18072025-LT-01.qxd 7/18/2025 12:37 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune AFTER 12 YRS, ALL-WEATHER SWIMMING POOL SET TO OPEN ACTOR SALMAN KHAN READY FOR BATTLE OF GALWAN ISHAAN’S HOMEBOUND SET FOR TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL National-level swimmers believe facility will help hone their skills and give boost to career. P3 Superstar Salman Khan is pouring his heart and soul into his upcoming war drama Battle of Galwan. P4 Director Neeraj Ghaywan described film as a deeply personal story about friendship, dignity and survival. P4 » » » FORECAST GENERALLY CLOUDY MAX 32°C | MIN 26°C YESTERDAY MAX 31°C | MIN 26°C SUNSET FRIDAY 7.24 PM SUNRISE SATURDAY 5:34 AM FRIDAY | 18 JULY 2025 | LUDHIANA Swachh Survekshan: City ranks 39th among cities with over 10L population Scored impressive 97% in cleanliness of residential areas, 89% in door-to-door waste collection Manav Mander Tribune News Service Ludhiana, July 17 Ludhiana has secured the 39th national rank in the Swachh Survekshan 2024–25, under the category of cities with a population of more than 10 lakh. However, it has ranked 144th in the state. Despite its overall position, Ludhiana fell short in key sanitation metrics. In waste generation vs processing and dump site remediation, the city scored zero per cent. Its performance in source segregation was also poor, recording only 6 per cent. On a brighter note, the city demonstrated strong performance across several cleanliness indicators, reflecting its growing commitment to urban sanitation. It achieved an impressive 97 per cent in the cleanliness of residential areas and 89 per cent in door-to-door waste collection. Market areas also showed remarkable upkeep with a 93 per cent score. While Ludhiana has secured 144th rank in state in the Swachh Survekshan 2024–25. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN cleanliness of public toilets and water bodies saw comparatively modest results of 53 per cent and 50 per cent, respectively, they remain vital benchmarks for future improvement as Ludhiana continues its push towards healthier urban environment. Ludhiana’s peripheral towns also participated in the Swachh Survekshan 2024–25 and recorded a range of performances across city categories. Doraha ranked 648th nationally and 71st in the state among small cities while Jagraon, categorised as a medium city, secured the 595th national and 133rd state ranks. Khanna performed relatively well with a national rank of 371 and a state rank of 66 in the same category. In the small cities group, Maachiwara achieved 504th rank nationally and 50th in state rankings, whereas Raikot and Sanhewal stood at 423rd and 656th, respectively, with state ranks of 39 and 73. Among very small cities, Maloud, Mullanpur Dakha, Payal and Samrala showed varied results, with national ranks of 751, 747, 761, and 489, and state ranks of 80, 77, 85, and 35, respectively. In Swachh Survekshan 2023, Ludhiana ranked 207th nationally and 10th in the state among cities with populations over one lakh. In 2022, the city was ranked 40th out of 45 cities in the category for cities with a population of more than 10 lakh. The drop in national rankings last year was due to a change in categorisation, shifting Ludhiana to the “over one lakh population” bracket. This year, it returns to the “over 10 lakh” category. The Swachh Survekshan Survey is conducted annually by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) to assess cleanliness standards across cities in the country. Contract killing bid foiled, 2 suspects land in police net Our Correspondent Ludhiana, July 17 The police claimed to have foiled an attempt of a businessman to get his old business partner murdered through contract killing. The main suspect, Amit Garg, of Basant Avenue had engaged Simranjit Singh Bagga, Tejinder Singh Pala and Lakha of CRPF Colony and Kishan of Bhappa Colony and paid an amount of Rs 3 lakh to them for eliminating the complainant, Prem Singh Babbar, of Omaxe Residency, Thakkarwal village, here. Two of the suspects, Amit and Simranjit, were arrested by the police. Commissioner of Police Swapan Sharma said Prem Singh Babbar had alleged threat to his life from his old partner as, according to him, the latter had conspired to get him (Babbar) eliminated by some professional killers. Having received a complaint from Babbar, the police registered an FIR at the Sadar police station, Ludhiana, under Sections 55 and 61(2) of the BNS against Amit, Simranjit, Tejinder, Lakha and Kishan on Wednesday. The CP said separate teams of police personnel were constituted under the supervision of DCP Harpal Singh and ADCP (investigation) to foil the sinister designs of the suspects. Ultimately, joint teams of the CIA and Sadar police station, led by in-charge Kulwant Singh and SHO Avneet Kaur, succeeded in nabbing two suspects from different places after registration of a case on Wednesday, he said. Preliminary investigations revealed that Amit had hired the contract