EcsTAsY&AGONY bengaluru l Wednesday l July 08, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 24 l late city EDITION Messi leads great escape vs Egypt S w a r o o p s w a m i n at h a n @ Bengaluru THE world has never seen anything like him. The world will never see anything like him ever again. So, honestly even if , you have never supported him, it’s never too late. For the vast majority of the last 20 years, it has been an utter privilege to be wowed by the magic of Lionel Andres Messi. There is no saying how much longer he has in the world game. It could end in the quarterfinals of the World Cup. It very nearly ended in the last 16 in a fever dream of a game against Egypt in Atlanta. On an increasingly fraught afternoon for the world champs in Atlanta, The Pharaohs were up 2-0 and coasting to one of the great shocks in the history of the tournament before the 39-year-old dragged the team to his level. First was an assist, a clipped cross from the right-hand side which was headed home by Cristian Romero. In the 83rd minute, all that tension among the masses had evaporated in an outpouring of joy as Messi drilled a first-time left-foot shot home from close range. Inside 300 seconds, one of football’s greatest created as well as scored for yet more records. With their tails up, Argentina threw men forward as they had the momentum. And the game’s winning goal promptly came thanks to a blistering counter; Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez combining to create it for Enzo Fernandez to score the late winner (3-2).  P19 ronaldo’s wc chapter ends in round of 16 Cristiano Ronaldo walked off the pitch after his final World Cup match for Portugal with a stoic look on his face. The sixth and final World Cup for the 41-yearold ended with a 0-1 loss to Spain in a Round of 16 tie. 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 India, Indonesia expand strategic partnership Landslip at Wayanad tunnel road site kills 3 Le s ly J o s e p h @ Meppadi a landslip at the twin-tunnel road project near Kalladi Meenakshi Bridge in Wayanad on Tuesday claimed three lives, left at least seven persons missing, and ignited a political and legal storm. While heavy monsoon rains triggered the initial slope instability, residents and local representatives termed it a “man-made disaster”, blaming corporate negligence and a complete failure of regulatory oversight. The victims have been identified as Chandra Ban, an operator from Madhya Pradesh; Bikash Kumar, a civil foreman from Bihar; and Anmol, a worker from Jharkhand. T he collapse occur red around 11 am, sending a mas- Jakarta to procure two batteries of BrahMos cruise missile system, Astra air-to-air missile A screengrab from a CCTV footage shows people being swept away by debris after the landslide strikes Wayanad on Tuesday | Express A bus stuck in debris after falling into a rivulet near the Meppadi tunnel project site at Kalladi in Wayanad, where the massive landslide struck | Vincent Pulickal sive torrent of liquefied mud, rocks and construction debris crashing onto the Meppadi– Chooralmala road. The deluge buried the Meenakshi Bridge, engulfed a private bus and flattened a roadside eatery where workers had gathered. Nine labourers were pulled from the sludge and rushed to “I had a miraculous escape. I saw the soil sliding down and ran for my life,” said local resident Hamsa Manthikkara. Chief Minister V D Satheesan said several official warnings were issued to the contractor but they were ignored. “On June 20, the district collector directed the contractor hospital. Two of them are in critical condition. At the heart of the growing outrage is the dumping of tens of thousands of tonnes of excavated earth by the tunnel project’s contractor, Dilip Buildcon, operating under the supervision of the Konkan Railway Corporation. to remove the excavated soil. The disaster management authority issued a similar order, and the PWD minister also instructed the contractor to clear the soil,” the CM said. The Konkan Railway Corporation has ordered an inquiry . Dilip Buildcon said all norms were complied with.  P7 HC upholds death for 38 in K’taka AIB policy boosts beer sales by 19.5% in Q1 Ahmedabad serial blasts case three cheers B a l a C h a u h a n @ Bengaluru The state government’s newly introduced Alcohol In Beverage (AIB) taxation policy is yielding high revenue results for the excise department, while also changing drinking patterns; with people switching from higher alcohol content liquor to milder ones. The AIB policy implemented on May 11 taxes beverages with liquor on the content of alcohol and has led to drastic price reduction in premium beer brands with alcohol content less than 5% volume/volume. The revision on the maximum retail price (MRP) on some premium Indian Made Liquor (IML) brands has also led to an increase in the sale of some premium Scotch whiskeys. According to official statistics, beer sales have ticked up express read Trust: Will overhaul Ram temple admin Lucknow: The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust is set to appoint a CEO to spruce up administrative oversight of Ram temple in Ayodhya. Trust Treasurer Govind Dev Giri Maharaj said absence of supervision contributed to the lapses | P12 excise revenue in the state by Rs 312.67 crore in the first quarter (April to June) logging in a growth of 19.52% in comparison to last year for the corresponding period. The department collected Rs 1,914.81 cr revenue in beer sales alone in the first quarter this year as against Rs 1,602.14 cr in the corresponding period last year because of drastic reduction in MRP on lager beers with 5% alcohol v/v content. The department figures on IML sales also show an uptick with the excise department collecting Rs 8,394.32 cr in the first quarter as against Rs 7,407.53 cr during the corresponding period last year. The department collected Rs 10,599.29 cr revenue in the first quarter this year as against Rs 9,266.29 cr last year for the same period with a reflecting growth of 14.39%.  