TUESDAY 20 OCTOBER, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard POWAR APPOINTED TO SELECTION COMMITTEE, JOINS OJHA AND CO X.com/TheMornStandard The Morning Standard wishes its readers a The BCCI on Monday named Ramesh Powar in the men’s senior selection committee after an interview by the board’s cricket advisory panel Our office and press will remain closed today and there will be no issue of the newspaper on Wednesday. A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS  NEW DELHI  J8.00  PAGES 12 MUMBAIKAR WILL REPLACE AGARKAR Powar will fill the vacancy of Ajit Agarkar, who was chairman till earlier this month. Powar had played for India in Tests, ODIs and has held various coaching roles. When he was Indian women’s team coach, they had won the Asia Cup and a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games. The panel comprises Pragyan Ojha, Shiv Sundar Das, RP Singh, Ajay Ratra and Powar. | P11 33 NO. OF INDIA MATCHES POWAR PLAYED IN (2 TESTS AND 31 ODIS) Probe into Bishnoi gang Heli-mounted laser pods to zap drones link in Tiger firing widens PRESS SPECIAL 3, including a minor, arrested from Kota railway station in joint ops S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I , R A J E S H ASNANI AND HARPREET BAJWA TIMELINE Oct 18, 2026 Between 3 pm and 5.30 pm Tiger Shroff plays football match with film, TV stars in Juhu @ Mumbai/Jaipur/Chandigarh THREE suspects, including a minor, were arrested at Rajasthan’s Kota railway station on Monday morning, less than 24 hours after shots were fired at actor Tiger Shroff ’s car in Mumbai’s Juhu area on Sunday. The suspects were travelling on the Pune–Jaipur Express. A railway police officer said the suspects were handed over to Rajasthan Police. A Mumbai Police team took custody of the suspects. Two of the accused are from Haryana and one from Bihar. They are reportedly associated with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. Police intercepted them when the train arrived at Kota station at 10:17 am. The suspects were identified as Hritik Kumar (alias Roshan Fighter), 22, from Begusarai, who lived in Andheri West, and worked as a biketaxi driver; Rehan (alias Sukka), 18, from Sonipat, Haryana; and a 17-yearold, also from Sonipat. Mumbai Police, however, said all three were adults. The Kota police and Rajasthan’s Anti-Gangster Task Force, acting on tipoff from Mumbai Police, carried out the operation. Kota SP Tejaswini Gautam said the suspects fired five rounds at the actor’s BMW before abandoning their getaway motorcycle near Andheri West railway station. They then travelled to Surat, boarded the PuneJaipur Express and planned to take the Jaipur-Delhi route to cross into Nepal. No firearms were recovered from the suspects. Mumbai Police said two firearms ‘Teach a lesson’: Charges against 7 for killing Manipur singer E X P R E SS N E WS S E R V I C E @ New Delhi DELHI Police has filed a 500page chargesheet against seven accused in a Saket court in connection with the murder of a 54-year-old Manipuri musician and teacher, who was killed on September 6 in Kilokari village of south-east Delhi. The police have listed 30 witnesses in the chargesheet and invoked provisions related to criminal conspiracy, murder and house-trespass. The victim, identified as C Vikram Singh, had been living in the Kilokari area for over two decades. He was attacked by a group of delivery workers and dhaba staff after he objected to them shouting and drinking outside his apartment. He had sustained injuries during the attack, in which the men rained blows and punches on h i m . T h e v i c t i m ’s s o n , Yaiphaba, rushed him to Holy Family Hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries. According to the investigation, eight men followed him upstairs and assaulted him outside his apartment in front of his son before fleeing the spot. Seven people and a juvenile were arrested. The accused had allegedly wanted to “teach him a lesson” for objecting to noise outside his home by beating him, but did not expect the assault to turn fatal. A police source said that during questioning, the accused allegedly told police that they assaulted the musician with fists and blows after he objected to the commotion outside his residence. Singh had on some occasions complained to the owner of a nearby dhaba about the noise caused by people gathering there. were allegedly used in the attack and registered a case of attempted murder and offences under the Arms Act. Mumbai Police said three men arrived on a motorcycle at 7 pm on Sunday and , two allegedly opened fire at the actor’s car. Shroff escaped serious injury, while his driver and an autorickshaw driver sustained gunshot wounds. The shooting has drawn attention to a link with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang after a social media post and an audio clip purportedly associated with the gang circulated online, claiming responsibility for the attack. In Chandigarh, the incident has renewed scrutiny of shootings allegedly carried out in the gang’s name, including firing outside a money-exchange office in Panipat in March and a shooting outside a gym linked to singer Guru Randhawa in Delhi in June. Gangster Anil Pandit, an alleged member of the Bishnoi gang, has emerged as the common thread in these incidents. A man claiming to be Pandit warned Bollywood stars against working with Salman Khan, reportedly saying, “Sabka number aayega” (“Everyone’s turn will come”). P8 