kochi l tuesday l may 26, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION SC pulls up NTA over neet leak, says it has not learnt lessons The court on Monday sought the response of the Centre, NTA and CBI on pleas to replace the National Testing Agency with an autonomous one NTA asked to detail steps taken since 2024 Pleas seek new body to conduct exam Pointing to the 2024 leak of the NEET paper, the Supreme Court asked the testing agency what steps it has taken since. “It’s sad they have not learnt their lessons. The matter travelled to this court earlier also. There was a committee which made some recommendations and they were accepted. We want the NTA to file an affidavit on the steps taken,” the court said | p7 ■ The court issued the notices while hearing a batch of pleas, including one by the Federation of All India Medical Association ■ The medical body has urged the court to issue a direction to restructure or replace NTA with a robust and autonomous system ■ The concerned parties have three days to submit their responses Friday when the court will hear the matter again 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 Bail of all 17 accused in Shuhaib case cancelled Trump now ties deal with Iran to Abraham Accords E xpress N ews S ervice @ Kannur Asks Arab countries, and Pakistan, to sign the Accords as part of peace pact The Thalassery Additional District and Sessions Court (III) on Monday cancelled the bail granted to 17 accused in the case relating to the murder of of Youth Congress worker Shuhaib and remanded them to judicial custody All the accused are re. portedly activists of CPM. In its observation, the court stated that both the defence counsel and the accused had consciously and deliberately chosen not to cross-examine the witnesses despite being given sufficient opportunity to do so. The court observed that the accused were not cooperating with the trial proceedings. Following the order, all 17 accused were shifted to the Special Sub Jail in Thalassery until the next date of hearing. The court also directed that the trial should proceed on a day-to-day basis in compliance with the proceedings schedule. “The court found that the conduct of the accused and their counsel was deliberate and obstructive and that there was an attempt to prolong and derail the trial proceedings, especially in a case that has been pending since 2018,” Special Prosecutor K Padmanabhan said. Meanwhile, the defence filed an application before the Principal District and Sessions Court, seeking the transfer of the case to another court. The prosecution strongly objected to the plea during the hearing. The trial in the Shuhaib murder case had begun on May 18. The examination of the first witness, Riyas, was completed during the day’s proceedings. During the trial, the witness identified the prime accused present in the court along with the first five accused who were allegedly directly involved in the mur● More on P4 der.  Petrol, diesel prices increased yet again E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi US President Donald Trump tied the future of any Iran agreement to a dramatic expansion of the Abraham Accords, signalling a broader geopolitical push to reshape alliances across West Asia. The move came alongside Trump sharply recalibrating expectations around ongoing negotiations with Tehran, warning that any agreement with Iran would either be “meaningful” or there would be “no deal at all.” “The deal with Iran will either be a great and meaningful one, or there will be no deal,” Trump said. Earlier in Tehran, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei acknowledged progress in negotiations but cautioned against expectations of an imminent breakthrough. In a Truth Social post on Monday Trump , said he was “mandatorily requesting that all countries immediately sign the Abraham Accords” ­ a diplomatic framework — introduced during his first term to normalise ties between Israel and Arab states. The countries he referenced included Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Türkiye, Egypt, Jordan besides the UAE and Bahrain, both already signatories to the accords. The statement marked a shift in tone after Trump had earlier suggested that an agreement to end the nearly three-month conflict with Iran was “largely negotiated”. Besides, the inclusion of Pakistan in Trump’s list adds another layer of complexity. Islamabad has historically refused to recognise Israel without the establishment of a Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sought to temper speculation surrounding a breakthrough during his visit to India. He added that the US would either secure a “strong agreement” with Iran or confront the country “another way,” while insisting diplomacy would still be given “every chance to succeed.” `100 mark A litre of petrol now costs more than J100 across India We thought we might have some news (peace agreement) last night, maybe today... I wouldn’t read too much into it Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State Iranian team in Qatar for talks Iran’s parliament speaker and top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, and central bank chief Abdolnaser Hemmati reached Qatar on Monday to discuss “the most sensitive unresolved issues” in reaching a potential deal with the US to end the three-month-old war. Reports said the delegation held talks with Qatar’s prime minister. Meanwhile, Trump said negotiations with Iran are “proceeding nicely” EXPRESS