mondAY 19 october, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard Menstrual hygiene: SC pulls up states, UTs over lack of response D r o n e at ta c k Kyiv strikes Putin’s hometown Kremlin said attacks on Russian cities will not change its war aims as Kyiv hit Saint Petersburg with the biggest drone attack on Vladimir Putin’s hometown Page 9 CJP leaders Magistrate hearing bail plea under threat: Police The court expressed displeasure over states and Union territories not responding to the Centre on menstrual hygiene judgment’s implementation act soon or face contempt action, Sc warns A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS l New Delhi l J8.00 l During a hearing on October 13, the Centre informed the court that it had sought details from states and UTs on the judgment’s implementation, but received no response. The court warned of contempt action if states and UTs don’t act by the next hearing | P7 PAGES 12 7 held in Kolkata stampede case, toll rises to 19 Pandal organisers among arrested; SIT led by sitting HC judge to probe tragedy; govt offers compensation of `25L to each victim’s family 15 killed as truck rams devotees outside temple U D AYA N K I S H O R E @ New Delhi CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka could not be released on Sunday on expiry of their five-day judicial custody, while the Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) claimed to have received “threatening messages”. The hearing on bail pleas of Das and Ranka was “delayed” as the SEM did not arrive at the scheduled time, CJP’s legal resource person Ratna Singh claimed, alleging that four sureties had been rejected on “vague” grounds. They were sent to five days of judicial custody on October 14 after they entered Jantar Mantar, which had been denotified as a designated protest site, by scaling its locked gates. Delhi Police on Sunday re gistered a complaint against unidentified persons for allegedly threatening the magistrate. In a post on X, Singh claimed she had been at the police station since 11 am, while the hearing was scheduled for noon, adding that “the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP/SEM) has not arrived at the Mandir Marg police station by 4.42 pm.” She added that they had completed every formality, including verification, and other requirements. “We have been waiting here since noon. The SEM was at the police station by 1:30 pm, but he did not enter the courtroom until 5.00 pm. When he finally arrived, he refused to hear our case on its merits regarding whether Saurav and Ashutosh should be released from judicial custody . Instead, he made arbitrary remarks,” she said. “Within about five minutes of the proceedings, the SEM said…that he had received a threatening message. From that point on, the entire discussion revolved solely around that message,” she added. stir and detentions continue in city Many protests and detentions took place with NSUI seeking CEC’s resignation on Sunday and Opposition seeking a probe into Ankita Bhandari murder case | P3 A N U R A A G S I N G H @ Bhopal From left: Police personnel produce an accused in court on Sunday; the body of a victim being handed to his family; Union Home Minister Amit Shah visits an injured | PTI su b hendu maiti @ Kolkata A day after 19 people were killed in the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durgotsav pandal stampede in north Kolkata, police on Sunday arrested seven persons, including the puja committee’s secretary and vicepresident, even as the state government moved to fix responsibility for the colossal crowd-management failure. Those arrested are secretary Raj Kumar Sewda alias Raja; vice-president Santanu Dubey; Kaushik Saha, in charge of verifying passes and crowd management; Biplab Mukhopadhyay, involved in the pandal’s bamboo structure; Pintu De; Suman Chakraborty; and Rajesh Pal. Fourteen people have been detained so far and suo motu FIRs have been registered. West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who visited the injured late on Saturday, has announced a special investigation team headed by a sitting Calcutta High Court judge, with senior STF and CID officers. “No one, including committee members and police, would be spared if found negligent,” the CM said. The probe is set to be politically sensitive. The committee’s chairman is BJP MLA Bijoy Ojha of Jorasanko, while the CM’s nephew Debdeep Adhikari is a member. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday visited the injured at Kolkata Medical Col- TMC targets Suvendu The Mamata Banerjee faction of the Trinamool Congress accused the police and administration of failing to ensure crowd control. The party’s MP Abhishek Banerjee demanded accountability, asking CM Suvendu Adhikari, “When will you put your nephew in jail?” lege and Hospital, where several remain critical, and postponed other programmes, including a visit to Belur Math. Two more victims died on Sunday, raising the total toll from 17 to 19. The state government announced `25 lakh compensation and a job to one member of each victim’s family, and `5 lakh to every injured, besides bearing treatment costs. A separate team of Rajesh Singha,secretary of the disaster management department; Anuj Sharma, D-G (fire) and Javed Shamim ADG (STF) have been tasked with inspecting infrastructure, fire safety and crowd management at bigbudget pandals. A helpline, 18003455678, is operational, said an official. The tragedy occurred around 7.30 pm on Saturday, when a downpour sent thousands rushing into the pandal on a narrow stretch off Central Avenue. Those inside could not get out as people outside pushed in, and many lost balance on a makeshift staircase. A part of the iron structure gave away, leading to the stampede. P8 A speeding truck headed to Punjab with paddy crushed 15 devotees to death and injured another 26 outside the Sheetla Mata temple, 17km from Gwalior city in the wee hours of Sunday The Cir, . cle Superintendent of Police and eight other cops were suspended after the heavy vehicle sped through a no-entry zone. The devotees had queued up for early morning prayers on Navratri’s most auspicious Mahashthami day . Among those injured, the condition of at least four persons is critical. Police said the victims are from Gwalior and neighbouring Shivpuri, Morena and Sheopur districts. Fiftyyear-old Sarla Tomar was the sole woman among the deceased. Of the other 14, nine were aged between 13 and 18 years. The tragedy occurred at around 1.30 am, when truck driver Dilbag Singh, taking paddy from Gwalior’s Dabra Anaj Mandi to Punjab, lost