FOLLOW US: @TheStatesmanLtd @thestatesmanltd thestatesman1875 www.thestatesman.com People’s Parliament, Always in Session India’s National Newspaper since 1818 | Pages 12 | ` 5.00 | KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | MUMBAI | BHUBANESWAR | LUCKNOW | Balancing act Trump says Iran ceasefire, MoU ‘over’, calls further talks a ‘waste of time’ Page 6 Page 9 BRIEFLY Top Lashkar commander killed in Shopian encounter: Jammu: A top commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiyyaba (LeT), Zakir Ganai, was killed in an encounter with security forces in south Kashmir's Shopian district on Wednesday, marking a major breakthrough in an intelligencebased operation. Ganai, who was classified as an A++ category terrorist by security agencies, was among two terror operatives spotted in an orchard on 3 July. Security forces immediately launched a search operation across at least seven villages in the area. Confirming Ganai’s killing, the Chinar Corps of the Indian Army said the encounter occurred during search operations by security forces in the area of Chanapora, Shopian. “One LeT terrorist, identified as Zakir Ganai, has been eliminated in the fire-fight. Arms, ammunition, and other war-like stores were recovered. The operation is in progress,” it added. Page 3 Kolkata, 8 July The investigation into the alleged gang rape and murder of a minor in West Bengal’s Baruipur took a dramatic turn in the early hours of Wednesday after one of the main accused, Prabhas Mondal, was killed in police firing while allegedly attempting to escape during a crime scene reconstruction. According to police, Mondal, the first person arrested in connection with the case, was taken to the crime scene at Suryapur around 12.45 a.m. on Wednesday as part of the PERSPECTIVE India’s West Asia opportunity Page 7 Important to assess the conditions, says Gambhir after record T20I defeat to England Page 12 STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 8 July Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Melbourne on Wednesday for a three-day official visit to Australia, the second leg of his three-nation Indo-Pacific tour, where he will hold the third IndiaAustralia Annual Leaders' Summit with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and seek to further deepen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries. “Landed in Melbourne, Australia. This visit will add vigour to the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. I look forward to the talks with Prime Minister Albanese,” Mr Modi said in a post on social media platform X. “I will also have the opportunity to interact with the Indian diaspora which is an important pillar of our partnership.” PM Narendra Modi, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto inaugurated the Prambanan Temple Restoration Project in Yogyakarta on Wednesday before the PM emplaned for Melbourne. AGENCIES The 8-10 July visit follows Mr Modi’s State Visit to Indonesia and will be followed by a visit to New Zealand, underscoring India’s engagement with key partners across the Indo-Pacific region. During his stay in Melbourne, Mr Modi is scheduled to hold extensive bilateral talks with Prime Minister Albanese, with discussions expected to focus on expanding cooperation in investigation. Senior investigating officers and other policemen accompanied him to reconstruct the sequence of events. Police claimed that during the exercise, Mondal allegedly snatched a firearm from a police personnel and attempted to flee. Officers tried to restrain him, following which he allegedly opened fire at the police. The police then retaliated, critically injuring the accused. Mondal was declared dead when he was taken to a nearby hospital. Police officials said the reconstruction was considered necessary as the accused had allegedly been giving inconsistent statements during interrogation and was not cooperating with investigators. The girl’s body was recovered from a pond in the Suryapur area on Sunday morning. Police suspect that she was sexually assaulted before being murdered. The incident triggered widespread outrage in the locality, with residents lynching a youth suspected of involvement in the crime. Mondal was the first accused to be arrested in the case after local residents allegedly apprehended him and handed him over to the police. Investigators later examined CCTV footage from the area, which reportedly showed the victim in the company of Mondal shortly before she went missing. The footage became one of the key pieces of evidence leading to his arrest. Meanwhile, police have arrested another suspect in the case, taking the total number of arrests to four. The latest accused arrested, Kabir Molla, was apprehended from Basirhat in North 24-Parganas. trade and investment, defence and security, critical minerals, clean energy, cyber security, emerging technologies, education and maritime collaboration. The two leaders are also expected to review progress under the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and exchange views on regional and global developments, particularly in the Indo-Pacific. The summit comes at a time when New Delhi and Canberra have significantly strengthened their relationship across strategic, economic and people-to-people dimensions. In recent years, the two countries have expanded defence cooperation through joint military exercises, enhanced maritime coordination and increased collaboration within the Quad grouping alongside the United States and Japan. Economic cooperation is also expected to feature prominently during the visit. Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Albanese will jointly participate in the India-Australia CEOs Forum, where business leaders from both countries are expected to explore fresh commercial partnerships and investment opportunities. The forum is likely to focus on sectors such as advanced manufacturing, critical minerals, renewable energy, digital technologies, infrastructure, education and innovation. The two sides are also expected to discuss ways to build more resilient supply chains, strengthen collaboration in critical minerals essential for clean energy technologies, and boost bilateral trade under the framework of the IndiaAustralia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA). STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 8 July The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Kolkata Zonal Office, on Wednesday said it conducted search operations at five premises in and around Kolkata belonging to the Carewell Group of companies operating in the aviation sector. During the searches, balances amounting to Rs 440.42 crore lying in three HDFC bank accounts of the All India Trinamul Congress (TMC) were frozen. The searches were conducted in connection with an investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, based on an FIR registered by the Cyber Police, Bidhannagar, West Bengal, in a case involving alleged dishonest financial dealings, unlawful collection THE INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT APPROXIMATELY RS 160 CRORE WAS TRANSFERRED FROM TMC BANK ACCOUNTS TO M/S CAREWELL AVIATION INDIA PVT. LTD. AND ITS RELATED ENTITY, PRIMARILY BETWEEN APRIL 2023 AND JUNE 2026. of money, and the routing of suspected funds through certain bank accounts of the Trinamul Congress. The investigation revealed that approximately Rs 160 crore was transferred from TMC bank accounts to M/s Carewell Aviation India Pvt. Ltd. and its related entity, primarily between April 2023 and June 2026. The ED further alleged that M/s Carewell Aviation Pvt. Ltd. routed Rs 82.96 crore during 2023-2026 to another newly incorporated related entity for the purchase of an Embraer Legacy 600 aircraft and an Agusta 109 Grand New helicopter. According to the agency, a total of Rs 112 crore was used for these purchases. The investigation also revealed that an unsecured loan of USD 1.7 million was arranged in 2023 from a Cayman Islands-based entity to finance the purchase of the helicopter. According to the ED, the Embraer Legacy 600 aircraft and the Agusta helicopter were subsequently leased to the Trinamul Congress, despite allegedly being purchased using funds originating from the party’s corpus. The agency further alleged that substantial payments were later made on the pretext of aircraft usage. It said the transactions are under investigation to ascertain their actual beneficial purpose. Centre intensifies preparedness as El Niño threat looms large VIBHA SHARMA STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE The Election Commission of India’s recent announcement of by-elections to three Rajya Sabha seats from West Bengal, which fell vacant following the resignations of Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Sushmita Dev and Prakash Chik Baraik ~ the three Trinamul Congress MPs who stepped down after the party’s debacle in the recent West Bengal Assembly elections ~ has brought the focus back on the former MPs and the BJP’s plans for them. While their Lok Sabha counterparts joined the littleknown Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) to avoid an immediate political backlash in West Bengal (a direct switch to the BJP could alienate sections of their voter base), the three former Rajya Sabha MPs are expected to officially join the BJP soon. The buzz in political circles is that the ruling BJP is preparing to field them from the three vacant seats, for which the last date for filing nominations is 14 July. Party sources said that at the time of their resignations, “the commitment was that those who gave up their Rajya Sabha seats would be nominated from the same seats.” However, Sushmita Dev also appears inclined towards returning to electoral politics in Assam. “One of the reasons she left the TMC was that she knew it was no longer possible for her to pursue Assam politics either through the Trinamul Congress or the Congress,” sources said. While she may re-enter the Rajya Sabha after joining the BJP, speculation is that she could also be fielded from the Nagaon Lok Sabha seat in Assam, from where Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi resigned to join the BJP. New Delhi, 8 July Amid uncertainty in the southwest monsoon due to the potential impact of El Niño, the government is addressing the situation with comprehensive preparedness, a clear strategy, and strong groundlevel action, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Wednesday. Mr Chouhan said that after recording a 33 per cent rainfall deficit in June, the monsoon situation has shown improvement in July, with the overall deficit narrowing to 24 per cent. He added that several parts of the country have received good rainfall in recent days, resulting in the number of rainfall-deficient districts declining from 262 to 178. Addressing the media in Global crime crackdown nets 24; Bishnoi gang linked to Nijjar killing ED freezes `440.42 crore in TMC bank accounts; probes alleged fund diversion Bengal Rajya Sabha bypolls: BJP