25042022-LT-01.qxd 4/25/2022 12:36 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana TRIBUNE ALLOTTEE VIOLATES RULES, PULLS DOWN WALLS OF TWO BOOTHS PAGE 2 RAIN MAX 40°C | MIN 22°C | YESTERDAY MAX 39°C | MIN 21°C SUNSET MONDAY 7:01 PM PCR staff granted day off, top officers perform patrol duties Initiative taken to express gratitude towards PCR personnel Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 24 The entire force of the Police Control Room (PCR) was a given a day off on Saturday and Ludhiana Police Commissioner Dr Kaustubh Sharma along with senior officers stepped into the shoes of PCR cops by doing their duty. This was done to express gratitude towards the PCR staff who discharge their duties tirelessly. In this initiative, the top cop along with all senior police officials, from ACP rank to ADCP, DCP and Joint CP, played the role of the PCR staff by doing late night patrolling and naka duties. Kaustubh Sharma also stood at several nakas to check vehicles at places like Haibowal, Dehlon, Ladhowal, Sarabha Nagar, South City, Gill road, Kochar Market, Civil Lines, Rajpura chowk, PAU road, etc. Deputy Commissioner of Police, Crime Against (Left) Police Commissioner Dr Kaustubh Sharma at a naka on the Haibowal road; and (above) DCP, Crime Against Women, Saumya Mishra at another naka in Ludhiana on Saturday night. Women (CAW) Saumya Mishra, too, accompanied the CP on night patrolling and for naka duties. During a late night naka on the Haibowal road at around 10 pm, CP Sharma also interacted with some commuters and verified their identity. “Our PCR staff perform duties on road for hours and mostly they work for seven days a week. Today we decided to give a day off to Shop worker held for concocting loot story Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 24 The police today arrested a man on the charges of concocting a loot story. Yesterday, the police had registered a case against unknown armed robbers but today after the police nailed the lies of the alleged person, registered a case against him. The arrested accused has been identified as Sambhav Jain. Raminderpal Singh Bhatia, owner of Kanta Telecom in Daba, had yesterday lodged a complaint that two armed robbers had robbed his shop worker Sambhav Jain of Rs 84,000. The incident occurred when Sambhav was alone in the shop. “During questioning of Sambhav, he was found to be changing his statement more frequently which put his role under scanner. When he was strictly asked, he admitted that he concocted a loot story and he lied to his employer Raminderpal about Rs 84,000 loot by armed men,” Police Commissioner Dr Kaustubh Sharma said. The CP said shop owner Raminderpal was not involved in concocting the story. The CP revealed that the worker had borrowed some money from his friends which he lost in online gaming. He enacted a drama of loot to avoid payment to his creditors. PAGE 3 Shamita made an appearance on her sister Shilpa’s chat show recently and opened up on her battle with depression. LIT again found closing its eyes to blatant violation of terms and conditions of the allotment by an allottee. FORECAST SHAMITA OPENS UP ABOUT HER BATTLE WITH DEPRESSION SIDHARTH AND KIARA SHARE CRYPTIC SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS PAGE 4 As their break-up rumours gain momentum, the two have shared cryptic posts on social media handles. SUNRISE TUESDAY 5:47 AM MONDAY | 25 APRIL 2022 | LUDHIANA Two Class IX students drown in canal Wait for project gets longer Tribune News Service Harshraj Singh TREE PLANTATION ALONGSIDE BUDDHA NULLAH Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 24 Two teenagers drowned in the canal near Dehlon on Saturday. The deceased were identified as Vijay (15) of Gurmeet Nagar and Ayush (15) of Surjit Nagar. One of their friends Bhupinder was saved from drowning by a man. The SHO, Dehlon police station, Inspector Paramdeep Singh, said on Saturday morning Vijay, Ayush and Bhupinder, who were students of Class IX, had left for school. Instead of going to the school, the trio went to the Kand canal near Flahi Sahib Gurdwara. The SHO said the trio entered the canal to take bath but due to high current of water they started drowning. Three other school students who were also standing there raised an alarm and called nearby people for help. One person jumped into the canal and managed to save Bhupinder but Vijay and Ayush got drowned. Meanwhile, the Dehlon police reached there and with the help of divers, bodies of the duo were fished out. The police initiated the inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPc and handed over bodies to the families. Ludhiana, April 23 Even after the passing of a year, a proposed project to plant tree saplings alongside a 34 km-long stretch (outside the MC’s jurisdiction) out of around 48 km total stretch of the Buddha Nullah is yet to be launched. The tree saplings plantation project was earlier supposed to be