A view of the overturned truck control of the vehicle on the sloping, near Gwalior city | X narrow road. A Gwalior police official said that despite entry in the area being barred to vehicles, none of the cops on duty stopped the truck. “Investigation suggests the brakes of the truck failed, causing the vehicle to ram the boundary wall and entry gate of the temple, which was teeming with devotees. The out-of-control-truck ran over the devotees lined up to enter the temple,” the official said. Many were trapped under debris of the temple’s wall due to the crash. Dilbag Singh, from Punjabi Colony in Delhi, and the truck’s owner Harpreet Singh from Ludhiana, were taken into custody . Naga SP moved out day after Kuki civilian’s killing P R A S A N TA M A Z U M D A R @ Guwahati THE Manipur government on Sunday transferred the Superintendent of Police of Kamjong, a Naga-majority district which witnessed a series of armed attacks over the past few months, even as a Kuki outfit announced a “total shutdown” of National Highway 202 from Sunday midnight till October 22 midnight over the violence. I P S o f f i c e r J ay Barange replaced Tholu Rocky, a Manipur Police Service officer from the Naga community, as Kamjong SP. Rocky will take charge as additional director of the Manipur Police Training College. The transfer came a day after a Kuki community member was killed while four others were injured in an attack at Chassad village in Kamjong. Hours later, three Nagas were injured in a counter-attack. The transfer also triggered protests with the Manipur Naga Youth Organisation accusing the authorities of doing it under pressure from a Kuki legislator. “The Nagas have long endured the state administrative, law and order failure in the hope of an early return of peace but the government appears appeasing only the troublemakers,” it said. Meanwhile, the Kuki CSO Working Committee, Ukhrul, which announced NH shutdown, threatened to pursue “larger for ms of intense agitation”. The outfit had enforced a similar blockade on NH 202, which connects the state capital of Imphal with Ukhrul, from July 27 till August 11. A Kuki was killed while four others from the community were injured on Saturday . VOICE OF DISSENT ECHOS THROUGH VENUES From Jantar Mantar to city’s outer edges, Delhi’s protest map has evolved alongside its grievances and demands for accountability. As protest sites shift farther from the corridors of power, questions of right to dissent come into sharper focus | P4 Goddess’ radiance Devotees celebrate Durga Puja on Ashtami at Matri Mandir Samiti in Safdarjung Enclave on Sunday | sayantan ghosh Express Read 8 dead, 13 hurt in Punjab crash FIR on Army officer’s wife in J&K Delhi’s minimum temp drops Eight labourers were killed and 13 injured after a speeding car rammed into them while they rested and drank water along a road in Punjab’s Sangrur, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s home district. Around 25 workers were engaged in work when the car struck the group. The driver had abandoned the vehicle and fled the spot, said locals. Jammu and Kashmir Police have filed an FIR against the wife of a serving Army officer for allegedly sharing sensitive information with individuals suspected of having links with Chinese intelligence agencies. Investigators are examining her mobile phone and electronic devices to establish nature and extent of the alleged information-sharing. Delhi recorded its lowest minimum temperature of the month on Sunday, with the mercury settling at 18.6 degrees Celsius, 0.2 degrees above the season’s average, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The maximum temperature settled at 31.7 degrees Celsius, 0.9 notch below the seasonal average. Gunmen open fire at Tiger Shroff’s Govt mulls capping e-rickshaw tally to 2.5 lakh car; actor safe, driver among 2 hurt Traffic chaos A nup V erma @ New Delhi The Delhi government has proposed capping number of erickshaws in the capital at 2.5 lakh under a draft scheme released on Sunday, citing concerns over traffic congestion, road safety and pollution. Under the proposed Delhi ERickshaw (Registration and Operation) Scheme, 2026, no e-rickshaw will be allowed to operate unless registered as a transport vehicle and issued a valid ERickshaw Compliance Certificate (ECC). “The ECC will be issued digit- ally and remain valid for two years. It will contain registration certificate details, owner and driver information, including driving licence and public service vehicle (PSV) badge de- tails, battery compliance status, and the validity of fitness and insurance documents, according to the draft. Each ECC will be linked to one e-rickshaw and one driver,” it reads. The draft proposes a limit of five e-rickshaws for individual owners who are residents of the capital. Companies, fir ms, NGOs, cooperative societies and driving schools will be allowed to own up to 100 e-rickshaws. Such entities will have to ensure adequate charging stations or battery-swapping arrangements and obtain an aggregator licence once their fleet reaches 25 vehicles, the draft states. All drivers will be required to hold a valid e-rickshaw driving licence and a PSV badge. A driver cannot be linked to more than one ECC. S udhir surya w anshi @ Mumbai U nidentified g u n m e n opened fire at Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff ’s vehicle in the Juhu area of Mumbai on Sunday evening. Shroff escaped unhurt, while his driver and an autorickshaw driver sustained injuries. Three bike-borne assailants fired towards Shroff ’s car from a distance of about 100 metres and fled the scene. Police said seven shots were fired. The incident took place in Juhu when Shroff was travelling in an SUV Soon after, an . audio file emerged in which an alleged representative of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang claimed responsibility for the attack, saying Shroff had ignored their warning and continued to work with actor Salman Khan. The police said 12 specialised teams have been formed to ana- lyse CCTV footage and track the suspects. The attack drew sharp criticism from the Opposition. “This is very unfortunate that no one is safe in Mumbai. This is a failure of intelligence agencies,” Nationalist Congress Party MLC Zeeshan Siddiqui said. Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad demanded that Maharashtra have a separate home minister, blaming Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for the situation. “If actors and political leaders are not safe, what can we say about the safety of ordinary citizens?” she asked.