05082022-LT-01.qxd 8/5/2022 12:44 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana TRIBUNE VACANT POSTS: SUKHBIR MEETS PAU STUDENTS AT DHARNA SITE Besides meeting the Governor, the party will raise the issue publically as well, SAD chief assures students FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY INBRIEF COP INJURED AS WEAPON GOES OFF Ludhiana: A head constable, Surinder Singh, posted at the Basant Avenue police post, here, suffered a bullet injury in the leg after his official weapon went off on Tuesday night. The weapon had accidentally fallen off his hand and went off. As per information, the head constable was present on law and order duty at the B7 chowk in Ludhiana. He was holding a carbine in his hand when its belt got broken due to which it fell down on the ground and went off. The injured policeman was taken to a hospital and he is out of danger now. TNS POWER SHUTDOWN LUDHIANA 10 am to 6 pm: New Preet Nagar, Ramesh Nagar, Manjit Nagar, Iqbal Nagar, Guru Gobind Singh Nagar, Mayapuri Streets — 1,2,3,4 and 1/1, 1/2, 1/3, Punjabi Bagh and Sandhu Enclave. 11 am to 1.30 pm: Dhillon Colony, Captain Nagar, Lohara Star Road area, Lohara village, Satguru Nagar, Gurmail Nagar, Gurbachan Nagar, Baapu Market and New Sunder Nagar. PAGE 2 ABDU ROZIK TO MAKE BOLLYWOOD DEBUT WITH SALMAN’S BHAIJAAN PAGE 3 Salman has roped in Tajik singer Abdu Rozik, who is a sensation on social media and lives in UAE, for the movie. MAX 33°C | MIN 26°C | YESTERDAY MAX 33°C | MIN 27°C SUNSET FRIDAY 7:18 PM Mayor, other VVIPs advised to venture out with gunmen Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service A bunker being set up at a police station in Ludhiana ahead of Independence Day. ASHWANI DHIMAN plans to visit any other place, he must take gunmen along or, if possible, he should avoid leaving the city for the next 10 days. “If you have to attend any scheduled function, you should avoid reaching the venue on time, try to reach the venue little late to prevent any planned attack by anti-social elements,” the police told the Mayor. Sources said the MC Mayor had six gunmen along with the official gypsy but he had not been keeping even one gunman with him for a long time due to his down-to-earth personality. He has not been keeping any gunman along and he has a habit of roaming alone in the city. Of the six, four gunmen, who are from the MC quota, has no weapon while two gunmen of the state police have AK 47 rifles. Balancing act Sources said security branch officials also visited Rishi Nagar where the Mayor uses to hold a chit-chat with local residents every morning and he was told to avoid this meeting till August 15. Besides Mayor, there are only a few other protectees who are called and asked by senior police officials to keep their gunmen with them. Ludhiana, August 4 Fifty persons, including Assistant Civil Surgeon Vivek Kataria, tested positive for Covid in the district on Thursday. He has isolated himself and all those who came in contact with him recently have 9 mohalla clinics to be inaugurated in dist on Aug 15 Manav Mander Tribune News Service BSF personnel perform a bike stunt during a rehearsal for an event to mark the I-Day celebrations at Panjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana on Thursday. The event will be held on Friday on the PAU premises. TRIBUNE PHOTO: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN Ludhiana, August 4 Explosion-like sound, which were heard twice this afternoon, created a scare among city residents following which speculations were rife on social media about the same. In the city, some termed it a sound of bomb’s explosion, some said it could be a cloudburst while others said some Army exercise might be going on at the airbase in Halwara. Commissioner of Police Kaustubh Sharma said he also heard the sound and it could be a weather phenomenon or a sonic boom. “Our police meeting was going on when we first heard the sound. Many people also called at the police control room to enquire if any explosion occurred. After which, we found that it could be a sound of a sonic boom. It usually happens when an aircraft runs faster than the speed of sound. There is nothing to panic,” the CP said. — TNS LIT ex-chief’s anticipatory bail dismissed in graft case Petitions of Trust EO, clerk too denied in another case Legal Correspondent Ludhiana, August 4 The Court of Additional Sessions Judge Dr Ajit Atri has dismissed the anticipatory bail application moved by the former chairman of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust, Raman Bala Subramanium, in a corruption case registered by the Vigilance Bureau against him. Dismissing the bail plea, the court observed that keeping in view serious allegations of corruption in the allotment of plots and e-auctions, the accused was not entitled for the relief of anticipatory bail and his custodial interrogation was necessary. After hearing the arguments at length yesterday advanced by the Vigilance Bureau and the defence lawyer, the court has reserved the orders for today. The Vigilance Bureau has pleaded that corrupt FRIDAY | 5 AUGUST 2022 | LUDHIANA ADGP takes stock of security arrangements Tribune News Service Ludhiana, August 4 ADGP G Nageshwar Rao today held a security review meeting with the Ludhiana Commissionerate and discussed security measures being undertaken by the city police to thwart any attempt of anti-national elements to disturb peace ahead of the Independence Day celebrations in Ludhiana. