NEW DELHI 07 APRIL 2024 SUNDAY `12 PAGES 26  facebook/TheMorningStandard  X.com/TheMornStandard https://epaper.morningstandard.in United Colours of Asia PLUS: 12 PAGES Travellers Without Borders MAGAZINE EXCLUSIVE VOICES Web of Slavery Drawing a Blank CPM bank account with `4.8 cr under the radar frozen by I-T E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Kochi EVEN as Opposition parties accuse the Central agencies of trying to cripple their electioneering at the behest of the BJP , the Income Tax department (IT) on Saturday froze a bank account of the CPM which has `4.8 crore. The account of the CPM Thrissur district committee in a nationalised bank caught the attention of I-T investigators when `1 crore was recently withdrawn from it. The action was initiated by an I-T special team tasked with monitoring the flow of black money in the backdrop of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. According to a tax official, the I-T returns of the party had not mentioned the account. The name of the bank was not revealed by the department. Meanwhile, the CPM state 3 Maoists killed in an encounter along border of T’gana-C’garh EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Mulugu THREE Maoists were killed on Friday night in an encounter between Greyhounds and the Maoists in the border areas of Karriguttalu forest, which is spread across Mulugu and Kanker districts of Chhattisgarh. Following the incident, the Mulugu police has beefed up security in the area on Saturday . Meanwhile, sources said that the Chhattisgarh state police officials confirmed an encounter at the Pujari Kanker forest along the interstate border when a team of Greyhounds — Telang ana anti-Naxal force — was conducting a combing operation. Speaking to this newspaper, Mulugu district superintendent of police (SP) Dr P Shabarish said, “The encounter took place within the Nambi police station limits of Chhattisgarh. We have alerted all the border police stations and deployed special police force to conduct intense combing operations and vehicle checking in the agency area of Eturnagaram, Mang apet, Vajedu, Venkatapur, Kannaigudem, Tadvai, and Mahamutharam in Mulugu district.” Party claims it files tax returns regularly CPM said the party files tax returns without fail to the I-T department and the Election Commission. It alleged that the move was part of the Union government targeting Opposition parties and state governments run by them leadership condemned the action, alleging that the I-T department froze the account without prior notice or seeking any explanation. The account has been frozen after an unexpected interrogation of CPM Thrissur district secretary M M Varghese by the I-T sleuths at the Enforcement Directorate office in Kochi on Friday, where he was being questioned in connection with the Karuvannur Service Coop- erative Bank scam. “The bank account, opened in 1998, is in the name of the CPM Thrissur district committee. Upon examining the party’s I-T returns, we discovered that the details of this bank account were not disclosed. Currently there is `4.8 crore in the , account. We have frozen the account and initiated an investigation. The transactions made through the account are under scrutiny Efforts are underway . to identify any additional accounts belonging to the political party in other banks across Kerala that were not disclosed in the I-T returns,” stated an I-T official. The I-T department will take penal measures against the party if it fails to provide a satisfactory explanation regarding the bank account. This is the first time the I-T is probing the CPM’s bank transactions. CRIMINAL NETWORK 7 held, 3 infants rescued as CBI busts child trafficking racket in Delhi, Haryana M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi THE CBI has busted a network of infant traffickers and arrested seven people who were part of the syndicate, following searches at seven locations in Delhi and Haryana. Three infants were rescued as well, officials said on Saturday . “As part of the operation, the CBI conducted searches at seven locations across Delhi and Haryana. Two male infants of just 1.5 days and 15 days, and a one-monthold female child have been rescued during the operation. Incriminating articles, documents and `5.5 lakh cash have been recovered,” said a senior official. The CBI’s raiding team also arrested seven accused, who were identified as Neeraj, a resident of Sonipat in Haryana, Indu Pawar from Pashchim Vihar, Aslam from Patel Nagar, Pooja Kashyap of Narang Colony in Kanhayian Nagar, Ritu from Karala, Anjali from ECUADOR TROOPS STORM MEXICAN EMBASSY, ARREST FORMER V-P Malviya Nagar and Kavita, also a resident of Delhi. According to CBI officials, the traffickers allegedly contacted childless couples desirous of adopting babies through advertisements on social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp. “They allegedly purchased babies from real parents as well as surrogate mothers, and thereafter sold the children at prices ranging between `4 lakh and `6 lakh per child. The accused also duped many