10042026-LT-01.qxd 4/10/2026 1:05 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune FARMERS TO GET WHEAT PAYMENTS WITHIN 24 HOURS SIBLING GOALS IN BOLLYWOOD STYLE Cabinet Minister Sond, DC Jain initiate procurement at grain market in Khanna. P2 KRITIKA KAMRA RETURNS TO WORK AFTER MARRIAGE From Ayushmann-Aparshakti to Saqib Saleem-Huma Qureshi, here’s a toast to Bollywood’s beloved sibling duos. P4 » » Kritika Kamra has started working for her much-anticipated series Matka King after her marriage. P4 » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 28°C | MIN 14°C YESTERDAY MAX 27°C | MIN 14°C SUNSET FRIDAY 6.46 PM SUNRISE SATURDAY 6:06 AM FRIDAY | 10 APRIL 2026 | LUDHIANA After 45 years, 273 regular posts created for city Fire Department Additional manpower to ensure better services, reduce workload on existing employees Sukhpreet Singh Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 9 After a gap of over 45 years, the Local Bodies Department has created 273 regular posts for the Ludhiana Fire Department, a move aimed at strengthening the emergency response system in the industrial city. As per official communication, the new posts are in addition to the existing sanctioned strength. Earlier, Ludhiana had 18 posts of leading firemen, and now, 48 more posts have been created. Against the existing 19 driver posts, 47 additional posts have been sanctioned. In the firemen category, 178 new posts have been created against the existing 86 posts. With this, the total addition of 273 posts is expected to significantly boost the manpower of the department, which has been struggling with staff shortage for decades despite a steady rise in fire incidents. Municipal Corporation Commissioner Neeru Katyal said: “New posts have been created and these will bring relief to the overburdened Fire Department as already we are expanding fire sta- Personnel in action at a fire station on Hambran Road in Ludhiana. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN WORKING WITH LIMITED STAFF FOR YEARS being a major industrial hub, frequently ❝Ludhiana,incidents. However, the department had witnesses fire been functioning with limited staff for years, often affecting response time during emergencies. — Officials ❞ tions in the city.” Officials said Ludhiana, being a major industrial hub, frequently witnesses fire incidents in factories, warehouses and residential areas. However, the department had been functioning with limited staff for years, often affecting response time during emergencies. The fire officials on the ground said the additional manpower would help in better deployment of teams and reduce workload on existing staff. They said handling multiple fire incidents simultaneously had been a major challenge due to inadequate staff strength. The move also comes at a time when the civic body is planning to expand fire infrastructure by setting up new fire stations in different parts of the city. Experts believe that the combination of increased manpower and improved infrastructure would enhance the overall efficiency of fire services. Jaswinder Singh, assistant divisional fire officer, said: “After over 45 years, the posts have been created and I thanked Minister Sanjeev Arora and my senior authorities who made efforts in this regard, which is the need of the hour need.” He said last regular hiring was done in 1981 and now, the recruitment would be done as per the norms. Officials stressed the need for timely recruitment and training to ensure that benefits of the newly created posts are reached the public. Land for new fire station near Phullanwal Chowk identified by civic body Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 9 In a move to strengthen the fire safety infrastructure in the city, the Municipal Corporation (MC) has planned to build another fire station near Phullanwal Chowk here. Around 1,000 sq yards of MC land has been identified and earmarked for the project. At present, the city has fire stations on Gill Road, Tajpur Road and in Focal Point, Sundar Nagar and the headquarters. With the proposed stations near Phullanwal Chowk and Dhandari Kalan, the civic body aims to expand its network to cover newly developed and densely populated areas. Officials said a tender for the construction of the new fire station at Phullanwal Chowk was floated two days ago with an estimated cost of Rs 1.85 crore under the 15th Finance Commission. The project is part of the civic body’s ongoing efforts to improve emergency response services in rapidly expanding parts of the city. Superintending Engineer Sham Lal Gupta said: “The Fire Department will get one more station near Phullanwal Chowk and a tender had already been floated for the same. A tender for another fire station near Dhandari Kalan was also floated about a month ago and the MC has received two bids for the same.” The officials said the proposed fire station near Phullanwal Chowk would cater to nearby