23052022-LT-01.qxd 5/23/2022 12:19 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana TRIBUNE EKNOOR ACADEMY, RAMPUR CENTRE LOG WINS IN HOCKEY PAGE 2 Both teams scripted victories in U-12 sub-junior section in Olympian Prithipal Singh Seven-a-Side Hockey League. FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY SKY INBRIEF FOUR BOOKED IN FRAUD CASES Ludhiana: The police have booked two persons, Vivek Kumar, a resident of Betia in Bihar, and Lala Bhagta of Kanai Pathai Tinsukia in Assam, under Sections 420 and 120-B of the IPC and Section 66D of the IT Act for duping Harish Kumar, a resident of SAS Nagar Colony, here, in the name of an online lottery. According to the complainant, the suspects called him to intimate that he had won a Rs 25 lakh lottery. Thereafter, the suspects got transferred Rs 42,200 in his account in the name of GST registration, showing of prize money and other expenses on different dates. In another case of fraud and alleged theft, Vipan Gupta and his wife Seema Gupta, residents of Shivaji Nagar were booked under Sections 379, 420 and 120-B of the IPC on the complaint of Naresh Gupta, a resident of Urban Estate, Jamalpur. In a report lodged with the police, Naresh said he had taken a shop on a monthly rent of Rs 55,000 from the couple but they did not allow him to open the shop on the agreed date and also stole some goods stored inside it. OC TWO GIRLS GO MISSING IN CITY Ludhiana: A minor girl (15) was reported missing from her residence in Ajit Nagar, Bank Colony. Parents of the girl said their daughter had gone to PAU Government Senior Secondary School on Saturday morning but did not return home. In another incident, an 18-year-old girl residing in Rose Enclave here was reported missing since May 19. Her parents suspected that Ritik Sangolia, a resident of Dardu Chungi, Rewari (Haryana), with whom their daughter had an online relationship, might have been behind the disappearance of the girl. The police have registered cases under Section 346 of the IPC in both incidents. OC ARUN: DAILY SOAPS REQUIRE ORDINARY-LOOKING ACTORS PAGE 3 ACTOR TOM CRUISE TALKS ABOUT ‘LIFE-CHANGING’ ROLE IN TOP GUN Actor Arun Mandola says he has joined the industry not to earn money, but to satisfy his creativity. MAX 36°C | MIN 26°C | YESTERDAY MAX 40°C | MIN 24°C SUNSET MONDAY 7:20 PM PAGE 4 The Hollywood star says landing role of Navy pilot Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell in Top Gun was ‘life-changing’. SUNRISE TUESDAY 5:26 AM MONDAY | 23 MAY 2022 | LUDHIANA Raw material, goods worth lakhs destroyed in cloth factory blaze Our Correspondent Ludhiana, May 22 Raw material and finished goods worth several lakhs were turned to ashes in a major fire that engulfed a knitting fabric manufacturing unit, Jain Amar Cloth Factory, on Noorwala Road in Bahadarke Hosiery and Knitting Complex here this morning. Over 12 fire engines of MC Fire Brigade reached the spot within a few minutes and full-scale firefighting operations were launched. According to officials of the Fire Department, the blaze was so fierce that the fire tenders pressed into service had to take turns to refill their tanks and a minimum of 100 tankers of water were used to control the flames. It took the firefighters some 10 hours to bring the fire completely under control and also take preventive measures to stop the fire from spreading further and causing damage to other adjoining buildings. It was learnt that the fire started at around 6.25am and it might be a passer-by or a morning walker who had intimated the fire brigade about the flames and smoke emanating from the factory, which was closed at that time. Though there was no definite information about the cause IT TOOK 10 HOURS TO CONTROL THE FIRE According to Fire Department officials, the blaze was so fierce that the fire engines pressed into service had to take turns to refill their tanks and a minimum of 100 tankers of water were used to control the flames. It took the firefighters some 10 hours to bring the fire completely under control and also take preventive measures to stop the fire from spreading further and causing damage to other adjoining buildings. The suspects with the stolen motorcycles in Ludhiana. TRIBUNE PHOTO 4 of snatchers’ gang nabbed Five stolen motorcycles, 35 mobile phones recovered Our Correspondent Fire personnel try to douse the flames at a cloth manufacturing unit in Ludhiana on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN of fire, it was believed that it could have been caused by a short circuit. As the factory owners arrived at the spot after getting information about the incident, they called labourers and made desperate attempts to salvage finished goods, raw material and other items fro the store. However, the loss of material and machinery was massive. “Had it not been a Sunday and the factory remains operational during the day, the fire could have turned into a major tragedy,” said a shopkeeper in the area. Ludhiana, May 22 In a major breakthrough, the city police have arrested four members