21092026-LT-01.qxd 9/21/2026 12:53 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune FISH, POULTRY & PICKLES: BARNALA FARMER GROWS BIZ MUSIC STARS UNITE FOR RUSS JANA DEEPVEER WELCOMES SECOND CHILD Sukhpal Singh started with a 2.5-acre pond, now manages fish in ponds across 30 acres. P2 Shekhar Ravjiani, Priya Saraiya and Asees Kaur come together for first time for a non-film song, Russ Jana. P4 Actors Deepika Padukone & Ranveer Singh welcomed their second child together on Saturday, a baby girl. P4 » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 34°C | MIN 24°C YESTERDAY MAX 33°C | MIN 23°C SUNSET MONDAY 6:21 PM » SUNRISE TUESDAY 6:11 AM MONDAY | 21 SEPTEMBER 2026 | LUDHIANA Drunk man was beaten to death by neighbours at Bains village Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, September 20 Five days after a man was beaten to death by his neigbours for allegedly abusing them under the influence of liquor at Bains village in Ludhiana, the victim’s family had been urging the police to add murder charges to the already registered FIR. Alleging police inaction, family members and residents blocked Ferozepur Road on Sunday. The protest, which lasted about 20 minutes, resulted in long queues of vehicles, bringing traffic to a complete standstill. The family alleged that despite the deceased was beaten to death by their neighbours, the police were not adding murder charges to the case, forc- INCIDENT OCCURRED FIVE DAYS AGO Amrik Singh said on the night of September 15, his elder brother Jaspreet Singh returned home in an inebriated state and began abusing his family. To avoid a fight, they locked the main gate from inside. Meanwhile, Jaspreet stood outside and shouted. A neighbour, Gurdayal Singh, and his family came outside. They thought Jaspreet was abusing them. Though he claimed that he was fighting with his family, they began beating him. The man was also hit with a brick on the head. ing them to take to streets. Senior police officers, who visited the protest spot, assured the family of a fair investigation and addition of relevant sections to the registered case. Following the written and verbal assurance from the police, the protest, which had lasted for about 20 minutes, was ended and traffic movement was restored. Later, murder charges were added to the FIR by the police. In a complaint to the police, Amrik Singh (35), a resident of Bains village, said his elder brother Jaspreet Singh (38) was addicted to alcohol. On the night of September 15, he returned home in an inebriated state and began abusing his family. To avoid a fight, the family locked the main gate from inside. Meanwhile, Jaspreet stood outside on the street and shouted. A neighbour, Gurdayal Singh, and his wife Manjit Kaur came outside. They thought Jaspreet was abusing them. Though Jaspreet claimed he was fighting with his family, the duo began beating him. Meanwhile, Gurdayal’s son Prem Singh came and the three of them surrounded Jaspreet and thrashed him. The complainant said during the scuffle, Manjit Kaur picked up a brick from the ground and struck Jaspreet on the head, causing him to fall unconscious and bleeding. They took Jaspreet to a local hospital, from where doctors referred him to the PGIMER, Chandigarh, due to his critical condition, and later to the Gov- ernment Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Chandigarh where he died during the treatment. A case was initially registered under ordinary sections of fight and assault. The Sarabha Nagar police initially registered the case against the three suspects, Gurdayal, Manjit Kaur, and Prem, based on Amrik’s statements. Following the death, the police have assured that further legal action would be taken by adding the murder charge to the case, the deceased’s kin said. Station House Officer (SHO) of the Sarabha Nagar police station said since the victim was beaten to death, the police added murder charges to the FIR and raids were being conducted to nab the suspects. NFHS-6 data shows steep fall in child vaccination rate Manav Mander Gap between vax, data uploading due to ANM shortage, says official Tribune News Service Ludhiana, September 20 The latest figures released under the National Family Health Survey-6 have raised alarm bells for the district. The figures have revealed a sharp decline in child immunisation. In the district, only 47.5 per cent of children aged 12-23 months are fully vaccinated, compared to 73.2 per cent in the previous survey. The figure is based on information obtained from either vaccination cards or mother’s recall. When measured strictly on the basis of vaccination cards only, coverage has plummeted to 43.8 per cent, a steep fall from 79.8 per cent recorded in the previous survey. The number of children aged 12-23 months who had received three doses of polio vaccine has also