started by GLADA last year but it could not be launched. GLADA had made a plan for the plantation of around 17,000 trees alongside the Buddha Nullah (upstream) from Kum Kalan to MC limit near Tajpur Road, Ludhiana, and alongside the drain (downstream) from the MC limit near Haibowal Dairy Complex to the Sutlej. Now, a member of the Buddha Nullah’s Special Task Force, Col (retd) JS Gill, has sought from the government to launch the tree saplings plantation drive at the earliest. He said, “The length of the Buddha Nullah is approximately 48 km, 14 km of which falls within the boundaries of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation. GLADA had earlier planned Trees are yet to be planted along the Buddha Nullah. ASHWANI DHIMAN to plant 17,000 tree saplings alongside the Buddha Nullah outside the MC’s jurisdiction but the project was not launched. The Drainage Department later claimed that it would carry out plantation through the MGNREGA labour. When I could not see much happening, I then approached the District Forest Department to take over the land for forestation. Now, the Forest Department is working to start the plantation drive.” Col Gill said there are a number of encroachments along the Buddha Nullah. He said, “If all encroachments are removed, around 2 lakh saplings of trees can be planted on both sides of 34 km-long stretch (outside the MC boundaries) of the Buddha Nullah as per my calculations. Moreover, there is a need for the plantation of vetiver as it will not only strengthen the banks but also help to reduce pollution. Once the work of demarcation is done and encroachments are removed, fencing should be installed to avoid re-encroachments. The tree saplings should be planted in a well-planned manner,” he added. Range Officer of the Forest Department, Kamalpreet Singh said they are going to hold a meeting soon to finalise the plan to carry out the plantation drive along the Buddha Nullah. all our PCR staff so that they could spend time with their families. I along with all senior officers stepped into the shoes of PCR cops to do late night patrolling and naka duties,” Kaustubh Sharma told The Tribune. The CP admitted that due to shortage of force, the Ludhiana police have deputed around 350 PCR personnel only in the city and surrounding areas. As Ludhiana is an industrial hub, this much strength for the city is too less. “I have already written to the DG office to provide at least 1,000 personnel to the Ludhiana police so that police personnel performing duties for excess hours can get some relief,” added Kaustubh Sharma. Saumya said purpose of the initiative was to motivate the PCR staff and boost their morale to do better policing. 14-year-old boy held for raping 5-year-old girl Surroundingareasofjailchecked Missing woman’s body Ludhiana, April 24 A 14-year-old boy was today arrested for raping a fiveyear-old girl at Machhiwara. The Machhiwara police had yesterday registered a case against the boy. The victim girl’s mother told the police that her daughter is studying in Class I. Yesterday she complained about pain in her private parts. “When I asked my daughter about the cause of pain she revealed that a boy living in our locality had taken her to his house and raped her. I then shared the incident with my husband and we immediately lodged a police complaint,” revealed the girl’s mother. The SHO, Machhiwara, Inspector Vijay Kumar, said the accused was today arrested. — TNS Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 24 A day after the recovery of explosive material from near Burail Jail, Chandigarh, the Ludhiana police today carried out checking in the surrounding areas of Central Jail here. A team of six police stations, led by ACP Surinderpal, and senior officials of the jail conducted the checking. The police searched several houses near the jail and even the suspected persons were also questioned. Documents of several vehicles were also checked. Surinderpal said after the Burail jail incident, checking in the surroundings of Central Jail has been increased. Patrolling parties have also been deployed to check the movement of suspected persons. The ACP said the Ludhiana police are maintaining proper coordination with the Jail Department to ensure that no untoward incident takes place in or outside the jail. MLA raises issues of constituency with CM Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 24 Ludhiana East MLA Daljit Singh Grewal (Bhola) on Saturday met the Chief Minister of Punjab and discussed most sensitive issues of his constituency with him. He sought the redress of the issues. Giving details in this regard, Bhola said he raised various issues related to the constituency before the Chief Minister. He said a number of people are not getting electricity connections as they are unable to get ‘no objection certificate’ from the authorities concerned. He said other major issues like hurdles in registration of