CONTINUED ON: P2 stake sale by centre expedited The government will raise `2,000 crore following its 5% minority stake sale in Cochin Shipyard. It’s the latest disinvestment process for the current financial year | P15 Siya, Chetan had already married before murder Mumbai: In a twist in the Lohagad Fort murder case, chat history between accused Siya Goyal and her boyfriend Chetan Chaudhary revealed that they secretly married before Siya’s engagement to developer Ketan Agarwal. The marriage took place nearly four months prior to Ketan’s death | P12 Meta blog on child abuse after govt slaps notice New Delhi: Meta on Tuesday published a detailed blog outlining measures it has taken to combat child sexual abuse material across its apps, after the government slapped a notice on it over reports of Instagram ads promoting such content. D ILIP SIN G H K SHAT RI YA @ Ahmedabad THE Gujarat High Court on Tuesday upheld the Ahmedabad Sessions Court’s ruling in the 2008 serial bomb blasts case, confirming the death sentence for 38 members of the banned Indian Mujahideen and life imprisonment for 11 others. A division bench of Justices A Y Kogje and Samir Dave rejected the appeals filed by the convicts against the capital punishment awarded by the lower court in February 2022. The HC directed the Gujarat government to pay `10 lakh to the family of every deceased victim, `5 lakh to each seriously injured survivor, and `1 lakh to those who suffered minor injuries. The compensation must be paid before March 31, 2027. The verdict comes 18 years after 21 coordinated blasts at 20 locations ripped through Ahmedabad on July 26, 2008, killing 56 and injuring more than 200 people. The case remains one of India’s biggest criminal prosecutions. Out of 78 accused who faced trial, the trial court convicted 49 persons, acquitted 29, sentenced 38 to death, and awarded life imprisonment till natural death to 11 convicts. The probe into the serial blasts was unprecedented in scale. Police registered 35 FIRs, filed 548 charge sheets, produced around 6,000 documentary and material exhibits, and examined 1,163 witnesses. The Sessions Court’s judgment ran into nearly 7,000 pages, while the complete paper book exceeded 7.88 lakh pages, making it one of the larg est criminal case records in India. Lawyers representing the accused said they would challenge the HC’s decision in the Supreme Court after reviewing the full judgment. J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi India and Indonesia on Tuesday expanded their strategic partnership, with Jakarta agreeing to procure two batteries of India’s BrahMos supersonic cruise missile system in a deal worth about $200 million, alongside Astra air-to-air missile systems, as the two countries unveiled an ambitious roadmap covering defence, maritime security critical min, erals, technology, digital connectivity and supply chains. The agreements were announced after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta during the first leg of Modi’s three-nation Indo-Pacific tour, which will also take him to Australia and New Zealand. The defence component marks another milestone in India’s push to become a major exporter of indigenous military hardware. A BrahMos battery typically comprises four launchers and 12 ready-to-fire missiles, along with commandand-control systems, support equipment and specialised vehicles, though configurations vary depending on whether the system is deployed for land attack or coastal defence. Sources said Indonesia has also decided to procure India’s Astra beyond-visual-range airto-air missiles following their 3 held after viral road rage assault on car driver E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i ce @ Mysuru Five persons were booked and three arrested after a brutal road rage assault on a driver in front of his wife and family near the Maddur stretch on Mysuru-Bengaluru Expressway in Mandya district. The incident came to light after dashcam footage of the attack went viral on social media, prompting swift police action. The Maddur police arrested three of the accused, seized two vehicles allegedly used in the assault and launched a search for the remaining two suspects. According to a complaint filed by M Sagar Kumar (37), the victim, the violence stemmed from a mi- A video grab of the accused assaulting a car driver on the Mysuru-Bengaluru Expressway nor collision between two cars near the Srirangapatna toll plaza. Though the dispute initially appeared to have been resolved, the accused allegedly tailed the