gone down from 74.4 per cent to 49.9 per cent. Another startling revelation is that as compared to ISTOCK Murder charges added to FIR after protest by deceased’s kin 14.1 per cent in the last survey, now only 4.7 per cent kids in the age group of 1223 months received their vaccination from private facilities while the number of those getting vaccination from public facilities has increased from 82.9 per cent to 94.3 per cent. District Immunisation Officer Harpreet Singh said the underlying reason behind the low figures was not that less number of children had been vaccinated, the reason behind it was that the entry of the vacci- nation had not been made on the online portal. “As the figures reveal that vaccination has mostly been done at public facilities, there is a gap between the vaccination and online data uploading due to the shortage of Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs),” he said. Sources revealed that if 100 vaccinations were administered, only 50 were being uploaded on the portal. At centres where there were no ANMs, duty was assigned to the ANMs from other centres for two days to conduct vaccination. They give vaccination but generally did not upload the data on the portal. Now, the recent letter issued by the headquarters has asked to give Rs 525 per session or maximum of Rs 2,100 to the ANMs for conducting vaccination at other centres. Since the nurses would be getting paid for extra work, now they were expected to upload the data online. 2 youths hurt in firing over property Elderly man attacked, robbed of scooter dispute at house-warming party Tribune News Service Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, September 20 A house-warming celebration held at a dairy farm in Kuliewal on Tajpur Road was marred by a firing incident allegedly linked to a land dispute late on Saturday night. Two youths were injured while a Scorpio vehicle was riddled with bullets. According to the police, around 15 to 20 armed assailants first demolished a wall of the property using a crane and then opened fire on youths attending the party. Based on the complaint of an injured victim, the police have registered a case of attempted murder against four named suspects and around 12 unidentified persons. The police recovered 18 shell casings from the scene. The complainant, One of the injured undergoing treatment at a hospital. Ankush Chopra, alias Shalu, said they were celebrating the completion of a friend’s new house at the dairy farm on the night of September 19. Around 10 persons were present. “Around midnight, we heard a loud explosion from outside. When we came out to check, the suspects started firing indiscriminately and threatened to kill us,” he alleged. Ankush said he suffered shrapnel injuries above his left eye while his friend Rajdeep Singh sustained a bullet injury to his shoulder. He further alleged that a Mahindra Scorpio owned by his friend Hakkudin, which was returning with party supplies, was also hit by bullets. The injured were initially taken to the CMCH in Ludhiana. However, fearing further attacks, their families shifted them to a private hospital in Mohali, where they are undergoing treatment. According to the com- plainant, the attack stemmed from a dispute over the ownership of a farmhouse, which is located on the premises of the dairy farm. He alleged that the attackers were armed with rifles, pistols, swords, axes and sticks. On Ankush’s statement, the police registered a case against Sukhwinder Singh, Amarpreet Singh, Jaskaran Singh, Gurjeet Singh and around 12 unidentified persons under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). SHO, Division No 7, inspector Gagandeep Singh, said both parties were involved in a legal dispute over possession of the farmhouse and the matter was pending before a court. He added that raids were being conducted to arrest the suspects. Ludhiana, September 20 Miscreants attacked a 74year-old man in the crowded Lal Kothi area of Model Town here and took away his scooter. Incident captured on CCTVs; suspects will be held soon, say police The three motorcycleborne youths first kicked the elderly man, throwing him onto the road. After assaulting him, the suspects fled with his scooter. The entire incident was captured on CCTV cameras installed in the locality. Though the incident occurred on the night of September 16, the Model Town police have registered a case against unidentified persons on Saturday. Devraj Hans, a resident of Harnam Nagar, said his son A CCTV grab of the suspects assaulting the man in Ludhiana. runs a footwear shop in Model Town. Around 9.30 pm on September 16, he was going from his son’s shop to meet a friend at the latter’s house. When he reached near the Lal Kothi area, three miscreants on a motorcycle approached him from the rear. They kicked his scooter hard, causing