01052022-LT-01.qxd 01-05-2022 00:24 Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana TRIBUNE ALCOHOL, TOBACCO CONSUMPTION PAGE 2 AMONG MALES ABOVE 15 ON RISE AMAN GANDHI HAS STRONG VIEWS ON GENDER BIAS Consumption of alcohol & tobacco among males aged above 15 yrs is on rise in the district, reveals a survey. “It is very sad to see that even today, preference is given to a particular gender," says actor Aman Gandhi. FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY Doctor booked for sexually harassing receptionist Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 30 A doctor of Bhalla Hospital at Daad village was booked by the Sadar police station after he sexually harassed a receptionist of the hospital. The accused has been identified as Sanjay Kumar Bhalla. The complainant told the police that she had been working as a receptionist at the hospital. Yesterday, Dr Sanjay called her to his room and when she came, he held her tightly and attempted physical exploitation. “The doctor asked me for sexual favours. When I refused, he turned furious and attempted to rape me in his room but I managed to save myself and left the place. Afterwards, I called the police and lodged a complaint against the accused,” the victim alleged. She told the police that the accused had a bad reputation as had also tried to rape another hospital employee in the past. Investigating officer ASI Kulwant Singh said after recording the statement of the victim, a case was lodged against the doctor. He said raids were being conducted to nab the accused. MAX 42°C | MIN 24°C | YESTERDAY MAX 43°C | MIN 24°C Ludhiana, April 30 The Ludhiana police have booked a man on the charge of raping a woman for two years. When she turned pregnant, the accused refused to marry the woman and dumped her. The Police Division 2 yesterday registered a case against the accused, identified as Jasvir Kumar of Dharampura. The complainant told the police that in 2020, she used to work in the Industrial Area where she developed a friendship with the accused. “After a few months, the accused proposed her for marriage. Since I was already married, he forced me to take divorce from my husband to marry me. Later, I got divorce from my husband and continued the relationship with the accused PAGE 4 He was reportedly suffering from Hernia and was due for surgery two years ago, but it was postponed amid Covid. SUNRISE MONDAY 5:41 AM SUNDAY | 1 MAY 2022 | LUDHIANA Says repair work at Sherpur Chowk ‘hampered’ due to stagnant sewage Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 30 As the road repair and rectification work at Sherpur Chowk has been ‘hampered due to overflowing sewers’, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has asked the Municipal Corporation (MC) to take corrective measures to get the issue resolved. Earlier, a city resident, Rajat Sood, had complained to the NHAI after a stretch was closed for road repair work near Sherpur Chowk. In his complaint, Sood had stated that an entry point from the Delhi side towards Ludhiana city on the national highway was closed many days ago for road repair work, but the work was not completed, leaving commuters to face heavy traffic jams. Responding to the complaint by Sood, the official concerned of the NHAI stated that the pavement surface at Sherpur Chowk was repeatedly damaged due to overflowing sewer and industrial with the hope that he would marry me,” the victim alleged. The victim alleged that the accused continued to develop physical relationship with her for almost two years and when she asked him to marry her, he used to make excuses. The victim revealed that a few months ago she turned pregnant and when the accused came to know about the same, he assured that he would marry her and they would take care of their child. “From January 9, 2022, the accused stopped talking to me. Later, he told me that he would not marry me. Despite the fact that I am eight months pregnant, he dumped me. He intentionally cheated me and left me in the lurch, “ the complainant alleged. Investigating officer ASI Paramjit Singh said raids were being conducted to nab the accused. The road in a dilapidated state at Sherpur Chowk in Ludhiana. PHOTO: ASHWANI DHIMAN DEATHS 35,01,780 1,09,861 23 3 2,280 For info Contact: 0161-2444193 & 4622276 Patiala violence: City police on alert Tribune News Service COPS PATROL SENSITIVE PLACES Ludhiana, April 30 After a clash occurred between two groups in Patiala on Friday, the Ludhiana police remained on alert on Saturday. Police force was deployed at various places in the city to prevent any untoward incident. Anti-riot police personnel have also been kept on standby mode in the city. The police force, led by senior officials, also conducted patrolling at sensitive places, including the Railway road and Clock Tower. The police personnel were Police force was deployed at various places in the city to prevent any untoward incident. The police personnel also conducted patrolling at sensitive places, including the Railway road and Clock Tower. 194-gm heroin, five cartridges seized from peddler’s gym To seek justice, SKM to leave Contractual bus staff agitation for Lakhimpur Kheri on May 4 to intensifyWill hold gate rallies at Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 30 The Special Task Force (STF) wing today recovered 194 gram of heroin and five live cartridges from a gym, KK Fitness Studio, on the Bhamian road. The gym belongs to drug peddler Deepak Kumar. Deepak had fired shots at STF officials on April 27 night at Dhandra. On Thursday, the STF had also conducted a raid at the house of the accused and seized 315 gram of heroin. STF in-charge Harbans Singh said the police were conducting raids at suspected whereabouts of the accused and he would also be nabbed soon. He said Deepak was facing over 12 cases of drugs and in one of the cases, he was also convicted. The accused was also declared a proclaimed offender recently in a drug case registered at Jammu. Morcha to protest against Punjab Govt in Chandigarh on May 17 Ludhiana, April 30 To get justice for families of ‘martyred’ farmers, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) will leave for Lakhimpur Kheri on May 4 from the state. A meeting of the morcha was held here on Saturday. The meeting was headed by general secretary of BKU (Lakhowal) Harinder Singh Lakhowal, state president of the BKU Behramke Balwant