childless couples of lakhs of rupees by creating fake documents related to adoption,” the official said. The agency has booked 10 people including the arrested accused under various provisions of IPC and also of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015. They have been charged with running a network of trafficking infants and being involved in buying and selling them across India for adoption. Authorities forcibly entered Mexican embassy in Quito on Friday to arrest former V-P Jorge Glas, who had been granted political asylum there, prompting Mexico to sever diplomatic ties | P11 Pushpesh Pant Ravi Shankar Preeti Shenoy DineshSingh S Vaidhyasubramaniam Prabhu Chawla Shankkar Aiyar Nanditha Krishna The Herbalcohol Way Never Forget Your Companions AMMA SPEAKS Navigating Shadows With Wisdom The Beauty of Giving Fight gets shriller as LS campaign picks up pace Muslim League imprint Democratic institutions in Cong manifesto: PM being destroyed: Sonia N A M I TA B A J PA I @ Lucknow R A J E S H A S N A N I @ Jaipur WHILE underscoring the futility of INDIA bloc in Uttar Pradesh and calling it a flopped film of two boys (Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav) of 2017 re-released in 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a blistering attack on the Congress in Saharanpur, charging that its manifesto released a day earlier had imprint of the erstwhile Muslim League. “The Congress manifesto completely bears the imprint of the Muslim League of the days of the freedom struggle. Its every page reeks of breaking India into pieces. And whatever part of the Congress is left is completely dominated by the leftists. Such a party cannot take India forward in the 21st century,” he said, adding Worshipping Shakti is a part of the poll statement of the Congress showed it was our natural spiritual journey. completely cut off from But, people of the INDIA the hopes and aspirabloc say their fight is tions of today’s India. against Shakti “On the other hand, Narendra Modi, Prime Minister we have worked without discrimination. Saturation coverage of our welfare schemes has been our mantra. We want the welfare initiatives to reach every section, every caste and everyone without discrimination. This is true secularism,” he added. In his pushback, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh accused the BJP of practising the “politics of divisiveness”. He recalled that Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee had joined a coalition government in Bengal with the Muslim League in the early 1940s. Hurling a barb at the SP the PM said: “Look at , the Samajwadi Party… They are changing their candidates every hour.” The SP changed as many as 17 candidates after giving tickets to them on seven seats of western UP . IN its first mega show in Rajasthan, Congress biggies Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjuna Kharge and Priyanka Gandhi launched a scathing attack against the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a massive rally here to introduce the party’s manifesto to the public. Sonia said the country under Modi’s rule has been pushed towards dictatorship. She accused the Modi government of instilling fear in the country’s democratic institutions, adding the PM believes he is above the nation. The country’s freedom is not the product of the new leadership at the top but has been achieved through the struggles and sacrifices of their forefathers, she said, adding: “After so Considering many years, the great himself great, light has dimmed. The Modi ji is tearing apart the dignity injustice of darkness of the country and its has increased all democracy. Fear is being around. Our resolve installed in the system should be to fight against this and seek Sonia Gandhi, Congress the light of justice.” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused Modi of confusing the people and failing to deliver. “You have not done anything for the country ... We are giving ... an account of 55 years... You only abuse Congress and the Gandhi family he claimed. ,” Priyanka Gandhi criticised the BJP’s association with corrupt individuals and accused it of prioritising industrialists over the welfare of the people. “All the schemes are for big industrialists. They say they will give a 5 kg ration but will not provide employment, will not let your children stand on their feet,” she charged. Priyanka also pointed out that though the BJP is inducting corrupt leaders from all parties, no one is even questioning it. MORE REPORTS ON PAGE 6, 7 & 10 EXPRESS READ 17 Indians brought back from Laos External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday that 17 Indian workers, who were lured into unsafe and illegal work in Laos, are on their way back home. Taking to micro-blogging site ‘X’, he complimented the Indian embassy in Laos for its successful efforts in the case. Meanwhile, the external affairs ministry, in an advisory, also cautioned Indian nationals against falling prey to human traffickers promising lucrative job opportunities in Cambodia. Singhvi moves HC against RS poll