of a gang of snatchers, who were involved in several cases of theft and snatching of motorcycle and mobile phones from people by threatening them with a sickle (datar), in the past 48 hours. Five stolen motorcycles and 35 mobile phones have been seized from the suspects. Preliminary interrogation of the suspects has indicated that they used to target migrant workers or those going on foot at lonely places. Police officials said the suspects, Shubham, a resident of Heera Vihar Colony, New Subhash Nagar, Mohit of New Subhash Nagar, Amandeep Singh, a resident of Guru Nanak Estate, Prem Vihar, and Gagandeep Singh of Harikrishan Vihar Colony, Rahon Road, were booked under Sections 379-Band 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). It was stated that of the four suspects, two of them, Amandeep Singh and Gagandeep Singh, were already named as accused in another case under Section 379-B and 34 of the IPC registered at Police Division No 3 on May 20 with the recovery of four mobile phones from them. According to the police, the recovered motorcycles from the possession of the suspects included two Hero Splendor, two Bajaj Discover and an Apache motorcycle. One sword (daat), used by the suspects to threaten their victims, was also seized by the police. Police officials said Gagandeep was nominated in three cases of snatching, Amandeep in two while Shubham and Mohit had one criminal case registered against them in police stations of the city. 4 held with drugs, liquor Two vehicle thieves held, 2 lose cell phones to snatchers Our Correspondent Ludhiana, May 22 The police have arrested four peddlers from different parts of the city on Saturday. In the first case, the police recovered 35-gm heroin from Ashok Kumar, a resident of Hargobind Nagar, who was nabbed from Issa Nagar Puli. He has been booked under the NDPS Act. Dalbir Singh of Panjdhera near Goindwal, was held with 15-gm heroin at Talwandi Kalan village. The accused has been booked under the NDPS Act. In the third incident, the police arrested Santokh Singh of Heeran village and recovered 2-kg poppy husk from him. He has been booked under Sections 15, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act. In another incident, Deepu of Prem Nagar was nabbed with 18 bottles of rum. He has been booked under Sections 61, 1 and14 of the Excise Act. Ludhiana, May 22 The police have arrested two vehicle thieves while two persons lost their mobile phones and one his motorcycle to snatchers in separate incidents here on Saturday. A police patrol party deployed at Midha Chowk nabbed two vehicle thieves, Vikramjit Singh and Gagandeep Singh, both residents of Jawahar Nagar Camp, while they were going on a stolen Hero Splendor motorcycle (bearing regis- tration no. PB 10 GV 1058) to sell the two-wheeler. A case has been registered. In another incident, three motorcycle-borne youths accosted Sham Lal, a resident of Salem Tabri, late on Friday night near Ganda Nullah (Shiv Mandir) when he and his son Deepak were returning home from the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital here. The suspects brandished a weapon and threatened the victims. They fled the spot after snatching a mobile phone and Rs 200 in cash from Sham Lal. A case has been registered. Jarnail Singh, a resident of Sant Vihar, Chuharpur Road, lost his Hero HF motorcycle (PB 10HN 9973) to eight miscreants who confronted him on Barewal Road. He said the assailants beat him up with an iron punch and took away his motorcycle with them. Rama Kant Dubey, a resident of Ramandeep Colony, Bhammian Khurd, lost his mobile phone and a purse containing some money to six persons who accosted him near Ahuja Dairy on Saturday. Man foils cell phone snatching bid Pardeep Kumar of Captain Colony, Meharban village, made a snatcher take to his heels, leaving the latter’s Bajaj Platina motorcycle and the snatched mobile phone on the spot when he not only raised an alarm but also almost overpowered the snatcher. Later, the suspect was identified as Shoom of Harkrishan Vihar Colony. Pardeep told the police that he was going on his motorcycle while talking on his cell phone. “The motorcycle-borne suspect came from the rear and tried to flee after snatching my cell phone. I somehow caught hold of him and also raised an alarm,” he said, adding that he managed to flee, leaving the phone and suspect’s motorcycle on the spot. — OC Two test positive Deadline approaching, work on int’l airport expedited for Covid in dist Nitin Jain PROJECT REPORT Tribune News Service A girl gets vaccinated against Covid in Ludhiana. INDERJEET VERMA Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 22 Two fresh cases of Covid-19 were reported while no person died due to the virus in the district today. A total of 1,09,926 persons have tested positive for the virus since March 2020 while 2,280 persons from the district have succumbed to the virus so far. The recovery rate of Covid patients was 97.91 per cent on Sunday. There were 15 active cases in the district and 15 were asked to isolate themselves