was declared the player of the match. Shafali Varma, who scored 241 runs, won the play of the series award.  P13 ■ ■ Swashbuckling opener Shafali Verma has climbed to sixth place in the latest ICC Women’s T20I Player Rankings following a string of impressive half-centuries in the T20 series against Sri Lanka. All-rounder Deepti Sharma continues her reign at the top in bowlers’ list, while Renuka Singh Thakur climbs eight spots to reach sixth. 152 Deepti Sharma becomes highest wicket taker in women’s T20Is 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 Assam STF arrests 11 for ties with Jamaat radicals ‘All were working under direct orders from Bangladesh groups’ As the year draws to a close, we take a deep dive into the events, stories, and faces that mattered e x p r e s s ne w s s e r v i ce @ Guwahati state Wishlist: Things that need focus in 2026| P2 Defining moments of the first 25yrs of century | P6 Nation Migration, mobility and elections| P7 Federalism at crossroads | P9 business Top trends that shaped the economy | P12 Sports How the year panned out for India in sports | P13-14 ELEVEN people were arrested in Assam and Tripura for their alleged links with Bangladeshbased fundamentalist groups that were aiming to destabilise the Northeast, police said on Tuesday Assam’s Special Task . Force said the arrests were made for alleged links with Imam Mahmuder Kafila (IMK), an offshoot of Bangladeshi terror group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), which is banned in India. Ten among those arrested were nabbed from Assam’s Baksa, Barpeta, Chirang and Darrang districts while one was arrested from Tripura’s West Tripura district on December 29 and 30. The IMK was founded in 2018 by Jewel Mahmud alias Sohail, a former JMB member. The STF dossier said senior leaders of JMB, Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), and Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) had issued directions to IMK leadership to activate its Indian modules. Bangladeshi nationals Umar Nasim Uddin, the kingpin, and Junab Ali Another Hindu man killed in Mymensingh A Hindu security guard, Bajendra Biswas, was fatally shot at a garment factory in Mymensingh on Monday, marking the third such incident targeting minorities in the country in two weeks and Khalid were assigned to coordinate Assam-based activities. One Nasim Uddin alias Tamim of Assam’s Barpeta Road is the head of the outfit’s Assam cell. After the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh in August last year, cadres of JMB, ABT and AQIS were activated, resulting in revival of their ideological influence and Indian networks, including through IMK-linked platforms, the STF said. “These elements were working under the direct orders from Bangladesh-based groups. Their main aim was to destabilise Assam and the rest of the Northeast,” STF chief Partha Sarathi Mahanta said. Those arrested from Assam were identified as Nasim Uddin alias Tamim (24), Junab Ali (38), Afrahim Hussain (24), Mizanur Rehman (46), Sultan Mehmud (40), Md Siddique Ali (46), Rasidul Aalam (28), Mahibul Khan (25), Sharuk Hussain (22) and Md Dilbar Razak (26), he added. Jagir Miah (33) was nabbed from Tripura. Reacting to the development, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “Fundamentalist elements are active in Assam. We are Bangladesh’s neighbour, so Assam will have this problem of fundamentalists for a long period.” Following the arrests, a big operation is underway at present, he said, without sharing details. Talking about their funding pattern, the STF chief said IMK’s operations are bankrolled through a combination of Hawala and small account transactions ‘art’ triggers uproar Govt draws flak over Christian outfits fume ‘objectionable painting’ over Biennale artwork, in state lottery ticket venue shut temporarily E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i ce @T’Puram A l o tt e ry t i c k e t brought out by the state government has courted controversy with the BJP and Hindu Aikya Vedi taking strong exception to a painting in it that allegedly denigrates Hindu beliefs. The BJP and Hindu Aikya Vedi alleged that the painting in ‘SK 34 - Suvarna Keralam’ lottery ticket depicts ‘menstrual blood flowing over Shiva lingam’. The lottery ticket, that has `1 crore as the first prize, is scheduled for draw on January 2. BJP state general secretary S Suresh said the painting was an affront to believers of Hinduism. Flaying “Communist brains that portray sexual perversion as culture”, Suresh urged believers to launch strong protests against it. Hindu Aikya Vedi president R V Babu said Kerala has been witnessing organised attacks by forces that want to wreck Hindusim by all means. He alleged that the LDF government would have been inspired by the support extended by a few “unsound minds” to such actions. When contacted, the office of Finance Minister K N Balagopal informed that the Lotteries Directorate would issue a clarification on the matter. Later in the day the Di, rectorate of Kerala State Lotteries clarified that no religious symbols were depicted or misused in the lottery ticket. In a statement, the directorate said paintings in the state lottery tickets are sourced from the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi as per an ● More on P4 agreement.  