READ Apex court asks media not to record statements in Twisha case New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Madhya Pradesh government to ensure that the alleged dowry death case of former Miss Pune winner, Twisha Sharma, is handed over to the CBI. Hours later, the CBI formally took over the probe. The court also urged the media not to record the statements of witnesses or any potential accused, saying it could prejudice the probe. P8 16 pages, including 4 pages of KOCHI Express Cumulative hike Petrol Diesel J7.35 J7.53 per litre per litre 4 Hikes in 11 days Kerala Petrol: K114.90 per litre Diesel: K102.50 per litre R A K E S H K U M A R @ New Delhi Government-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) on Monday increased petrol and diesel prices for the fourth time in 11 days by `2.61 and `2.71 per litre, respectively, taking the cumulative increase to `7.35 per litre for petrol and `7.53 for diesel. With the latest hike, petrol prices have crossed the `100-per-litre mark across the country with Delhi recording `102.12. The prices vary in states due to local taxation. In Telangana, a litre of petrol will now cost `118.30 while the figure is `114.90 in Kerala. Petrol in Mumbai was priced at `111.21 and diesel `97.83, while Kolkata prices rose to `113.51 and `99.82, respectively . Diesel prices also crossed the `100 mark in Telangana (`106.7) and Kerala (`104.1). Monday’s increase came even as global oil prices fell sharply amid hopes for a deal to end the US-Israel war on Iran. Brent crude fell more than 5% on Monday . According to the government, however, OMCs still lose around `600 crore per day . Madhu lynching: 12 to serve life sentence, 1st accused acquitted E xpress N ews S ervice  @ Kochi The Kerala High Court on Monday awarded life imprisonment to 12 persons convicted in the murder of Madhu, a 27-year-old mentally challenged tribal man who was lynched for allegedly stealing rice from a grocery shop in Attappadi, Palakkad, in 2018. The court, meanwhile, acquitted the first accused of all charges due to lack of evidence. A special court had in 2023 sentenced the 13 accused to seven-year imprisonment for various offences, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The HC enhanced the sentence to life term and slapped fines — ranging from `50,000 to `2 lakh — after finding them guilty under various provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Though the division bench What court said comprising Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V and Justice K Madhu deserved to V Jayakumar awarded three live. He deserved the life sentences each to the 12 protection of every convicts, it ordered that all provision that Parliament sentences would run concurenacted for persons in his rently It also ordered that `30 . position. He received lakh from the fine amount be none of it in life. paid to Madhu’s mother. This court endeavours Pronouncing the verdict, to ensure that his death the court observed that this is not without legal was the first mob lynching consequence. case to come before the courts in Kerala. It is also the first Kerala’s literacy and case in the state in which a developmental tribal man was hunted down, achievements do not publicly humiliated, and asmake it immune to saulted by a group of persons caste-based violence. who believed they were entiThis case itself stands as proof of that reality. tled to enforce their own version of community justice, the court said. It observed that Kerala’s literacy and developmental achievements do not make it immune to caste-based violence. “This case itself stands as proof of that reality it said. ,” Of the total accused, the special court in Mannarkkad had on April 5, 2023, sentenced the 16th accused to three months of simple imprisonment and acquitted the ● More on P4 fourth and the eleventh.  320 stranded mid-air for hrs in Gulmarg cable car F aya z wani @ Srinagar About 320 tourists were stranded mid-air for several hours after a technical glitch halted the gondola cable car system at the ski resort of Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday afternoon. The panic-stricken tourists were rescued after an eighthour-long operation involving personnel from the National Disaster Response Force, the State Disaster Response Force, the Army, and the local police. Their work was hampered by heavy rains in the area. Rescue personnel reached people trapped inside 63 cabins of the gondola with the help of ladders. They were brought to the ground safely using ropes. Many cabins were hanging at a height of about 500 ft. Director General of Police (DGP), Nalin Bhagat, said the operation was completed in the evening, and all the tourists were rescued. There were no reports of any injury Officials . said an investigation will be launched to determine what caused the technical snag. The Gulmarg Gondola, one of the world’s highest cable car projects, operates in two phases. Phase 1 at Kongdori stands at 10,006 ft, and Phase 2 at Af- Rescue operation underway; (inset) a tourist being rescued | PTI Trapped 500 ft above Officials said since many cabins were hanging 500 ft above ground, rescue work took considerable amount of time farwat is 12,959 ft above sea level. The base station at Gulmarg is located at an altitude of 8,694 ft. Operations for both phases were immediately suspended. Union Home Minister Amit Shah praised the rescue forces. “The nation salutes the forces for their valour and skill,” Shah said in a post on X.