at their homes by the Health Department. COVID-19 FIGURES SAMPLES POSITIVE ACTIVE 35,70,437 1,09,926 15 DEATHS 2,280 For any information related to Covid Contact: 0161-2444193 & 4622276 At present, no Covid patient is admitted to any hospital in Ludhiana. Till date, a total of 35,70,437 samples have been taken, of which 34,45,744 were found negative. Samples of 3,164 suspected patients were sent for testing today, the results of which are expected shortly. Ludhiana, May 22 As the extended deadline is just a month away, the ongoing work to construct the interim terminal building of an upcoming international airport has been expedited at Halwara here, the administration has confirmed. The work to construct the interim terminal was allotted to a Himachal Pradesh-based construction company at Rs 2,272.5 lakh in December last year and the allied works were allotted to a Ludhiana firm at Rs 1,604.15 lakh in November last year, officials have said. The foundation stone of the project was laid by Fatehgarh Sahib MP Amar Singh on January 5. Deputy Commissioner Surabhi Malik told The Tribune, here, on Sunday, that the work to construct the interim airport terminal building and internal roads had been expedited with most of the allied works either completed or nearing completion for the big ticket project. She said the pre-construction activities had already been completed long ago and the allied works, including the road Total project area Terminal area Awarded cost Completion target Boundary wall, approach road cost 161.28 acres 2,000 square meters ~3,876.65 lakh June 2022 ~309.33 crore ❝ Work in progress on the interim terminal building at the upcoming international airport in Halwara, near Ludhiana, on Sunday. network, have progressed fast in the advanced stage of completion to meet the deadline for the Rs 38.77 crore project. The work on the new terminal building, public conveniences, guard rooms, sub-stations, electrical works, new link taxiway from IAF wall to apron, connecting road from terminal to apron, city side and approach road from boundary wall to terminal building was in an advanced stage of completion and the private agencies concerned have been directed to further c m y b expedite the ongoing work. Synergy Thrislington of Solan was awarded the work to construct the interim terminal building of the new international airport on December 9 after being found to be the lowest and the most suitable bidder among the five eligible bidders. The firm was given six months to complete the allotted work. Divulging the progress of the ongoing work, Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA) Additional Chief Administrator Shikha Bhagat The work on the new international airport has been expedited and will be completed within the stipulated timeframe to begin the operations at the earliest. Besides improving the air connectivity of the industrial capital of the state, the new airport will give a major boost to the economic development of Ludhiana and help attract more investment and jobs for the city Surabhi Malik, DC ❞ said after completion of prerequisite tests and pre-construction activities such as survey and sub-soil investigation, the embankment and subgrade top layers had also been completed on most of the internal roads with a width ranging from 5, 7 to 10-meter carriageway. She said a ready mix concrete plant had been established at the project site to undertake the construction of structural works. Confirming that all prerequisite tests and pre-construction activities such as survey and sub-soil investigation had been completed, PWD (B&R) Executive Engineer Adesh Gupta said structural and architecture drawings had been approved after vetting by the NIT in Jalandhar while samples of construction material had also been cleared by Thapar Institute in Patiala for concrete mixture design. The construction material has already been dumped at the site for undertaking work on substations, public conveniences and underground tanks. The interim airport terminal will be built on engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode on a lumpsum basis at Halwara air base. The allied works were allotted to Ludhiana-based Ceigall India Limited on November 8 at Rs 1,604.15 lakh on the EPC mode with a six-month completion deadline. International flights from interim terminal The project entails building an interim arrangement to attend immediate requirements to make international flights available to residents of Ludhiana, which was the state’s largest industrial city. The interim terminal building will be a prefabricated steel structure with a modern outlook, spread over a 2,000-square km area with 3,800-square meter canopy space having a seating capacity of 300 passengers. The PWD (B&R) was the main executing agency while a private firm was hired for architectural design of the project. The scope of the project includes a new terminal building along with ancillary facilities such as apron taxiway extensions, sub-station, boundary wall and approach road. continued on page 2