complainant’s vehicle and intercepted it near Madduramma Temple on the Expressway . T h e i n c i d e n t o c c u r re d around 10 pm on Sunday within the jurisdiction of the Maddur police station on the Expressway . Sagar stated in his complaint that he was returning with his family after attending the funeral of his father’s nephew. He was travelling in his car when the other vehicle allegedly came in contact with his car while overtaking. The occupants of the other vehicle, along with another car chased them, blocked their path and forced them to stop. The accused allegedly abused Sagar in filthy language, assaulted him, threatened his family and damaged his vehicle. The viral dashcam footage, recorded by another passing car, captures several men surrounding the victim’s blue car before dragging him out of the driver’s seat. CONTINUED ON: P7 Pension fund access Jharkhand bank’s KYC delay kills ailing 75-yr-old M U K E SH RAN J AN @ Ranchi IN a tragic incident that has s p a rk e d o u t r a g e a c r o s s Jharkhand, a 75-year-old ailing man died after being repeatedly denied access to his own pension money due to pending KYC formalities at a rural bank. Ratan Lakra, a resident of Bargarh village in Garhwa district, passed away on Monday after struggling for months to withdraw funds from his account at the Bargarh branch of Jharkhand Gramin Bank. The money, primarily his government pension, was needed for urgent medical treatment. His family maintained Lakra had been making repeated trips to the bank for three months just to complete the KYC process. Even after he was brought to the branch in an auto-rickshaw, officials allegedly turned them away. His daughter-in-law, Phoolmani Lakra, said that on one occasion, the manager ordered a peon to drag them out. “My father-in-law was ill and could not get the required treat- ment because the rural bank didn’t give him his own money she said. ,” She alleged that the family had requested the bank’s regional manager to complete the DC assures actions Garhwa DC said strict action would be taken against anyone found guilty after the investigation and assured that all assistance due under government rules would be extended to Lakra’s family e-KYC process to enable withdrawal of the pension for Lakra’s treatment. “On the manager’s intervention, the e-KYC was completed, but the money could not be withdrawn, and my father-inlaw died on Monday,” she claimed. A bank official, however, said that after the e-KYC process was completed, no one from Lakra’s family came to the branch to withdraw the pension money . Heartbroken family members and villagers staged a pro- test on Tuesday by placing Lakra’s body at the bank’s entrance, refusing to cremate him until action was taken. Chief Minister Hemant Soren ordered an investigation. In a post on X, he directed the Garhwa Deputy Commissioner to “promptly investigate the matter, take strict action, and inform.” Deputy Commissioner Pashupati Nath Mishra directed the Sub-Divisional Magistrate to conduct a detailed probe, and warned of action against those found guilty . Pic: PTI Prime Minister Narendra Modi being conferred Indonesia’s highest civilian honour by President Prabowo Subianto operational performance during Operation Sindoor. The agreements also envisage wider collaboration in defence manufacturing and technology transfers, reflecting a shift from a buyerseller relationship towards longterm industrial ties. Addressing a joint media interaction, Modi described the outcomes as a golden chapter in bilateral ties. “The growing trust between our two countries has strengthened cooperation in defence, security and the maritime domain,” he said. The two leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to a free, open and rules-based IndoPacific. President Prabowo echoed the sentiment. The two countries also agreed to jointly develop the strategically located Sabang Port near the Strait of Malacca and expand cooperation in maritime infrastructure.  P11 Housing fraud CBI charges builders, banks, finance firms E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i ce @ Bengaluru In another significant development in the ongoing investigation into large-scale cheating of homebuyers, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed chargesheets against Ithaca Estate Pvt Ltd, its director, officials of HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Indiabulls Housing Finance, LGCL Urban Homes (India) LLP and its director in connection with alleged fraudulent activities in a housing project in Bengaluru. The chargesheets were filed in the CBI court in the city . “Investigation has revealed that the accused builder company and its directors, in conspiracy with bank officials and other private persons, allegedly induced homebuyers/investors through false assurances and fraudulent representations and obtained financial benefits by resorting to illegal and deceptive means,” the CBI stated in an official release on Tuesday . “The chargesheet was filed before the competent court under relevant provisions of the IPC pertaining to criminal conspiracy, abuse of official position, cheating and criminal breach of trust along with provisions under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA),” added the anti-corruption agency P7 .