14102025-CT-01.qxd 10/14/2025 12:45 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune MC GETS ~1.70-CRORE BID FOR UPKEEP OF 5 ROUNDABOUTS BJP TO COMMEMORATE 150TH BIRTH ANNIV OF SARDAR PATEL RISHAB ON CRAFTING UNIVERSAL APPEAL OF KANTARA: CHAPTER 1 The MC has initiated a revenue-based model for the upkeep of city roundabouts, park fountains. P4 The party has announced the holding of the birth anniversary function of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in 2 phases. P4 The movie delves into themes of faith and spirituality, drawing deeply from the rich folklore of coastal Karnataka. P4 » » /THETRIBUNECHD FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE INAUGURATION: Brahma Kumaris Global Divine Light House, located at house number 1,085, Sector 27-B, Chandigarh, will be inaugurated at 10 am on October 15 (Wednesday). APNI MANDI Chandigarh: Sectors 29 and 56, and Dhanas Panchkula: Sector 15 Mohali: Sectors 68 and 71 Please send information about events in tricity at: whatson@tribunemail.com OPD timings at GMSH-16 changed Tribune News Service Chandigarh, October 13 In view of the winter season, new OPD timings at the Government Multi-Speciality Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, along with its allied health centres and dispensaries, including Civil Hospitals in Mani Majra, Sector 22 and Sector 45, will be from 9 am to 3 pm from October 16 to April 15, 2026. However, there will be no change in the existing timings of the ESI dispensaries in Sectors 29 and 23, as well as the UT Secretariat and High Court dispensaries. Chain snatched MOHALI: Two unidentified bike-borne youths snatched a gold chain from a Sector 70 woman on Sunday evening. Ravinder Kaur, a resident of Guru Teg Bahadur Complex, reported that she was returning from the market with her daughter when two bikeborne youths snatched her 15-gm gold chain near Sant Isher Singh School. The victim followed them on her scooty but the snatchers escaped. A snatching case has been registered. — TNS Should city’s identity be sacrificed for easing traffic, asks CJ Nagu Saurabh Malik MAP NOT TO SCALE CHANDIGARH Tribune News Service Chandigarh, October 13 “The uniqueness of your city is only because of the heritage concept. If that goes, everything goes. The uniqueness goes. It’ll be like any other city,” said Chief Justice Sheel Nagu of the Punjab and Haryana High Court while hearing the matter relating to the proposed construction of a flyover at Tribune Chowk. He questioned whether Chandigarh could afford to compromise its founding philosophy for the sake of easing traffic. The Bench observed that the issue went beyond a single structure and touched the very core of what made Chandigarh distinctive. “The concept of the city is pitted against the traffic congestion. Now, which one do we give more prominence to and why? Which one is more important?” the Chief Justice asked. The court cautioned that allowing even one such deviation could irreversibly alter the city’s identity. “Can we TRAFFIC AT TRIBUNE CHOWK IN CHANDIGARH. FILE PHOTO UT FLOATS ~214-CR TENDER CASCADING EFFECT A tender for the construction of the flyover was floated on October 1 at an estimated cost of ~214.66 crore, with a completion period of 30 months from the date of award. Last date for submission of bids is November 17, and these will be opened on November 18 at 3 pm. Pointing to the cascading effect of such permissions, the Chief Justice warned: “This will be the beginning. If we allow a flyover there, then there’ll be another flyover this side — Punjab side — and there will be a demand for some other place also. Because the population is going to increase — if not today, maybe after 10 years, maybe after 20 years, 40 or 50 years, so do you want to preserve the heritage concept of your city, or not?” sacrifice the heritage concept because of some traffic congestion somewhere? Builders will come in, and they’ll construct multistorey buildings. And the uniqueness of the heritage quality of the city will go,” said the Chief Justice. Pointing to the cascading effect of such permissions, the Chief Justice warned: “This will be the beginning. If we allow a flyover there, then there’ll be another flyover this side — Punjab side — and there will be a demand for some other place also. Because the population is going to increase — if not today, maybe after 10 years, maybe after 20 years, 40 or 50 years, so do you want to preserve the heritage concept of Four dead, 5 injured in road accidents in Dera Bassi Tribune News Service Mohali, October 13 Four persons died while five were injured in separate incidents in the past 24 hours in Dera Bassi. The injured include a woman and three children. Two scooter riders were run over by a truck