him to fall. One of them got off the motorcy- cle and attacked him. After beating him up, they fled the scene with his scooter. The victim said the scooter was purchased by him about eight months ago. Visuals of the crime have been captured on CCTV cameras in the area. The footage shows the three motorcycleborne suspects approaching the elderly man and fleeing with his vehicle after the assault. The police are trying to identify the suspects on the basis of the footage. According to the CCTV footage, the miscreants followed the elderly man and committed the crime at a dark spot. The police said the CCTV footage was being checked and the suspects would be arrested soon. 40 coaching centres get fire safety notices in a month Bhatti to hold 12-kmmarch against waste tender today Sukhpreet Singh Tribune News Service Ludhiana, September 20 As many as 40 coaching and IELTS centres have been issued notices by the Fire Department in the past one month as part of a fresh check on fire safety arrangements across the city. The action follows the Punjab State Human Rights Commission seeking an updated report on the safety status of such centres. The Fire Department is now collecting details from centres and checking their records before preparing a report for the commission. The development comes after the commission asked the Assistant Divisional Fire Officer, Ludhiana, to submit the latest checking reports of buildings before the next hearing. The case has been listed for October 8. According to a report submitted before the commission, 26 IELTS and coach- Residents have expressed concern over coaching and tuition centres operating from basements and other enclosed premises in Ludhiana. PHOTO: ASHWANI DHIMAN ing centres had been issued Fire NOCs in 2024. The department had also checked such centres in 2022, 2023 and 2024, and advised their managers to make proper fire-extinguishing arrangements. Jaswinder Singh, assistant divisional fire officer, said: “We have issued 40 notices to coaching centres in the past one month. Notices have been issued to obtain updated information c m y b and documents from them. The department is checking submissions and records to assess the present status of fire safety arrangements.” The issue was raised before the commission by city residents. They had expressed concern over coaching and tuition centres operating from basements and other enclosed premises, particularly in Model Town and Heera Singh Nagar. They had also raised concerns about emergency exits, fire detection systems and evacuation arrangements at such buildings. “The latest checking should cover all coaching and IELTS centres so that the actual safety position is clear. The authorities should ensure that proper fire safety arrangements are in place before any unfortunate incident takes place,” said Arvind Sharma, a city resident. Tribune News Service Ludhiana, September 20 Finance and Contracts Committee (F&CC) member and councillor Gaurav Bhatti will take out a nearly 12-km barefoot march on Monday to oppose the proposed Rs 1,168-crore Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM) project. According to his programme, the Congress councillor will start the march from his office near LIG Flats at 10 am and walk to the Mayor’s House, where the F&CC meeting is scheduled to be held. Bhatti has said he would submit his written objection against the tender at the meeting and demand its cancellation. The proposed ISWM project covers the collection, transportation, pro- cessing and disposal of solid waste in Ludhiana through a public-private partnership. The tender document puts its estimated value at Rs 1,168 crore, with a work period of 2,920 days or about eight years. The tender has remained a contentious issue in the Municipal Corporation. At the Finance and Contracts Committee meeting on September 17, the agenda could not be cleared again as the required strength was not available. Bhatti left the meeting without signing and raised objections over the cost of the project and its possible impact on workers involved in door-to-door waste collection. The councillor has questioned the proposed cost, saying the MC was already paying for waste lifting and that the new arrangement could put an additional financial burden on the civic body. He has also raised the issue of the livelihood of poor and labour families engaged in waste collection. The proposed project is intended to overhaul the city’s waste management system, including door-todoor collection, transportation of waste from secondary collection points and scientific processing and disposal. The tender floated earlier this year was subsequently cancelled after only two bids were received and the process did not reach the award stage. Now, the civic body is finalising contract terms and conditions with the project’s L1 bidder.