Singh Behramke and state president of the Jai Kisan Andolan Gurbaksh Singh. A big caravan will leave from Punjab on May 4 for Lakhimpur Kheri. Members of the SKM from other states, including Haryana, MP UP and , Rajasthan, would also reach Lakhimpur. They will meet the families of victim farmers. On May 5, they will hold a meeting A girl gets jabbed against Covid in Ludhiana. INDERJEET VERMA SAMPLES POSITIVE ACTIVE Cops stand guard in the old city area of Ludhiana on Saturday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN Chowk and Sherpur Chowk, thereby damaging the pavement of the service road and other road assets. According to the NHAI, rectification at Sherpur Chowk was again being carried out, but it was obstructed due to flooding of the sewer water from chambers. The NHAI has asked the civic body to take up the augmentation of the existing sewerage system on an urgent basis. The NHAI official has also asked the MC that in the meantime, Tribune News Service COVID-19 FIGURES necessary pump and tanker arrangements be made by the MC urgently till any permanent solution is found to the problem and also ensure that road users are not inconvenienced. Notably, residents have been complaining about the NHAI’s broken road and MC’s overflowing sewers near Sherpur Chowk for a long time. The complainant, Rajat Sood, said: “Both departments have failed to resolve issues in their respective jurisdictions due to which the public is facing a lot of harassment. They are just passing the buck. The sewerrelated problem should be resolved by the civic body without any further delay.” “The NHAI should ensure repair of the broken road at the earliest. Moreover, the administration and the traffic police must find out a way to resolve the problem of frequent vehicle jams on the stretch from Giaspura to Sherpur Chowk,” Sood added. waste/water discharged from neighbouring industries. The official claimed that the NHAI had repeatedly taken up the matter with the district administration for directing the authorities concerned to take immediate action, but it was yet to be resolved. On April 29, the NHAI had written to the MC Commissioner that no action had been taken as sewer water/wastewater was overflowing from chambers, leading to flooding of the service road in between Giaspura Five test +ve for Covid in district Ludhiana, April 30 Five Covid cases were reported in the district while no death was reported due to the virus today. A total of 1,09,861 persons have tested positive for Covid so far since March 2020 while 2,280 persons from the district have succumbed to the dreaded disease. The recovery rate of Covid-19 patients was 97.90 per cent on Saturday. There were 23 active cases in the district and 23 were asked to isolate themselves at their homes by the district Health Department. At present, no Covid patient is admitted to any hospital in Ludhiana. Till date, a total of POP SINGER TAZ FROM STEREO NATION PASSES AWAY AT 54 Fix overflowing sewers on highway, NHAI tells MC Man rapes woman for 2 years, booked Tribune News Service SUNSET SUNDAY 7:05 PM PAGE 3 35,01,780 samples have been taken, of which 33,77,162 samples were found negative. Samples of 3,499 suspected patients were sent for testing today, the results of which are expected shortly. c m y b SKM leaders address mediapersons in Ludhiana. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN with the Lakhimpur Kheri administration and seek justice for the families of the ‘martyred’ farmers, said Harinder. The farmer leaders said the SKM delegation had conducted a meeting with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on April 17. He had assured the union leaders that a bonus would be given on low yield of wheat and power supply would be ensured. They said the CM had also assured to provide MSP on ‘moongi’, maize and basmati. He had also said a meeting with the PSPCL CMD would be arranged and another meeting of the SKM would be called within a week. In the SKM meeting today, they took a decision as they claimed their demands regarding power supply, MSP , etc, were not fulfilled by the state government. Hence, the bodies associated with the SKM will stage a massive protest at Chandigarh on May 17. — TNS also keeping a tab around religious places. Sources said the police had already held a secret meeting with leaders of Hindu and Sikh communities and asked them not to resort to any protest in the city. The latter had also assured the police that they would not hold any protest. Meanwhile, members of the Hindu Shakti Morcha, led by Rohit Sahni, held a meeting in which they urged the Ludhiana, April 30 For fulfilment of their demands, Punjab Roadways, PUNBUS and PRTC Contract Workers Union, Punjab, held a state-level meeting at the bus stand here today. In the meeting headed by union’s state president Resham Singh Gill, the employees have decided to intensify their agitation as they alleged that the state government had failed to meet their demands. They alleged that the new government in the state was also following footsteps of previous governments and exploiting contractual employees of the PRTC and PUNBUS. They are demanding regularisation of their jobs, resumptions of jobs of expelled employees and addition of 10,000 new buses to the government bus service, etc, from the government. They said they had met the Transport Patiala administration to arrest Khalistan supporters. They said the police arrested Hindu leader Harish Singla but no action was taken against the protesters who had created tension outside the Kali Mata temple. They gave an ultimatum to the Patiala police to arrest the troublemakers, otherwise they would launch a statewide agitation against the government and the police. depots across state on May 10; bus stands to be closed for 2 hrs on May 24 Minister regarding their demands but to no avail. While sharing their agitation details, the union members said they would hold protests by organising gate rallies at depots across the state on May 10. The bus stands in the state will be closed for two hours on May 24. On May 28 and 29, all MLAs and ministers will be given letters of demand while gate rallies will be held on June 6 again. The contractual employees will go on strike from June 8 to 10 and observe ‘chakka Jam’. They will not ply buses during the three days. They have also decided to gherao the Punjab Transport Minister’s residence. — TNS