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is scheduled to be the chief guest in the state-level Independence Day function here and he will unfurl the national flag on August 15. The meeting was attended by Ludhiana Commissioner of Police (CP) Kaustubh Sharma along with all senior and junior police officials. Revealing about the meeting, Sharma said the ADGP was looking after the security arrangements of the Ludhiana Commissionerate for the Independence Day. “We have given details of the security arrangements made by the Commissionerate in the city and at the place where the Chief Minister is scheduled to attend the statelevel function,” the Commissioner of Police said. Items seized during an anti-encroachment drive near Dholewal Chowk in Ludhiana on Thursday. TRIBUNE PHOTO Civic body removes encroachments Our Correspondent Ludhiana, August 4 The tehbazari wing of the Municipal Corporation (MC), Zone C, today removed temporary encroachments from areas near Government Senior Secondary School, Dholewal, as part of its ongoing drive under the directions of Zonal Commissioner Poonampreet Kaur. A team of MC staff, led by Tehbazari Superintendent Tejinderpal Singh Panchhi, removed handcarts (rehris), khokhas, street furniture and other items stacked on the roadside and footpaths. Besides, materials of vegetable and fruit vendors kept along the road and streets were also removed. MC Zonal Commissioner (Zone C) Poonampreet Kaur said shopkeepers and vendors should not encroach upon any part of public streets or roads to carry out their businesses as the corporation had adopted a zero-tolerance policy against temporary encroachments. 50 more test positive for Covid in district Tribune News Service Sonic booms trigger buzz on social media, cops allay fear PAGE 4 The 67-year-old actor, who was a part of Hindi films and TV shows, breathed his last on August 3 in Lucknow. SUNRISE SATURDAY 5:46 AM Exercise caution till I-Day, cops ask protectees in city Ludhiana, August 4 Ahead of the Independence Day celebrations and reported alert by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) about the possible law and order situation in the state, the Ludhiana Police Commissionerate has alerted Mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu to stay alert and ensure the presence of all gunmen with him all the time. Besides the Mayor, some other protectees, who have already been provided gunmen by the state police, have also been told to exercise maximum caution till August 15. As per information gathered by The Tribune, ACP , Licencing and Security, Somnath, especially called the Ludhiana Mayor on Thursday and urged him to keep all his gunmen with him. The ACP also told the Mayor that he should avoid going out of his house at night and in the wee hours. The Mayor was also asked to stay in the city and if he has any VETERAN ACTOR MITHILESH CHATURVEDI PASSES AWAY practices were adopted in the allotment of plots to favourties. Besides, the eauctions were also not conducted fairly. Meanwhile, sources in the Vigilance Bureau maintained that the person who had made the software for the e-auctions of properties had also gone into hiding. He is likely to be called for investigation purposes. In its bail plea, the former chairman has claimed that he was innocent. Neither he demanded bribe from anyone nor accepted the same. The case was registered by the Vigilance Bureau against him on July 28, 2022, due to political vendetta. It has been claimed that the allegations were false and concocted. No offence has been committed by him. He performed his duties honestly and diligently. He neither demanded nor accepted any bribe from anybody. The former chairman has accused land mafia and property dealers of conniving with political persons as he did not accede to their illegal demands during his tenure. He had also pleaded that e-auctions were conducted without the interference of Trust officials and in the presence of representatives of the Deputy Commissioner and other departments and video recording of the same was also done. Meanwhile, in another corruption case registered by the Vigilance Bureau, the court also dismissed the regular bail plea of LIT’s Executive Officer (EO) Kuljit Kaur and clerk Parveen Kumar. Both accused are in judicial custody. The anticipatory bail moved by LIT Executive Officer’s husband Vikram Singh has also been dismissed. c m y b Ludhiana, August 4 Mohalla clinics, based on Delhi government’s concept, will soon become a reality in the state. In the first phase in Ludhiana district, nine mohalla clinics will be set up and work at these sites is in progress and all are set to be inaugurated on August 15. Of these nine clinics, six belong to urban areas and three are in rural areas. Earlier, 14 sites were identified but now nine has been finalised in the district. Setting up of the mohalla clinics was one of the promises made by the AAP government during the Assembly elections. It is a primary healthcare facility that the AAP government first introduced in 2015 in Delhi. It offers primary healthcare services, medicines and diagnostic facility free of cost. Nine clinics are to be set up in Ludhiana in the first phase and the abandoned and nonfunctional sewa kendras are being converted into mohalla clinics. In Ludhiana, these include at Old Hospital Raikot Road-Jagraon, Suffian Chowk adjoining a dargah at Kidwai Nagar, Municipal Corporation office sub-zone B-4 on Metro Road, sub-zone A-4 near Chand Cinema, adjoining BSUP flats at Dhandari Kalan, Transport Nagar, Lalheri Road in Khanna, Raikot Bus Stand and PSPCL office building at Focal Point, Phase V . continued on page 2 been asked to get themselves tested for Covid. A total of 1,12,627 persons have tested positive and 3,004 persons have lost their lives to the deadly virus since March 2020 in the district. On Thursday, there were 260 active cases, of which 240 have been asked to COVID-19 FIGURES SAMPLES POSITIVE ACTIVE DEATHS 38,25,093 1,12,627 260 14 3,004 isolate themselves in their homes while 20 are admitted to private hospitals. The recovery rate of Covid patients has gone down to 97.10 per cent. Till date, 38,25,093 samples have been taken, of which 36,97,395 were found negative. Samples of 3,840 suspected patients were sent for testing today, the results of which are expected shortly.