residential colonies and commercial pockets, which had witnessed rapid growth in recent years. The absence of a fire station has often led to delays in response time during emergencies in the area. The civic body is also moving ahead with the plan to construct the fire station near Dhandari Kalan. The project is estimated to cost around Rs 1.89 crore and the bids received are currently under scrutiny. Civic officials believe that the addition of new fire stations, along with the recent creation of posts in the department, will significantly improve the overall efficiency of fire services in Ludhiana. The city has been witnessing frequent fire incidents, especially in industrial units and densely populated localities. The MC officials maintained that once these projects were completed, the department would be in a better position to handle emergencies and reduce response time, thereby ensuring safety for the public. 2 weeks on, MC wakes up from slumber 3 weapons seized, 6 nabbed Begins work to repair caved-in road portion near private school in city Our Correspondent Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 9 A cave-in near Arya Model School, close to the MC’s Zone A office, here, has been causing inconvenience to commuters and residents for the past nearly two weeks, exposing the civic body’s failure to address basic issues on the ground. The cavity, which developed on the roadside, has made the stretch risky for motorists and pedestrians alike. With no proper repair work initiated so far, the situation has worsened, especially during peak hours when traffic movement increases in the area. Officials of the Municipal Corporation said the matter came to their notice on Thursday only and the repair work had been initiated. Residents said MC officials had visited the site soon after the cave-in was reported but instead of carrying out repairs, they merely placed a stick The caved-in portion of the road near the MC's Zone A office in Ludhiana. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN with a helmet on it as a warning sign. Locals allege that the temporary arrangement added to the woes as it occupies road space and creates confusion among commuters. A commuter, Arvind Sharma, said: “It has been around two weeks but nothing has been done. The warning sign itself is creating obstruction. It is a busy road and such negligence can lead to accidents.” Shopkeepers and residents in the area said the open pit poses a constant threat, especially at night. They demanded immediate action from the authorities before the occurrence of any untoward incident. The incident has also raised questions over priorities of the civic body. While the MC is floating tenders worth crores for new projects, such basic issues remain unattended for days. The Executive Engineer of the MC, Kamal Ram, said: “We are fixing the issue as due to rats in the sewer system, one wall of manhole was collapsed and the road got damaged.” Khanna, April 9 Continuing their crackdown against gangsters and other criminals, the Khanna police claimed to have arrested six notorious criminals wanted in connection with two separate cases registered at Khanna City 2 and Machhiwara police stations. Three weapons, three magazines and eighteen cartridges, besides a Scorpio SUV were recovered from the , suspects, identified as Jorawar Singh of Blue City in Tarn Taran, Jobanjit Singh of Sheron village, Akashdeep Singh of Blue City, Jhabbal, Harpreet Singh of Sheron village, Rahul Sharma of Mohalla Kamboya in Zira and Gurpreet Singh of Zira. DSP (I) Khanna Mohit Kumar Singla said separate teams of cops supervised by SSP Darpan Ahluwalia had nabbed two groups of notorious criminals and recovered weapons and ammunition from their possession. Police personnel with seized weapons in Khanna. Jorawar, Jobanjit, Akashdeep and Harpreet were nabbed when the SUV they were travelling in was intercepted during a naka on GT Road in Khanna on Tuesday. Two weapons, three magazines and 18 cartridges were recovered from the vehicle. Preliminary investigation revealed that Jorawar used to keep weapons as he had developed enmity with some gangsters in the past. Probe found that all suspects, except Akashdeep, had already been booked in crim- inal cases in the past. Rahul was nabbed by the Machhiwara police during a naka at Pawat Bridge on Saturday and it was during his interrogation that the police learnt about the criminal background of Gurpreet, who was later brought on production warrant from the Ferozepur jail. The probe revealed that Rahul and Gurpreet had conspired to undertake criminal activities and a gun recovered from Rahul was supposed to be delivered to someone as per instructions of Gurpreet. Youth dies by suicide at home Harashdeep Singh, victim Ludhiana, April 9 The police have initiated a probe into a case in which a Ludhiana youth has allegedly died by suicide by hanging himself in his room while his father was sitting