in Dera Bassi on Sunday night. The police said the scooter-borne persons were travelling from DAV school side to Mubarikpur on the wrong side when a truck crushed them to death. The deceased have been identified as Mauli Jagran resident Bhuvan Chander (69) and Kevalanand of Zirakpur. MAN DIES IN HIT-&-RUN Mohali: A 56-year-old scooterist was killed in a hit-and-run accident on the Airport Road near Sector 70 gurdwara on Sunday night. The victim, Baba Bara Singh, a resident of Mataur, was the in charge of cattle at Singh Shaheedan Gurdwara, Sohana. Passersby took him to a hospital in Sohana where doctors declared him dead. In another accident, a 32year-old Dheer Singh, from Haripur Hinduan, died after being hit by a car near Daffarpur on the Ramgarh road. Local residents said the victim was standing on the road- side when the car hit him. A 23-year-old motorcyclist, Golu, died while the pillion rider sustained injuries when a car hit them on the Chandigarh-Ambala national highway near Adarsh Nagar in Dera Bassi. The deceased used to work as an operator in an industrial unit. A 26-year-old woman and her three children sustained serious injuries when a truck hit their stationary cart near the Dera Bassi flyover on Sunday night. The victim, Sanu, stated that her husband had parked his cart alongside the road and gone to a nearby shop when a truck hit it. your city, or not?” The Chief Justice pressed for arguments by the UT on the principle of sustainable development, while observing: “Please argue on sustained development. There are judgments of the Supreme Court on that point — sustained development.” The observations came after the Bench was – among Bizman dies of heart attack during police raid other things - informed that the construction of flyovers was not recommended anywhere in Chandigarh, as such structures would disturb the cityscape and inconvenience pedestrians. Reacting to this, Chief Justice Nagu sought clarity on how pedestrian issues had been addressed in the proposed plans. “By proposing this new concept of flyover, how will you deal with the problem being faced by pedestrians?” Chief Justice Nagu asked while further inquiring whether the flyover enters the grid (city). The Bench was told that the area under consideration was part of the 114-sq km Chandigarh Master Plan zone. During the hearing, the Chandigarh Administration informed the Bench that the city’s buildings were a part of its heritage; the roads could not be treated as the same. Appearing before the Bench, UT senior standing counsel Amit Jhanji asserted the proposed site fell on a national highway and that the flyover was a necessity in view of present-day traffic requirements. The court was told that the matter had been pending for several years. The tender was expected to be finalized at around Rs 281 crore, against the initially estimated cost of Rs 184 crore. The Bench observed that Tribune Chowk was indeed one of the continued on page 2 Chandigarh, October 13 A week has passed since the death of Haryana Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Y Puran Kumar by suicide, yet neither the postmortem has been conducted nor have the last rites been performed. The late officer’s family continues to stand firm on its demand that the Haryana Government must first arrest and suspend Director General of Police (DGP) Shatrujeet Kapur and Rohtak Superintendent of Police (SP) Narendra Bijarniya — both of whom are named in the suicide note — before they will consent to the next legal steps. Meanwhile, the Chandigarh Police, who are leading the investigation, appear to be caught in a stalemate. The Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pushpendra Kumar, confirmed that their team had visited the Sector 24 residence twice UT Health Dept collects 51 food samples Tribune News Service Chandigarh, October 13 As Diwali is around the corner, the UT Health Department has launched an inspection drive across the city to ensure the quality of festive food items. The initiative is aimed at preventing food adulteration, particularly in sweets and other popular festival delicacies. Officials of the Food Safety Department have seized 26 regulatory and 25 surveillance samples of various sweets, including paneer and khoya, and sent them to the Food Analyst Laboratory for testing. Nine challans have been issued to food business operators for non-compliance under various provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act. Daily awareness camps are being organised by the department across the city to aware the general public about safe and healthy food, and precautions to be taken while buying sweets and other snacks from the market. In case consumers observe/see anything abnormal, they can report the matter