loss Weeks after he lost the Rajya Sabha election from Himachal Pradesh, Congress leader and senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Saturday filed an application in the high court challenging the interpretation of draw of lots rules by the election officer after there was a tie in the poll. BJP nominee Harsh Mahajan won the February 27 election through draw of lots after both candidates won 34 votes each. DMK legislator dies of liver cancer in TN KEEPING THE GUARD UP A female commando of the Special Operations Group of the J&K Police during a security operation in Jammu on Saturday | PTI DMK MLA N Pugazhenthi died due to suspected liver cancer in Villupuram, Tamil Nadu, on Saturday, a day after he took part in the chief minister’s election rally. The Vikravandi MLA, who collapsed during the CM’s event near the stage, was rushed to government hospital in Mundiyambakkam where he failed to respond to treatment and died, officials said. The MLA was 69 and is survived by his wife, a son and three daughters. `10 above limit, poll flying squad seizes Aerial view: Hit wave strikes IPL season with 6 `50,010 from woman in Tamil Nadu WHAT’S TRENDING What has changed when compared to last year — THE ongoing edition of the In- any of the previous years, dian Premier League (IPL) is really — is that the teams more than two weeks old. One are clearing the boundary of the patterns to have emerged cushions at an unprecefrom the 17th iteration is that, dented rate. As it stands, as it stands, the league is on they are hitting at least course to see a new record one six every 2.1 for sixes in a single year. overs, comfortably After Friday night’s Sunday the best such metmatch between Sunrisric in the histoSpecial ry of the league. ers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings, In 2023, it was the 10 teams combined had one every 2.3 managed 326 maximums for an overs. In 2022, it was average of 18 per match. You one hit over the extrapolate that over the 74 fence every 16.2 games and they are on course deliveries. for 1332; comfortably eclipsing Why is this the the previous best of 1124 in 2023 case? There are (74 matches). various reasons S W A R O O P S W A M I N AT H A N @ Chennai for this but the short answer is that uncapped Indian batters are comfortable in taking the aerial route (out of the top 25 leading six-hitters this year, four are uncapped Indians who have honed their skills in domestic T20 cricket). The other pronounced rationale behind this sort of six-hitting lies in the teams (and players) valuing the art of boundaries: 80% of all T20 matches are won by teams wh o h i t m o r e boundaries. Even among the boundaries, sides who hit more sixes typically tend to win more matches. Dan Weston, who worked with Punjab Kings during the mega auction in 2022, explained: “This year, Kolkata have so far hit an almost equal number of fours and sixes (45 sixes and 44 fours). We are starting to see the combination of the additional depth that the impact player provides to domestic players coming in. Teams are realising that the extra depth allows them to play more attacking cricket.” All of this comes with one caveat. With three-fourths of the season to go, there may be a regression to the mean. The next few weeks will reveal whether this is the beginning of another evoMORE ON SPORTS P13 lution. R K I R U B A K A R A N @ Coimbatore IN a bizarre case of overreach, a poll squad seized `50,010 cash from a woman in Coimbatore claiming that she had breached the cash limit as per the model code of conduct as she had `10 more than the per mitted amount of `50,000. Strangely enough, the team had carried out the seizure after allegedly making the woman part with `10 she had in her mobile phone cover as small change to arrive at the `50,010 figure. T he incident happened around 11 am on Saturday, when Suriya Priya (34), who was handling the accounts of a micro industry unit owned by HARASSMENT FOR 3 HRS After nearly three hours, the officials of the flying squad returned the cash and set her free. Suriya Priya later sent a complaint to District Collector Kranthi Kumar Pati and the Election Commission of India on her ordeal her husband Suresh Babu, was on her way to the unit on a twowheeler from her house at SIHS Colony. A flying squad team team intercepted her at Indira Garden near Singanallur. “I was carrying `50,000 in `500 denomination to give weekly salary to our staff. Since I knew about the restrictions as per election rules, I carried only `50,000 — the permissible limit. I had documents to show it was withdrawn from a bank on March 16. I had kept the cash at home to disburse it on the salary day When I gave all . the explanations and showed documentary proof, one of the members of the FST team asked me for `20. I said I had just `10 in my mobile phone cover for emergency use. When I gave the `10 note, the officers told me that they were seizing the `50,010 as the total value had crossed `50,000!” The team then rudely asked her to come to the south taluk office for further inquiry where , she was further harassed.