in another room. The deceased, an immigration agent, has left a twopage suicide note in which he has accused a Tarn Taran man of harassing him by getting a cybercrime case registered against him. The deceased has been identified Harashdeep Singh. He used to work at Jodhan village in the past. The suicide note was allegedly written on Wednesday he took the step on Thursday. His father Iqbal Singh informed the police that Harashdeep had tea with him in the morning, after which he went to his room. He was found hanging inside the room when its door was broke open about 1 pm. Though the deceased has named only one private person responsible for his suicide, Iqbal alleged that some police personnel were also harassing him. Perusal of suicide note, genuineness of which is yet to be verified, revealed that some travel agents had also duped the deceased and he was upset due to the same. The deceased has also mentioned details of money to be paid to some of his friends, besides an amount of Rs 4 lakh to be received from one of his friends in the note. Police officials, supervised by DCP Jaskaran Singh Teja, have initiated the process for registration of an FIR. Status of the cybercrime case registered against the deceased was not ascertained so far. — OC Bank manager booked for ~3.9-cr fraud Wife, brother-in-law booked for abetting man’s suicide Our Correspondent Ludhiana, April 9 The Ludhiana (Rural) police have initiated a probe into an FIR registered against a branch manager of Indian Overseas Bank for allegedly duping the bank of Rs 3.9 crore and breach of trust with his colleagues. The suspect, identified as Pankaj of Patel Nagar, Jind in Haryana, had diverted huge amounts on the pretext of advancing loans under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana and other agricultural schemes. Though more skeletons may stumble during police investigation, inquiries conducted by internal teams of the bank had revealed that he had shifted Rs 3.9 crore through 22 fake loan accounts to accounts opened in the names of his acquaintances. The complainant, Uma Kant, senior regional manager, Indian Overseas Bank, Civil Lines, Ludhiana, alleged that during his tenure as branch manager at the bank’s Baddowal branch, Pankaj had breached the trust of assistant manager Archana Gupta and assistant Karamjit Singh by using their passwords to commit fraudulent transactions. SHO, Dakha, Kuljinder Singh Grewal, said police officials, led by investigating officer Inderjit Singh, had initiated a probe into the sequence of events leading to the fraud. “Though initially the bank has sought action against Pankaj for the high-profile fraud, we will try to find the role of other accomplices, if any,” said Grewal, maintaining that the accounts through which the loan amounts had been transferred would be thoroughly investigated. Mahesh Sharma Mandi Ahmedgarh, April 9 A woman and her cousin have been booked for allegedly abetting her husband to die by suicide by jumping in front of a moving train while holding his four-year-old daughter near Jandali Kalan village near here on Wednesday. Both of them died on the spot. An FIR under Sections 108 and 3(5) of the BNS was registered against Jagjit Kaur of Manvi village and her cousin Charanjit Singh at the Government Railway Police station in c m y b Day before, victim holding his four-yr-old daughter jumped in front of train VICTIM, DAUGHTER CREMATED The bodies of Samandeep and his daughter were handed over to their kin after autopsy. Both were cremated together at the Alipur crematorium on Thursday. Sangrur on the statement of Swaran Kaur, mother of deceased Samandeep Singh. Charanjit had allegedly misbehaved and manhandled Samandeep at his house hours before the tragic inci- dent, whereas Jagjit Kaur had also created a scene at Alipur on the previous evening. Perusal of the FIR revealed that Samandeep and Jagjit Kaur got married about five years ago and the couple had a daughter, Ravneet Kaur. Swaran Kaur alleged that her daughter-in-law had been harassing family members over petty reasons and she frequently used to call her relatives to insult Samandeep, who was working at a factory. “On Tuesday afternoon also, Jagjit Kaur misbehaved with Samandeep at their house and in the village, abetting him to die by suicide,” she alleged that Charanjit, who had been called by Jagjit Kaur on Wednesday, manhandled Samandeep and asked him to end his life. Samandeep, who had recorded a video message after reaching the railway tracks near Jandali Kalan following his maltreatment at the hands of his wife and Charanjit; had also called his brother Gurcharan Singh. Swaran Kaur alleged that Samandeep had named Jagjit Kaur and Charanjit for abetting him to die by suicide during his last call with Gurcharan. Meanwhile, the bodies of Samandeep and his daughter were handed over to their kin after autopsy. Both were cremated together at the Alipur crematorium on Thursday.