FOLLOW US: @TheStatesmanLtd @thestatesmanltd thestatesman1875 www.thestatesman.com People’s Parliament, Always in Session India’s National Newspaper since 1818 | Pages 16 | ` 5.00 | KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | MUMBAI | BHUBANESWAR | LUCKNOW SILIGURI | Thursday, 09 April 2026 SPORTS NATION Towards energy security Manipur: Centre debunks claims of 22 soldier deaths and burnt Army trucks Page 8 Page 13 EDITORIAL PAGE | PERSPECTIVE Let us empower our Nari Shakti together Page 9 Struggling Knights eye turnaround against confident Super Giants Page 16 USA, Iran agree to two-week ceasefire UNITED NEWS OF INDIA New Delhi/Washington, 8 April T he United States and Iran have agreed to a two-week ceasefire with US President Donald Trump announcing cessation of hostilities and Tehran agreeing to allow passage through Hormuz Strait for “a period of two weeks in coordination with the Iranian Armed Forces.’’ The understanding was reached on the US 15-point proposal and Mr Trump’s announcement about the acceptance of the general framework of Iran’s ten-point proposal as a basis for further negotiations. President Trump, while announcing the cessation of hostilities on his social media platform early this morning, said that subject to Iran agreeing to the ‘COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING’ of the Strait of Hormuz, “I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks.’’ “Based on conversations with [Pakistan’s] Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran,’’ he said. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a statement in Tehran that “considering a request by the US for negotiations’’ if attacks against Iran are halted, Iranian Armed Forces will cease their defensive operations for a period of two weeks and safe passage through the strait of Hormuz will be possible via coordination with Iran’s Armed Forces and due consideration of technical limitations.’’ Mr Trump said the US has already met and exceeded all military objectives, and “are very far along with a definitive agreement concerning Long-term PEACE with Iran, and PEACE in the Middle East.” The Iranian Supreme National Security Council said that Iran will begin talks with the United States in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad on Friday. The announcement of a ceasefire came shortly before ED raids Merlin’s Mohta on money laundering charges Sushil Mohta STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Kolkata, 8 April The Enforcement Directorate today raided the residence and office of Merlin Group chairman Sushil Mohta, and seven other places in connection with a money laundering case, allegedly involving the use of forged documents to create a fake ownership chain in connection with a large residential project in the city. While ED officials were tight-lipped, it is learnt that the action followed receipt of a complaint of money laundering in February, wherein it was stated that Mohta, his son, Saket Mohta, directors and senior officials including Dilip RBI keeps repo rate unchanged; at 5.25 pc; Guv says W Asia war to hit growth: New Delhi: Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra on Wednesday said the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the central bank has ‘unanimously’ decided to keep the repo rate unchanged at 5.25 per cent. Speaking further on GDP numbers, the governor said: “As per the new GDP series comes into play, the real GDP growth for last year is estimated at 7.6 per cent. In terms of quarterly GDP growth projection, the growth for Q1 is projected at 6.8 per cent, Q2 at 6.7 per cenr, Q3 at 7 per cent and Q4 at 7.2 per cent.” The RBI projected the inflation for Q1 at 4 per cent, Q2 at 4.4 per cent, Q3 at 5.2 per cent and then going down in Q4 at 4.7 per cent. Mr Malhotra said the West Asia conflict will “adversely impact” India’s growth as the higher input costs associated with increase in energy prices insurance costs along with supply-chain disruptions could constrain availability of key inputs for downstream sectors. Page 12 Saket Mohta Vikash Memani Chaudhary, Vikash Memani, Saurav Majumdar and Ranjan Chakraborty, along with several others were involved in the matter. According to the complaint, a copy of which is with The Statesman, the accused persons “acting in concert and in an organised manner, have fraudulently manufactured a false and non-existent right, title and interest over the said property (3.63 acres in Anandapur, Kolkata) by forging and fabricating valuable securities, including documents purporting to be judicial and public instruments, which falsely project extinguishment” of the complainant’s ownership “and conferment of ownership in favour of the accused persons”. The complainant, Mohan Chandra Mondal, a resident of Anandapur, alleged that “the forged instruments so relied upon are not ordinary false documents but are valuable securities within the meaning of law, as they purport to create, declare, recognise and confirm proprietary rights in immovable property of very high commercial value and are repeatedly used as genuine before public authorities, statutory bodies, financial institutions and members of the public to project lawful ownership.” He further alleged that “on the strength of such forged valuable securities, the accused persons have projected themselves as lawful owners of the said property and have undertaken large -scale construction and commercial exploitation thereon under the real-estate project styled as ‘Merlin Niyasa’, which is being marketed as a lawful residential project to the general public.” The complaint said: “That the monies so collected from the public, as well as the assets created and acquired therefrom, have been generated directly and indirectly from offences relating to forgery of valuable securities, cheating and criminal conspiracy, and therefore prima facie constitute ‘proceeds of crime’ as defined under Section 2(1)(u) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.” In January, a First Information Report was lodged at Anandapur police station in the same matter accusing Mohta, his son and others of fraud, forgery, participating in organised criminal activity and criminal conspiracy. The offences carry jail terms of between five years and life. • Turn to Page 4 to “destroy Iranian civilization.” Hours later, Iran and Gulf Arab countries were reporting new attacks Wednesday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed support for the US decision to suspend strikes on Iran, but said the truce will not extend to Israel’s military operations in Lebanon. the 8 p.m. Eastern Time deadline declared by Mr Trump to unleash a bombing campaign India welcomes ceasefire: India on Wednesday welcomed the ceasefire reached between the United States and Iran, and expressed hope it will lead to a lasting peace in West Asia. CM Mamata Banerjee files nomination papers STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Kolkata, 8 April Trinamul Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday expressed full confidence that her party will return to power after the Assembly elections, as she filed her nomination papers for the election to Bhawanipore Assembly constituency. “Rest assured, we will come back to power,” Miss Banerjee declared, waving to the crowd at the Survey Building, Alipore, where she submitted her nomination papers. She said the Trinamul Congress would approach the Supreme Court regarding the deletion of voters whose names had been sent for adjudication. She said that she had filed her nomination with a heavy heart. “The names of 91 lakh people have been deleted. The Supreme Court had said that voters whose names were sent for adjudication would be allowed to vote. We will go to the Supreme Court and raise the issue,” she maintained.