expected to field three former Trinamul MPs New Delhi, 8 July Thursday, 09 July 2026 PM Modi arrives in Melbourne for India-Australia summit Bengal rape-murder case: Accused shot dead by police STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE | SPORTS WORLD EDITORIAL SILIGURI New Delhi after a high-level review meeting, he said the Centre is maintaining close monitoring of the situation in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Bihar, Jharkhand, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal, and Odisha. He expressed confidence that rainfall would gain further momentum during July, leading to acceleration in Kharif sowing. The Union Minister informed that Kharif sowing has so far been completed over 350.85 lakh hectares, which is about 91.95 lakh hectares lower than the corresponding period last year. He said that the delayed onset of the monsoon has particularly affected soybean and cotton sowing. However, farmers have been advised to cultivate short-duration and low water-intensive crops such as maize, Bajra, and Moong to minimise the impact of delayed rainfall. Mr Chouhan said the government had initiated preparations for this challenge as early as April. In collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, contingency plans were prepared for districts likely to be affected and shared with state governments well in advance. As part of the ‘Khet Bachao Abhiyan’ conducted in June, more than 1.24 lakh programmes were organised across the country, directly reaching over 80 lakh farmers. He said that to ensure uninterrupted sowing operations, the government has maintained a national seed reserve of approximately 1.75 lakh quintals, ensuring adequate seed availability under all circumstances. ARTI BALI New Delhi, 8 July Law enforcement agencies in the United States, Canada and Europe have arrested 24 people linked to three India-based transnational criminal syndicates accused of carrying out murders, extortion, large-scale drug trafficking and the 2023 assassination of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The arrests come nearly three years after former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged a “potential link” between Indian government agents and the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. Canadian authorities have since said they have found no evidence implicating Indian government officials in the assassination, even as US investigators have charged Indian-origin gang members in connection with the killing without attributing any role to the Indian government. The coordinated operation, codenamed Operation Hard Ball, is the culmination of a years-long multinational investigation into criminal organisations allegedly directed from India by jailed gang leaders and operating across North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The US Justice Department announced that 37 defendants have been charged in three federal indictments. Of them, 24 have been arrested ~ 13 in the United States, three in Canada, one in Spain and seven who were already in custody before the operation. Authorities are continuing to search for 10 fugitives. The indictments allege that the criminal syndicates engaged in racketeering, contract killings, targeted assassinations, kidnappings, extortion, international narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and firearms offences across several countries, using encrypted communication platforms and associates spread across the Indian diaspora. US prosecutors alleged that the Lawrence Bishnoi syndicate ordered the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, identifying him in court documents as “H.S.N.”, a pro-‘Khalistan’ leader from Punjab who was shot dead outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia, on 18 June 2023. According to the indictment, Bishnoi and his Canada-based associate, Satinderjeet Singh, alias Goldy Brar, directed the killing as part of a broader criminal enterprise that routinely targeted religious, social and political figures to instil fear and facilitate extortion within diaspora communities. The indictment alleges that the syndicate “routinely targeted prominent religious, social, and political leaders with violence, and used these high-profile acts to terrorise and extort members of the community.” Although the US indictments do not address the diplomatic dispute between India and Canada over Nijjar’s killing, they place the assassination within the framework of transnational organised crime and allege that it was orchestrated by an international criminal enterprise rather than being an isolated act. According to the US Justice Department, Lawrence Bishnoi, who has been imprisoned in India for years, allegedly directed a global criminal enterprise from jail using contraband mobile phones and internet-based communication devices. Prosecutors said he oversaw political assassinations, murders, kidnappings, extortion, drug trafficking and human smuggling through a network of lieutenants spread across multiple continents. Separate indictments unsealed by US authorities also target the Jaggu Bhagwanpuria syndicate and another Canada-based drug trafficking network allegedly responsible for transporting hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine across the US-Canada border every week. The investigation involved the FBI, the Los Angeles Police Department, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, US Customs and Border Protection, and Spanish law enforcement agencies.