04082022-LT-01.qxd 8/4/2022 1:06 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana TRIBUNE LESS THAN 5% INOCULATED WITH COVID PRECAUTION DOSE PAGE 2 GENERALLY CLOUDY INBRIEF 2 MINORS AMONG 3 HELD FOR THEFT Ludhiana: The city police on Wednesday claimed to have nabbed three thieves, including two minor boys, and recovered 10 stolen mobile phones, a laptop and a motorcycle from them. The accused have been identified as Gaurav Gill (22) of Bajwa Nagar, a 15-year-old boy of Ghati Mohalla and a 16-yearold boy from New Madhopuri. ADCP-1 Rupinder Kaur Sran in a statement issued said the accused had formed a gang of thieves. They had recently stolen a motorcycle from the city. They had also stolen mobile phones from various localities. The ADCP said the accused had also reportedly looted some mobile phones and questioning in this regard was already on. A case under various sections of the IPC has been registered against the accused. TNS 2 HELD WITH POPPY HUSK, INTOXICANTS Mandi Ahmedgarh: The Dehlon police claimed to have arrested two persons and seized poppy husk, habit-forming tablets from their possession in separate incidents. The accused were identified as Daljit Singh of Ghawadi and Mushtaq Mohammad of Butahri village in Ludhiana district. Assistant Commissioner of Police Vaibhav Sehgal said police personnel, led by SHO Paramdeep Singh, had apprehended the accused when they were going to distribute drugs and narcotics among their clients in the region. While 22 kg of poppy husk was seized from Daljit Singh, 230 habitforming tablets were seized from Mushtaq Mohammad of Butahri village. OC POWER SHUTDOWN LUDHIANA 10 am to 3 pm: All residential blocks of PAU, PAU main market and PAU school. Lawyer Madhav Mishra (Pankaj Tripathi) is back with his wit as Disney+Hotstar announces 3rd season of Criminal Justice. MAX 33°C | MIN 27°C | YESTERDAY MAX 34°C | MIN 28°C SUNSET THURSDAY 7:19 PM THURSDAY | 4 AUGUST 2022 | LUDHIANA MC stalls auction of Overcharging on, authorities unmoved parking lots amid row Woman forced to pay 10 times parking fee; Zila Parishad fails to act against violations BOOKS MARKET LOT Harshraj Singh Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Ludhiana, August 3 Amid controversies, the auction of various parking lots of the Municipal Corporation (MC), Ludhiana, was stopped midway on Wednesday. It is learnt that a few cooperatives societies had also participated in the auction but questions were raised over the same. An MC superintendent said the auction process was stopped but he did not reveal the actual reason behind the same. Meanwhile, MLA from Ludhiana West Gurpreet Gogi said the auction of parking lots was stopped due to allegations of irregularities. Gogi said he had recommended to the corporation to cancel the auction of the parking lots, instead of handing over the lots to the ‘mafia’ again. He said: “We will not allow the civic body to hand over the parking lots to the mafia. The civic body has been recommended to cancel the auction. Firms, which were fleecing visitors in the past, should not be allowed to participate in the auction.” The MLA said: “The parking mafia would be elimi- MLA says process stopped due to ‘irregularities’, MC chief states technical issue behind same MC’s multi-level parking lot in Zone A of Ludhiana. INDERJEET VERMA WILL NOT ALLOW MAFIA TO HANDLE LOTS ❝ We will not allow the civic body to hand over parking lots to the mafia. The civic body has been recommended to cancel the auction. Firms, which were fleecing visitors in the past, should not be allowed to participate in the auction Gurpreet Gogi, MLA, LUDHIANA WEST ❞ nated from the city. It is also my recommendation that the civic body should operate the parking lots directly by deploying its nodal officer and manpower. Unemployed youth can be recruited to run the lots.” Regarding the participation of cooperative societies in the auction, Gogi expressed doubt over the societies. He said documents of the societies would be verified. MC Commissioner Shena Aggarwal said the auction process was not finalised due to a technical issue on Wednesday. “We will look into the matter,” she said. Ludhiana, August 3 In the name of hourly fee parking system, the contractor at the Books Market parking lot near Chaura Bazaar is fleecing visitors by forcing them to pay more than parking rates fixed by the Zila Parishad. The Zila Parishad authorities concerned, however, had been turning a blind eye towards such corrupt practices when the AAP-led state government is making tall claims to weed out corruption. On Monday, a woman visitor was allegedly charged 10 times more fee fixed by the department at the parking lot. She was charged Rs 100 for parking her car for less than one hour. As per rates fixed by the parishad, the car parking fee is Rs 10 for the first hour. The woman alleged that contractor’s staff asked her to pay Rs 100 for parking her car for 45-50 minutes. When she raised objection against overcharging, the worker of the contractor at the lot refused to hear her concern. No parking fee (hourly) was mentioned on the manual slip that was issued to her. However, the contractor’s employee just wrote “100” with a pen Vehicles at the Books Market lot; and (right) slip issued to a woman. PARKING