properties, problems related to solid waste management and garbage dumpsite, Buddha Nullah, drugs menace and shortage of force at police stations were raised during the meeting with the CM. The CM has assured of early redress of the issues, Bhola said. found at Dhillon ground Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 24 A woman missing from a week was found dead at the Dhillon ground on the Noorwala road on Sunday afternoon. Her decomposed body was found and kin suspect it is a murder. The deceased was identified as Guddi Devi (45). The woman was working as a labourer in a factory. Investigating officer ASI Harcharan Singh of the Basti Jodhewal police station said the woman had gone missing on April 16 and her family had also lodged a missing person complaint. The ASI said on Sunday when a passer-by noticed the body, he immediately informed at the Police Control Room. The ASI added that the statement of the deceased’s family is being recorded and a case would be registered accordingly. Area people said the place where the body was found is an empty ground and after killing her, the killers seemed to have dumped the body there. They said they had been noticing several stray dogs in the ground and it could be possible that they were eating the body. The police is checking CCTV cameras. The deceased’s kin suspect role of a person behind the death and they urged the police to investigate the role of that suspect. RUB sans signage; accidents, traffic jams occur daily Harshraj Singh Tribune News Service A boy gets vaccinated against Covid in Ludhiana. PHOTO: INDERJEET VERMA One fresh Covid case in district Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 24 One fresh Covid case was reported, while there was no death due to the disease in the district today. A total of 1,09,839 persons from the district have tested positive for the virus since March 2020, while 2,280 persons have succumbed to the virus till now. The recovery rate of Covid- COVID-19 FIGURES SAMPLES POSITIVE ACTIVE DEATHS 34,83,074 1,09,839 32 2,280 For info Contact: 0161-2444193 & 4622276 19 patients was 97.90 per cent today. There were 32 active cases in the district and 30 patients were asked to isolate themselves at their homes by the Health Department. At present there are two Covid patients admitted to hospitals in Ludhiana. Till date, a total of 34,83,074 samples for Covid test have been taken, of which 33,55,031 were found negative. Samples of 3,453 suspected patients were sent for testing today, the results of which are expected shortly. Ludhiana, April 24 As required measures have not allegedly been taken for the safety of commuters, accidents are taking place at a point of newly constructed railway underbridge (Pakhowal Road to Sarabha Nagar) near Leisure Valley in Sarabha Nagar. A few obstructions in shape of a direction board and an electricity pole just in front of the RUB stretch at this point are posing threat to commuters. There are two openings of the RUB — one is near Sacred Heart Convent School and another is near Leisure Valley — on the MC’s Zone D Office road in Sarabha Nagar. In the absence of signage, the commuters generally face inconvenience. Nowadays, the commuters enter and exit from the same point of RUB near Leisure Valley. The c m y b The accident-prone point of a ROB near Leisure Valley at Sarabha Nagar in Ludhiana. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN traffic snarls are also being witnessed in routine there. A security guard working at a nearby building in Sarabha Nagar said, “Threefour accidents take place daily at this point of RUB near Leisure Valley. A youngster riding a two-wheeler, who seemed to be coming from the Pakhowal Road side, had rammed into the electricity pole a few days ago. There is a need to take corrective measures to avoid mishaps and traffic snarls.” On Thursday afternoon, a man was also seen helping commuters to get out of the traffic jam. Area residents said massive traffic jams commonly occur whenever a large number of vehicles, including private cars and schools buses, are parked on the road to pick up students from a nearby school in the afternoon. One of the directors of Ludhiana Smart City Limited Sanjay Goel said the RUB has been opened without completing the work. “The commuters are getting confused as no signboards have been installed there. There is no clarity for commuters about entry and exit points. The MC should take necessary steps to ensure the safety of the commuters,” Goel said. A road safety activist, Rahul Verma, said there should be no obstruction on the stretch for the commuters. Moreover, the speed limit boards should be displayed and other safety measures must be taken at the RUB, he said. Mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu said they would take necessary steps to resolve the issues and for the safety of commuters the ‘In’ and ‘Out’’ boards will be displayed at RUB openings, he said.