killers to kill Babbar and paid them an amount of Rs 3 lakh as the contract killing amount. A sum of Rs 2.7 lakh, two illegal weapons and two sharp weapons were recovered from the possession of the two suspects when they were conspiring to strike at their target. Though the police was yet to ascertain previous records of the suspects, preliminary probe revealed that Amit was facing two cases and three FIRs were already registered against Simranjit under the NDPS Act. Tajinder had a maximum number (eight) of cases filed against him. The conspiracy and the deal for the contract killing was made at the office of Amit at Basant Avenue where Simranjit introduced his accomplice to him (Amit) a few days ago but their attempt was foiled by the prompt and coordinated action taken by the police. 7-month-old girl found abandoned City resident gets threat call in vacant plot hours after abduction Mahesh Sharma Ludhiana, July 17 A seven-month-old girl had a miraculous escape after three miscreants who were suspected to have abducted her from her mother’s bed at midnight abandoned her in a vacant plot on fearing being followed. The child was rescued in the morning and taken to a local private hospital for treatment. Gurpreet Singh of New Kartar Nagar, Model Town, informed the police that some unidentified persons had allegedly attempted to abduct his seven-month-old daughter Divyanshi when she was sleeping with her mother along with two sisters. The incident occurred after midnight and came to the notice of Gurpreet’s wife about 3 am when their elder daughter Pihu fell from the bed and started crying. Gurpreet had left the city in the evening on Wednesday for his business-related work and was informed by his wife Meet about the incident about 4 am. Though the child was later recovered from a vacant plot near the house of the victim’s family, the Model Town police, led by Bhupinder Singh, have initiated a probe into the sequence of events leading to the abduction and recovery of the child. Circumstantial evidence suggests that the suspects, suspected to be three in number, had to abandon the child after knowing that their activities were recorded in CCTV cameras installed in the area under the Safe City Plan of the police. The child being taken to a hospital after she was found abandoned in a vacant plot in Ludhiana. Ludhiana, July 17 The police have initiated a probe into an incident in which a caller from some foreign country had threatened to eliminate Manmeet Singh of Jagjit Nagar, in case he did not pay him Rs 50 lakh. The suspect claimed to be a fugitive, gangster Gopi Lahoria, who is believed to be staying in Canada. Manmeet informed the police that he had received the call from a foreign number on May 31. A case has been registered. — OC CP Swapan Sharma and other cops address mediapersons in Ludhiana. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN Bizmen suffer due to delay in GST refunds Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Ludhiana, July 17 The industry in the city is perturbed over inordinate delay and withholding of GST refunds by the state government. Many industrialists, whose refunds are held back by the department, reasons best known to officials, feel that the move was “unlawful”, due to which the industry was not able to use their funds. Talking to The Tribune, Badish Jindal, president, FOPSIA, and World MSME Forum, said industry’s GST refunds were pending with the department for the past five-six months. “The major reason for the pendency could be the increase in bogus billing in which the GST is claimed fraudulently by many, following which the department has started the verification process minutely. But in the exercise, the GST refunds of genuine industrialists are also being delayed and withheld and their huge capital gets stuck,” he said. The industrialists rued that the GST refunds in question arise from inverted duty structures, where the input tax rate exceeds the output tax rate — a sce- nario explicitly accounted for under Section 54(3) of the CGST Act, 2017. These refunds are not a concession but a legally enforceable right of taxpayers who had already discharged their liabilities in excess. By withholding the refunds, the state government was violating statutory obligations under GST laws and “the ease of doing business” slogan was lost, maintained the industrialists. President of the Association of Trade and Industrial undertaking (ATIU) Pankaj Sharma said the “harassment” by GST officials had increased a lot after the election process and it could be due to the mounting pressure for achieving their targets. “We do understand that bogus billing is a blot on the industry through which wrong claimants get GST refunds but in the entire process, many genuine taxpayers were also suffering as their refunds were not being released by the department. Instead of visiting the premises on a daily basis, department officials should ask industrialists to visit their local office with desired documents, in case they need to get clarifications on any matter,” he said. At the same time, there are industrialists who feel that the state’s inability to meet its statutory obligations exposes a bankrupt treasury, hollowed out by populist freebies and unsustainable expenditures. The GST Department officials are conducting regular surveys to crack the whip against tax-evaders. The surveys, followed by notices served in many cases, are being conducted in factories, restaurants, hotels etc. At the same time, the delay in genuine cases has shattered investors’ confidence, compelling businesses to explore relocation, the industrialists said. Meanwhile, despite repeated attempts, the Deputy Excise & Taxation Commissioner (DETC) could not be contacted for comments. 