RATES NOT DISPLAYED Visitors have been complaining about overcharging at the Books Market parking lot of the Zila Parishad for a long time. But the authorities have failed to keep a check on violations done by the contractor who has not even displayed parking rates at the lot. THE CHARGES As per information obtained from the Zila Parishad office, the parking fee is Rs 5 for a two-wheeler and Rs 10 for a three or four-wheeler for the first hour, Rs 10 for a two-wheeler and Rs 20 for a three or fourwheeler for up to two hours, Rs 15 for a two-wheeler and Rs 30 for a three or four-wheeler for up to three hours, and Rs 20 for a twowheeler and Rs 40 for a four-wheeler for up to four hours. After four hours, double rates would be charged. on the slip. Moreover, proper vehicle number and timings were also not written on the slip. Visitors have been complaining about overcharging at the parking lot of the Zila Parishad for a long time. But, the Zila Parishad authorities concerned have failed to keep a check on violations done by the contractor who has not even displayed parking rates anywhere at the parking lot. Meanwhile, a two-wheeler rider said he was charged Rs 30 for parking his motorcycle. Visitors were unaware about actual parking rates at the lot. On the other hand, staff deployed by the contractor at the parking lot denied allegations of overcharging. A man working under the contractor said the rate list was unavailable here. He claimed that the car parking fee was Rs 20 per hour. Yadwinder Singh Jandiali, Chairman, Zila Parishad, said he would look into the matter and direct the secretary concerned to inspect the parking lot. He said the contractor was earlier directed to display the parking rates. If any violation was found, a notice would be issued to the contractor. Key accused got bail in murder case recently 48 fresh cases reported in dist GEHLEWAL FIRING Tribune News Service Ludhiana, August 3 In the firing incident occurred at Gehlewal on Tuesday night in which two youths Rakesh and Rana had suffered bullet injuries, the police claimed that one of the assailants, Gagandeep, alias Morr, who fired shots at the victims had recently come out on bail in a murder case. The second accused, Billu, is the brother of Morr. The victims are undergoing Cops conduct a probe at Gehlewal on Tuesday night. ASHWANI DHIMAN treatment at the CMCH where their condition is stated to be out of danger now. Late on Tuesday night, Commissioner of Police (CP) Kaus- tubh Sharma had also visited the spot. He said Rakesh and Morr had old enmity. On Tuesday, when Rakesh had arguments with a chicken vendor Tenants selling occupancy rights with impunity at Dugri CRPF flats Kuldip Bhatia Ludhiana, August 3 Indifferent attitude of the district administration and the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA) in keeping an eye on CRPF flats in Dugri has led to a situation where illegal occupation of the flats and sale of occupancy rights by tenant (all government employees) has become the order of the day. Over 800 flats were constructed by GLADA in 1980s and initially provided to the CRPF during the deployment of paramilitary forces in the state in the days of militancy, have now become milch cow for unscrupulous elements, including some of the bona fide tenants (government employees) and even bona fide allottees from among 1984 riot victims. Area residents allege that brawls and scuffles between occupants of the flats and antisocial elements – to grab the government property — have SUNRISE FRIDAY 5:46 AM PAGE 4 INDERJEET VERMA FORECAST STAKES GET HIGHER AS CRIMINAL JUSTICE RETURNS WITH SEASON 3 Celebrations erupted at Vikas Thakur's residence as he won silver medal in Birmingham Commonwealth Games. There are almost no takers for the precaution vaccine dose to prevent the spread of Covid in the district. THAKUR FAMILY ELATED OVER SON’S PAGE 2 FEAT IN COMMONWEALTH GAMES BRAWLS, SCUFFLES ROUTINE AFFAIR: RESIDENTS Local residents allege that brawls and scuffles between occupants of the CRPF flats and anti-social elements — to grab the government property — have become a routine affair. Many a times, groups of riot victims had also come to blows over possession of the flats. become a routine affair. Many a times, groups of riot victims had also come to blows over possession of the flats, they alleged. An occupant of a flat said many government employees, who did not need residential accommodation but had the flats allotted, were openly selling occupancy rights to ineligible persons. Certain allottees of these flats from among the riot victims had also illegally transferred ownership rights to others against hefty premium. Even the GLADA authorities had admitted that as many as 178 CRPF flats were under unlawful occupation without saying specifically as to what action was being taken to get the flats vacated and evict the illegal occupants. Information provided by GLADA to a social activist, KG Sharma, advocate, under the Right to Information Act on July 7, 2022, says that there were 804 flats in the CRPF Colony, Dugri. Of these, 400 have been allotted to 1984 riot victims under a government policy, 226 were allotted by the DC office on rent to government employees and 178 were under illegal occupation. GLADA