Around 7 pm Fans gather around his BMW while he is boarding the car; 3 motorcycle-borne men open fire, targeting windshield and side windows Tiger escapes unhurt, but his driver, an auto driver injured Assailants flee the spot, catch a train Oct 19 Mumbai Police records statements of eyewitnesses and the injured driver 10:17 am: Three accused held at Kota station while they were attempting to flee on Pune-Jaipur Superfast Express 3 PM: Kota SP says one of the accused was in touch with Anil Pandit, an aide of Lawrence Bishnoi J A V A R I A R A N A @ New Delhi THE Defence Research and Deve l o p m e n t O r g a n i s a t i o n (DRDO) has begun work on a helicopter-mounted laser weapon to neutralise hostile drones, with development scheduled for completion by 2029-end, sources said. Two DRDO laboratories and a private industry partner are involved in the project. The Hyderabad-based Centre for High Energy Systems and Sciences (CHESS) is developing the laser directedenergy weapon (DEW), while the Dehradun-based Instruments Research and Develop- ment Establishment (IRDE) is developing the stabilised gimballed pod housing its sensors and directing the beam. Weighing up to 180 kg, the pod will carry a thermal imager, day camera and eye-safe laser rangefinder to detect and track drones up to 5 km away, before engaging them from up to 2 km. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s advanced light helicopter (ALH) Dhruv and its armed variant Rudra are being considered as platforms. “The detailed technical requirements have been shared with the industry partner and work has begun. The real challenge will be to keep the beam locked on a small, fast-moving drone even as the helicopter vibrates and manoeuvres,” a DRDO DRILL Demonstrates 30-kW vehicle-mounted Mk-II(A) laser at Kurnool last April, bringing down fixed-wing, swarm drones More powerful 50-kW and 100-kW laser systems under development to build a multi-layered air defence shield The 300-kW Surya laser, designed to strike targets up to 20 km away, on the drawing board source said. A prototype is expected to be integrated with the CHESS laser within two years, followed by flight-safety trials and airworthiness certification by the Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification. The project’s urgency stems from the growing use of inex- Selling in pvt banks and elevated oil prices bring down Sensex and Nifty E N S E C O N O M I C B U R E A U @ New Delhi INDIAN equities came under selling pressure on Monday as , elevated crude oil prices and profit-booking in private banking stocks following Q3 results impacted investors’ decisions. Nifty50 declined 1.11% to close at 22,888, while the BSE Sensex fell 1.17% to 73,852. The broader market also witnessed pressure, with the Nifty Midcap 100 declining 1.09% and the Nifty Smallcap 100 falling 1.01%. Ajit Mishra of Religare Broking said that global and domes- tic macroeconomic concerns weighed on sentiment. “Brent cr ude remained elevated around $107-108 per barrel amid geopolitical tensions and supply-side uncertainties, raising concerns over imported inflation. Investors also remained watchful of foreign fund flows and global market trends,” he said. Shares of Axis Bank fell more than 4% on Monday after its net profit narrowly missed analyst estimates. The lender reported a net profit of `7,003 crore in the July-September period, marking an increase of 38% from `5,090 crore in the same period last year. Shares of HDFC Bank also plunged over 2% on Monday following its Q2 results. Other top laggards in the Nifty50 pack were Tata Motors Passenger Vehicle, Infosys and Bajaj Finance. Monday’s selling came after the benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty gained about 3% each last week. Vinod Nair of Geojit Investments put it on global signaling. 3 KILLED, 3 INJURED IN MANIPUR ATTACK P R A S A N TA M A Z U M D A R @ Guwahati THREE Meiteis were killed and three others injured in an attack by “armed miscreants” in Manipur on Monday morning, prompting protesters to leave the bodies of two victims at the gate of Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh’s official bungalow in Imphal’s Babupara area. Police fired teargas shells to disperse the crowd and shifted the bodies to a hospital. It was not immediately known whether Singh was at his residence at the time. One of the injured said that a group of 16 had gone to the hills, near the border of Meitei-majority Imphal East and Kuki-majority Kangpokpi districts, to collect firewood and were loading it onto a vehicle when they came under GEN Z ‘THE OBJECTIVE MATTERS, NOT THE BANNER’ attack. The deceased are Arubam Ronil (35), Lairenlakpam Inaobi (44) and Kshetrimayum Sushil (32). Two of them died on the spot. The CM later visited the injured at a hospital, met their family members and assured them that the government would bear all medical expenses. He then chaired a security meeting attended by Home Minister Govindas Konthoujam, senior police and administrative officials, and representatives of the Army and paramilitary forces. Condemning the killings, Singh directed officials to strengthen security measures in vulnerable areas. The last major attack targeting Meiteis took place on April 7 this year, when two children were killed in a bomb attack in Bishnupur district. K C Venugopal, MP and Congress general secretary (organisation), says that any party, student group or individual raising their voice