8 travel agents dupe residents of ~1.58 cr, 3 cases filed Seven nabbed for gambling at restaurant, owner flees Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, July 17 The Ludhiana police registered three FIRs of travel fraud on Monday in which travel agents had duped people of over Rs 1.58 crore. The first case of immigration fraud was registered by the Moti Nagar police against three travel agents, identified as Mahi Sharma, Ishika, alias Noor, Ravinder Singh, alias Vicky, and five unidentified persons from Nova Enterprises, Industrial Area, here. Earlier also, a case was registered against the firm for committing a travel fraud. The complainant, Jyoti Bala, a resident of Phillaur, in her complaint to the police stated that the suspects had promised to send her son to Australia and in lieu, they had taken Rs 4.26 lakh in advance. Despite taking the money, the suspects had issued them a fake visa and when the suspects were questioned for the same, they failed to give any satisfactory reply. Even when they were asked to return the money, they started making hollow promises. ASI Anil Kumar said after registering a case, further probe was launched. The suspects were yet to be nabbed. Another case was registered against three agents, Daljit Singh, Sarabjit Singh, both residents of Nadala village, Kapurthala, and Jagat Joshi, a local resident. Complainant Gurkaran Singh of Model Town told the police that the suspects had assured to send his friend Akashvir and his family to the US on work permit and took Rs 1.40 crore. But they failed to arrange visa. They also refused to return the money. The police should take strict action against them to recover their money. ASI Pardeep Kumar said after registering a case, further investigation was launched. The Model Town police also registered a travel fraud case against two agents, identified as Veenu Malhotra and Karan from Global Way Immigration, Model Town. A case was registered on the complaint of Chandeep Singh of Dhuri Sangrur. The complainant alleged that the suspects had taken Rs 14 lakh on the pretext of sending him abroad but they failed to fulfil their promise. He also repeatedly requested them to return the money but in vain. SI Parminder Singh said investigation was launched in the case. Notably several FIRs c m y b were already registered against the immigration firm in the past for duping people of several lakhs of rupees. Those running offices in others’ name under lens Police sources said the role of old notorious travel agents, who had been facing many cases of travel fraud and start duping foreign aspirants again after coming out on bail, was under scanner. Such agents, who were already facing travel fraud cases and could not start travel offices in their names, had reportedly started travel and immigration office in the names of other persons. Ludhiana, July 17 The police claimed to have cracked a gambling racket being run under the guise of a restaurant situated in the locality falling under the jurisdiction of the Division Number 3 police station here. While over Rs 2 lakh and paraphernalia used in gambling, including a counting machine and playing cards, were recovered from seven gamblers arrested from the scene on Wednesday, Arun Kumar, owner of Crispy Restaurant, who runs the racket, fled the scene. The suspects, identified as Jogi Rai of Madhopuri, Hitesh of Daresi, Kamalpreet Singh of Madhopuri, Vivek Mohinder of Durgapuri, Dhruv Walia of SDP Colony, Sambhav Kumar of Daresi and Jaskaran Jhaba of Jhabba village in Ferozepur district, were nabbed by police officials, led by Sulakhan Singh. Commissioner of Police Swapan Sharma said officials posted at the Division 3 police station had booked Arun Kumar, owner of Crispy Restaurant, and seven other persons under various sec- tions of the Gambling Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on Wednesday and nabbed seven of them for allegedly gambling at the eatery. However, the owner of the restaurant succeeded in fleeing the scene. Preliminary investigation revealed that the Arun had been running the gambling racket under the guise of his restaurant for a long time. The police are yet to ascertain the identity of his accomplice, if any, who provides customers for the illegal activity. — OC