M anoj V i s w anathan @ Kochi An artwork displayed at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) has ignited angry reactions from the Catholic Church, forcing the Biennale Foundation to shut down the venue concerned for a few days. According to Christian outfits in Kochi, an ar twork displayed at the Garden Convention Centre, one of the venues for the ‘Edam’ exhibition, is misrepresenting the famous Leonardo da Vinci painting that depicts the Last Supper of Jesus Christ. The artwork, created by Tom Vattakuzhy is , based on a theatrical adaptation of a story titled ‘ M r i dv a n g i ’s T r a g i c Death’. “The artwork draws comparison with the Holy Mass and the Last Supper. They have misrepresented Jesus Christ. The artwork should be removed within 24 hours or you will be responsible for the consequences,” said an angry social media post from a leader of the Kerala Latin Catholic Association. Meanwhile, KMB president Bose Krishnamachari said the venue will reopen after holding talks with representatives of the religious bodies concerned and the protest groups. “The work in question was created by the artist in response to a story by C Gopan, the details of which are clearly mentioned in the accompanying exhibition description. The artwork depicts Mata Hari, a historically documented figure and a convicted spy, in the moments preceding her execution by the French Army,” said curators Aiswarya Suresh and K M Madhusudanan in a statement.  ● More on P4 E X PRESS REA D SIT records statement of ex-min Kadakampally T’Puram: The SIT probing the Sabarimala gold theft case on Saturday recorded the statement of former minister Kadakampally Surendran. The details of the interaction of the SIT with the veteran CPM leader, who was the devaswom minister when the alleged offence took place in 2019, emerged on Monday. P4 IUML demands its pound of flesh in Kannur rowing to victory Niranom Chundan (extreme right), rowed by the Niranom Boat Club, surging towards victory in the Champions Boat League held in Kochi on Tuesday | T P Sooraj Kannur: Continuing its assertion to get more stake in areas other than its stronghold Malappuram, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has decided to demand additional standing committee chairperson posts in Kannur Corporation. P4 Khaleda Zia: 15 Aug 1945 – 30 Dec 2025 the reluctant politician who shaped B’desh Jaishankar to attend funeral Reflecting the importance New Delhi attaches to Khaleda Zia’s legacy, foreign minister S Jaishankar will represent India at her funeral. He will travel to Dhaka on Wednesday Pushed education reforms Khaleda Zia’s tenure as PM restored the parliamentary system and introduced compulsory, free primary education J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi K haleda Zia, Bangladesh’s first female prime minister, died in Dhaka on Tuesday at the age of 80. For more than three decades, her fierce rivalry with Sheikh Hasina shaped Bangladesh’s politics, dividing the nation between two dominant leaders whose personal animosity often mirrored the country’s deeper political fault lines. Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid rich tributes to Khaleda Zia, recalling her contribution to strengthening bilateral ties. Born on August 15, 1945 in Dinajpur, then part of British India, Zia entered public life reluctantly At . 15, she married Ziaur Rahman, who would go on to become a central figure in Bangladesh’s 1971 liberation struggle and become President in 1977. His assassination in 1981 pushed Zia into politics. During the nine-year military dictatorship that followed a 1982 coup, she emerged as a prominent face of resistance. Her uncompromising stance earned her a loyal following. Following the fall of military rule in 1990, the BNP won the general election, and Khaleda Zia was sworn in as PM in 1991. Bars in state to be open till midnight today E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i ce @ T’Puram Cheers to the New Year! The state government has allowed bars and beer parlours in the state to be open until midnight on December 31. The first-ever order by the excise department follows a demand from the tourism industry The normal timing is from . 10am to 11pm. The Bevco outlets will function as normal on the day—from 10 am to 9 pm. Bevco recorded a 19% increase in the Christmas sales this year. Liquor worth `332.62 crore was sold in the state from December 22 to 25, compared to `279.54 crore in previous year. 18 pages, including 4 pages of kochi Express