to save the vote belongs to the same struggle. | P7 pensive drones in modern conflicts. During Operation Sindoor, Pakistan launched waves of drones at Indian military installations and civilian areas. The West Asia war has highlighted the cost asymmetry of conventional air defence, with drones costing $20,000-$50,000 forcing the US and Israel to expend interceptor missiles worth $1 million-$5 million. DRDO estimates that firing its laser for a few seconds costs roughly as much as a couple of litres of petrol. “No military can sustain a war in which a missile worth crores is expended on a drone worth a few lakh. A heli-borne laser also brings mobility since it can be rushed to forward areas,” the source said. EXPRESS READ B’desh ex-air chief arrested over graft Bangladesh’s former air force chief Sheikh Abdul Hannan has been nabbed in Qatar over corruption charges against him at home. The retired air chief marshal amassed assets much more than his known sources of income. Sutar scores 400 in 1st-class cricket Mizoram’s Chinmay Sutar on Monday became the second Indian batter to score 400 runs in firstclass cricket, achieving the feat on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Plate Group match against Nagaland. Previously, he played for Mumbai. P11 Rift in BJP over Left book stall IN SEARCH OF THE DIVINE Women perform ‘dhunuchi’ dance during evening aarti at a Durga Puja pandal in Chittaranjan Park on Monday | PARVEEN NEGI Contrary to West Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari’s stand, Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta and RSS leader Jishnu Basu on Monday defended the rights of the Left parties to set up book stalls in Durga Puja pandals. L-G calls for speedy trial as over 3L cases pending A N U P V E R M A @ New Delhi L-G Taranjit Singh Sandhu on Monday expressed concern over low conviction rates, the slow pace of disposal of cases and mounting case pendency and directed for immediate measures to address these issues. He underlined that the BNSS, 2023, empowers prosecution and provides for strengthening it by means of adequate personnel as well as specific timelines for investigation, apart from enabling it through use of technology and directed , officials to accordingly upgrade the structure and functioning of the Prosecution Directorate and prosecution processes. Sandhu chaired a meeting to review the functioning of the Directorate of Prosecution, which was attended by the principal secretary (law), principal secre- tary (home), special commissioner of police (welfare & legal), director of prosecution and other officials. The meeting was informed that 3,02,477 trial cases were pending in the district courts of Delhi as on September 30, of which 2,54,597 were in magistrate courts and 47,880 in sessions courts. He also asked that compliance with the timelines for trial un- der the BNSS be ensured and delays monitored. The L-G emphasised that justice delayed cannot become justice denied. Every avoidable delay and lapse must be addressed. He directed all concerned agencies to act with urg e n cy, c o o rd i n at i o n a n d accountability to strengthen prosecution and ensure more effective delivery of justice. He also called for stronger scrutiny of chargesheets. Das, Ranka to stay in jail till Oct 21, probe given to Crime Branch FRENCH U D AYA N K I S H O R E @ New Delhi COCKROACH Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka will have to stay in jail for two more days. A city court on Monday extended their judicial custody for alleged violation of peace, saying their conduct was “not above board”. The case against them was transferred to the Crime Branch on Monday evening. A special executive magistrate at the Mandir Marg police station said their conduct show they had “no respect for law”. The magistrate noted that both the sureties named by Das and Ranka had “no control” over them. The magistrate said in an order, “The inquiry revealed that both the sureties have no control over the Respondents to produce them before the Court, which is primary essence of keeping surety No other surety . present at present. In such a situation, respondents are directed to furnish fresh sureties.” The police produced them before the judge on the expiry of their five-day judicial custody and sought further time. The magistrate said that there were serious concerns about them breaching peace and tranquility. “The conduct of the respondents is not above board. Rather, it shows no respect for law and their habitualness in calling protest at denotified areas. The statement of respondents before this court, during the arguments, that they will not repeat this offence in future does not inspire confidence based on conduct and material placed on record by the IO,” the order said. CJP’s legal head Ratna Singh said that the magistrate had rejected their sureties on “vague grounds”. The CJP alleged that the bail proceedings were deliberately delayed to prevent the release of its two co-convenors. “The police did not provide any argument to show that there would be any more protest or Das and Ranka may breach peace. They kept making provocative statements in the court,” Singh said. NEHA BORA MOVES HC | P3 PM SEEKS CURFEWS AS GOVT GRAPPLES WITH VIOLENCE Sebastien Lecornu says he has instructed prefects, the government’s regional representatives, to impose “localised” curfews to prevent more rioting and looting, following weekend violence across France. | P9