Additional Chief Administrator AS Malhi said the situation prevailing in the CRPF flats was well within the knowledge of the officials concerned. “We have directed the EO (Regulatory) and EO (Licensing) to issue notices to illegal occupants in the flats and unless there is some litigation or stay order by court, the flats be got vacated with police assistance. With regard to any misuse of flats given by the district administration to government employees on rent is concerned, the erring employees will be liable to face action as per rules as and when the fact is established,” Malhi said. c m y b at Gehlewal, who was the father of Morr, the latter turned furious and fired four shots at Rakesh and Rana. Sharma said both parties had also been reportedly challenging each other for the past sometime. JCP RS Brar said illegal weapon was used in the crime and after the arrest of the accused, the weapon would also be recovered. The police said an attempt-to-murder case was registered against both accused and police parties were already conducting raids to nab them. Tribune News Service Intoxicating tablets seized from jail inmate Two bike-borne youths attack Rajasthan man during loot attempt Ludhiana, August 3 A surprise checking conducted inside the Central Jail, Ludhiana, by jail staff led to the seizure of 25 intoxicanting tablets from an inmate. The accused was identified as Manpreet Singh Pindi. A case under the Prisons Act was registered on Tuesday. Assistant Jail Superintendent Harminder Singh said the Jail Department carries out surprise checking on a regular basis inside the jail during which suspected inmates were frisked and their belongings were checked by the jail staff. “When we were checking belongings of the jail inmate, intoxicating tablets were seized and a case under the Prisons Act was registered by the city police on Tuesday,” he said. Jail officials said questioning of the inmate would be done to know if he had any connivance with jail officials. Notably, this is not the first time that intoxicating tablets were recovered from any jail inmate. Earlier also, many such cases were registered by the police and seizures were made by the jail authorities. — TNS Ludhiana, August 3 As many as 48 fresh cases of Covid-19 from Ludhiana district were confirmed here on Wednesday. Besides, 13 patients from other districts or states also tested positive for the virus. Civil Surgeon Hatinder Kaur said 1,12,577 positive cases from the district and 15,071 from other districts or states had been reported till date. She said the virus had claimed the lives of 3,004 patients of Ludhiana district and 1,134 COVID-19 FIGURES SAMPLES POSITIVE ACTIVE DEATHS 38,21,253 1,12,577 246 43 3,004 Tribune News Service VICTIM RAISED ALARM Ludhiana, August 3 A Rajasthan-based driver, who had come to the city to deliver a consignment of suitcases, was attacked by two bike-borne miscreants on the Bindraban road here. On the complaint of the victim, Suresh Kumar, a case was registered against the two unidentified accused on Tuesday. The complainant said in the wee hours of Tuesday, he reached the city in a truck loaded with suitcases from Gujarat and he had to unload the same at a shop on the Bindraban road. “I was sitting in my truck (bearing registration no. RJ10 A G9730), when two bike-borne youths came and threatened me with dire consequences if I did not give them cash and other valuables. When I opposed their move, they attacked The complainant said he raised an alarm and also ran towards the Jagannath temple. As the accused failed to chase him, they fled the spot. The victim also called some people from the temple for help. me with swords,” he said. The complainant said he raised an alarm and also ran towards the Jagannath temple. As the accused failed to chase him, they fled the spot. The victim also called some people from the temple for help. He said he suffered injuries in the attack and went to a hospital for treatment. Investigating officer ASI Sudarshan Kumar of Police Division 8 said CCTV cameras installed in nearby areas were being scanned to get any clue about the accused. patients who belonged to other districts or states. Of the 246 active cases on Wednesday, 225 patients were in home isolation while 21 were under treatment at different hospitals. Two killed in road mishaps Tribune News Service Ludhiana, August 3 Two persons died in road mishaps in the city on Wednesday. In the first incident, a Moga-based man, Raj Kumar Sharma, died after his motorcycle was hit by a speeding truck from the rear. The incident occurred on the Ladhowal bridge. The Ladhowal police said the truck driver was arrested and a case was registered against him. The vehicle was also impounded. In another mishap, a motorcycle-borne couple was hit by a truck at Jugiana in which a woman, Reeta, died while her husband Ram Bharose suffered serious injuries. The man is working with the Municipal Corporation on a contractual basis while his wife was working at some factory. On Wednesday morning, he was on the way to drop his wife at her workplace when they were hit by the truck. Both of them were taken to a hospital where the woman was declared brought dead. After registering a case, the police arrested the truck driver.