to the Department of Food Safety & Standards, Government Multi Specialty Hospital, Sector 16, Chandigarh, or at emergency phone No. continued on page 2 PU entry curbs from today Tribune News Service Mohali, October 13 High drama prevailed in the Mullanpur Garibdas market after a 50-year-old businessman died of a heart attack during a gambling unit bust this afternoon. Rakesh Kumar Soni, a heart patient, was taken to a hospital where doctors declared him dead. Irate locals roughed up cops and held up them for hours before senior officials and heavy police force reached the spot and began negotiations. Local residents and businessmen said the persons who were nabbed on the continued on page 2 The Panjab University authorities conducted a special drive to allot vehicle parking stickers to day scholars on Monday. There will be a complete ban on entry of vehicles not bearing the stickers from October 14. The university has allotted over 1,000 stickers so far. TRIBUNE PHOTO: VICKY UT police made two requests for body identification, post-mortem Tribune News Service MAX 32°C | MIN 18°C YESTERDAY MAX 32.8°C | MIN 17.7°C SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 6:24 AM H E R I TA G E v s F LYO V E R S WHAT’S ON MAINLY CLEAR SUNSET TUESDAY 5.53 PM » TUESDAY | 14 OCTOBER 2025 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST Deceased IPS officer’s family firm on demand for action against top Haryana police officers UT cops question extortion case accused in Rohtak prison Ravinder Saini Tribune News Service From left: Harpal Singh Cheema, Punjab Finance Minister; Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Deputy Chief Minister of Telangana; Koppula Raju, AICC in-charge for Jharkhand; and Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale at the Sector 24 residence of deceased IPS officer on Monday. TRIBUNE PHOTOS: RAVI KUMAR over the past few days, submitting written requests to the family to identify the body and authorise the postmortem. According to the police, “In furtherance of investigation of case, a formal request letter was sent to the complainant requesting her to come forward for identification of the body for conduct of a post-mortem examination at the earliest which is essential for speedy investigation from SSP/UT.” While sharing an update late at night, the UT police issued a statement that a team of SIT is in Rohtak since October 11 for investigation of the case. Further investigation was carried out in Rohtak today. After sending letters, a notice (under Section 94, BNS) has been served on the Government of Haryana to provide documents required for investigation into the case. Furthermore, letters were sent to the FSL along with submission of exhibits related to the case. The SIT’s repeated appeals for cooperation have failed to break the impasse, even as public outrage continues to grow. Leader of the Opposition and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Cabinet Minister c m y b and MP of Hajipur in Bihar Chirag Paswan are reportedly scheduled to visit the family tomorrow. Leaders unite in demand for justice to family Leaders cutting across party lines on Monday intensified their criticism of the Haryana Government over its handling of the suicide case, urging immediate arrests of sen- ior officers named in the late IPS officer’s note. Former Union Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, who visited the bereaved family at their Sector 24 residence, said it was “disgraceful” that no action had been taken even after a week. Accompanied by INTUC president Nasib Jakhar, Bansal said the officer’s note detailed instances of harassment — being barred from temple visits, prevented from attending his father’s last rites, and humiliated over transfers. The Deputy Chief Minister of Telangana, Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, termed the officer’s death “a shameful reflection on the system,” calling on the Haryana Chief Minister to ensure justice. Describing Y Puran Kumar continued on page 3 Rohtak, October 13 A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Chandigarh Police has begun its inquiry. Sources said SIT officials visited the district jail in Sunaria village where they interrogated Sushil Kumar, an accused in an extortion case registered against him on October 6 at the Urban Estate Police Station. The case was filed based on a complaint by a local liquor businessman, who alleged that Sushil had demanded a monthly bribe of Rs 2.5 lakh from him. At the time, Sushil was serving as a subordinate to Puran Kumar, who was the then IGP of Rohtak Range. “Two local police officials were also summoned by the SIT to Chandigarh today to record their statements in connection with the case,” the sources added.