06062022-LT-01.qxd 6/6/2022 12:34 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana TRIBUNE MC MUST ACT TOUGH AGAINST ERRANT OFFICIALS, CONTRACTORS Providing better amenities at parking lots is not just MC’s duty, but also right of people: Residents FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY Man arrested for raping stepdaughter Tribune News Service Ludhiana, June 5 A man raped his 11-year-old stepdaughter at Sidhwan Bet. The police yesterday registered a rape case against the suspect, identified as Parmod Kumar. Later, he was arrested. The complainant, the girl’s mother, told the police that she had divorced her first husband as he used to torture their daughter. About seven years ago, she got married to Parmod. “Parmod was keeping a bad eye on my daughter. On June 4, when I went to market, the suspect raped my daughter. When I returned home, he had already fled. Afterwards, we went to the police station to lodge a complaint,” the girl’s mother said. She said her daughter told her that the suspect had been sexually abusing her for the past over four months and he had threatened her not to tell anyone about the matter. Investigating officer SI Kamaldeep Kaur said after registering a case, the suspect was arrested. PAGE 2 SHILPA TO SPONSOR EDU OF DANCE DEEWANE CONTESTANT PAGE 3 RASIKA DUGAL’S FAIRY FOLK TO BE SCREENED AT SYDNEY FEST Shilpa won hearts as she announced that she would be sponsoring the education of a 10-year-old contestant. MAX 44°C | MIN 25°C | YESTERDAY MAX 44°C | MIN 24°C SUNSET MONDAY 7:27 PM Rasika Dugal’s Fairy Folk will premiere at the Sydney Film Festival, which will take place from June 8 to 19. SUNRISE TUESDAY 5:23 AM PSPCL drive against power theft yields ~13.82 cr in five months Our Correspondent ~5.67-CR PENALTY SLAPPED IN MARCH ALONE Ludhiana, June 5 Relentless efforts made by Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) to curb power theft and unauthorised use of electricity (UUE), which make a big dent in the revenue, has yielded rich dividend and the power utility has recovered a penalty of a whopping Rs 13.82 crore in the past five months (January 2022 to May 2022). As per Superintending Engineer, Enforcement, Central Zone, PS Brar, 490 cases of power theft and UUE were detected by officials and field staff of the enforcement wing Superintending Engineer, Enforcement, Central Zone, PS Brar, said in March 2022 alone, 74 cases of theft and unauthorised use of electricity were detected and a penalty of ~5.67 crore was slapped on defaulters – the highest amount during the past five months. in a drive during the period. He said as per directions of the state government, the department would continue to build up pressure on those stealing power and using excess load of power. In March 2022 alone, 74 cases of theft and UUE were detected and a penalty of Rs 5.67 crore was slapped on defaulters – the highest amount during the past five months. The number of cases detected during Jan- uary was 81 (penalty Rs 1.85 cr), in February 74 cases (Rs 2.36 cr), in April 80 cases (Rs 1.89 cr) and in May 181 cases were detected and the penalty was assessed at Rs 2.04 crore. “Besides industrial houses, commercial establishments and domestic consumers, some religious places and a few police stations were also caught stealing power through kundi connections,” he said. Brar made an appeal to consumers to get their actual load assessed and apply for additional load. “Extra load wreaks havoc on the supply and distribution network as the PSPCL is not able to plan the upgrade of transformers and other equipment accordingly. Ultimately it is the consumers who suffer by way of frequent line faults and interruptions,” said the official. He said any additional load (more than sanctioned) used by consumers was treated on a par with power theft and attracted heavy penalty. Hence, it was in the own interest of consumers to disclose their actual connected load and get the load enhanced, if required. suspect, identified as Santokh Singh of Maherna Khurad, was arrested. Panic had gripped the region after a video displaying the incident as a brutal murder, went viral last night. However, investigation under the supervision of Malerkotla SSP Alka Meena and SP Ramnish Kumar Chaudhary led to the conclusion that some unknown tractor-trailer had hit the victim due to which he died on the spot. Ahmedgarh DSP Harvinder Singh Cheema said the body of the deceased was found lying on Maherna c m y b Rasulpur Road at about 9 pm on Saturday. Some mischievous elements had uploaded a video of the decapitated body, lying along the left side of the road and head lying on the other side. Investigation revealed that the driver of tractor-trailer had fled the spot after hitting MONDAY | 6 JUNE 2022 | LUDHIANA Copper wires stolen from factory godown Ludhiana, June 5 Thieves targeted a godown of a wire manufacturing unit at Dhandari Kalan and decamped with wires worth Rs 6 lakh. Owner of the factory Dinesh Garg said when workers reached the factory this morning, they found the lock of the godown broken. “Our godown is located on the rear of the factory. Thieves had entered the factory and broke open the lock and decamped with copper wires worth Rs 6 lakh,” he alleged. Garg said there were CCTV cameras on the factory premises but no cameras near the godown side. Though there is a police post on the factory premises, thieves managed to commit a theft. A case has been registered. — TNS Cops solve hit-and-run case in nine hours Mandi Ahmedgarh, June 5 The police claimed to have solved a hit-and-run case within nine hours. In the incident, a motorcyclist, Inderpal Singh (32), an accountant working with a rice sheller, had died after his head was crushed by a speeding tractortrailer on Saturday night. The PAGE 4 the deceased. Cheema said Santokh Singh, who was arrested by the police, led by SHO (City) Gurpreet Kaur and SHO Sanjiv Kapoor, had confessed to his crime. The police had also seized the vehicle and the forensic team had collected samples from the spot. — OC A girl gets vaccinated against Covid in Ludhiana. INDERJEET VERMA One tests positive for Covid in district Tribune News Service Ludhiana, June 5 One fresh case of Covid-19 was reported while no life was lost due to the virus in the district today. A total of 1,09,952 persons have tested positive for the virus since March 2020 while 2,281 persons from the district have succumbed to the virus so far. The recovery rate of Covid-19 patients was 97.92 per cent on Sunday and there were nine active cases in the district. The patients were asked to isolate themselves at their homes by the district Health Department. COVID-19 FIGURES SAMPLES POSITIVE ACTIVE 36,09,170 1,09,952 9 2 DEATHS 2,281 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 36,09,170 samples have been taken of which 34,84,449 samples were found negative. Samples of 2,805 suspected patients were sent for testing today, the results of which are expected shortly.