17012023-LT-01.qxd 1/17/2023 1:11 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune DRIVE LAUNCHED AGAINST SALE, USE OF KITE STRING CHOTA BHAIJAN IS OUT OF BIGG BOSS HOUSE EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE WINS 5 AWARDS Environmentalists and social bodies have launched a campaign against Chinese string in Ahmedgarh. P2 Abdu Rozik, popularly known as Chota Bhaijan, was evicted from the Bigg Boss house on Saturday. P3 Sci-fi action Everything Everywhere All At Once has won five awards at the Critics Choice Awards. P4 » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 17°C | MIN 2°C YESTERDAY MAX 18°C | MIN 2°C SUNSET TUESDAY 5.48 PM SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 7:24 AM » TUESDAY | 17 JANUARY 2023 | LUDHIANA Sugar mill official dies in mishap as car hits cow carcass Tribune News Service 500 visit drug de-addiction, OOAT centres in district daily Eight arrested for creating ruckus at Civil Hospital Rising drug scourge evident from heavy footfall at rehab centres Tribune News Service Nitin Jain Ludhiana, January 16 A 55-year-old man lost his life after his car met with a mishap on the national highway near Samrala in the district. The deceased has been identified as Aminder Pal Singh, who was working as a chief engineer at Budhewal Sugar Mill. It came to light that the mishap occurred when the vehicle reportedly hit with the carcass of a cow lying on the road. According to information, he was going from Mohali to Budhewal Sugar Mill when the accident occurred. According to an eyewitness, the vehicle hit the carcass strongly following which the passers-by rescued the victim. After taking him out of the car, he was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared him dead. Meanwhile, the police initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC and the body was handed over to his family after the post-mortem examination. The government and its departments have failed to shift stray cattle roaming on highways and internal roads in various parts of the district. A resident, Jagjeet Singh, said the government must ensure the shifting of the stray cattle from the roads to shelters to avert such fatal mishaps in the future. POWER SHUTDOWN LUDHIANA 10 am to 2 pm: CRPF Colony, GM School Line, Canal Colony and parts of Phase 1 Urban Estate. 10 am to 4 pm: A-Block Aggar Nagar, Ram Baag, Ghai Colony, South End Garden, Raghunath Enclave and Agricultural Office Firozepur Road. 10 am to 5 pm: Shastri Nagar, Nehru Nagar, GTB Market, Area of Namdev Park, BMC School, Pritam Nagar, Kartar Nagar, parts of BX Block Model Town Extension, Tikona Park to Suman Hospital Road, Preet Hospital Line, parts of Shastri Nagar, ABlock Model Town Extension, Tution Market Model Town, rear side of Krishna Mandir, Lajpat Nagar, Ashok Nagar, main bus stand road, Gurcharan Park, AX Block Model Town Extension, Deep Hospital Road and New Model Town. 10 am to 6 pm: Baba Gajja Jain Colony Street No.1 To 6, Mohindra Enclave and Transport Nagar. Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 16 Earlier famous for all good reasons and popularly known as Manchester of India, Ludhiana has now become infamous for being the hotspot of illegal drug trade. The recent disclosure by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has further put the district under focus for being the hub of an international drugs syndicate linked to Punjab, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The NCB’s drug bust holds credence when the patient footfall at drug de-addiction centres and outpatient opioid assisted treatment (OOAT) clinics are any indication. Official figures compiled by the district administration, a copy of which is with The Tribune, showed that an average of 500 addicts visit the drug de-addiction centres on a daily basis. The data revealed that as many as 93,870 addicts had visited only three government-run drug de-addiction centres and17,809 patients had been registered at the OOAT clinics here between April and November last. Besides, 387 serious cases of drug abuse had been admitted to the de-addiction centres and 99 had been kept at the lone government-run rehabilitation centre in Jagraon between these eight months. The numbers could be much higher as the figures of the private deaddiction centres were not GRIM DATA Centre De-addiction OOAT Rehab Total OPD 93,870 17,809 NA 1,11,679 IPD 387 NA 99 486 Ludhiana, January 16 The police arrested eight persons for allegedly creating ruckus at the Civil Hospital here. The police said two groups had clashed over kite flying on January 13 and members of both groups later reached the hospital to get medico-legal report (MLR) for legal proceedings. The members of both groups are accused of creating ruckus at the hospital emergency and they also threatened each other. Their activities created fear and panic among the public and patients at the hospital, the police said. On the complaint filed by ASI Gurinder Singh, a case under Sections 160, 353, 186, 341, 323, 506, and 149 of the IPC has been registered at the Division Number 2 police station on Sunday against the suspects. According to the police, Naveen Verma along with his friends was flying kites from his house rooftop at Harbanspura and his neighbour Sahil Verma along with his friends was also flying a kite from the rooftop of his house. Meanwhile, both groups entered into a scuffle and they received injuries, the police said. The police said the members of one group — Naveen, Ramesh, Shubam, Ajay Verma, Ankush, and Sanyog — visited the Civil Hospital around 7 pm. Thereafter, the members of the other group — Sahil Verma, Golu, Karan, Karan’s father, Tarun Dhingra, Sunny Verma, Keshav Pal, and Aaditya Kochar along with 5-7 unidentified persons — also reached the hospital. Both groups then entered into a scuffle again at the hospital, the police said. SHO Division Number 2 Arshpreet Kaur said eight of the suspects, Sanyog Dubey, Ajay Verma, Ramesh Kumar, Shubam Katyal, Naveen Verma, Sahil Verma, Aaditya Kochar and Karan, had been arrested by the police. The efforts were on to arrest the remaining miscreants in the case. A drug de-addiction centre in Ludhiana. PHOTO: INDERJEET VERMA SUSTAINED DRIVE UNDERWAY A sustained drive is underway to tackle the menace of drug abuse with focus on identification of drug hotspots and undertaking information, education and communication activities with concerted efforts of key stakeholder departments. ❝ Kaustubh Sharma, IGP, LUDHIANA RANGE included in the data. Under the mental health programme, three de-addiction centres — one each at Ludhiana, Jagraon and Samrala — a rehabilitation centre at Jagraon, and 46 OOAT clinics at various places across the district were run by the government sector. Besides, 35 private de-addiction centres and five rehabilitation centres were also functioning here. While Ludhiana’s de-addic- ❞ SDMS ACT AS CONDUITS Cases registered under the NDPS Act, drug addicts’ concentration in area and complaints received were taken into consideration to mark village or area as a drug hotspot. SDMs were assigned nodal officers for their respective sub-division to act as conduit. Amarjit Bains, ADC, KHANNA ❝ tion centre registered the maximum OPD of 64,815 drug addicts and admitted 147 serious cases between April and November last, Samrala and Jagraon logged 22,978 and 6,077 OPD patients, respectively, besides 88 each IPD registrations. The administration has claimed that the retention rate of old patients was 62 per cent while rest 38 per cent footfall comprised fresh cases of drug abuse. 3 booked for abetting suicide Ludhiana, January 16 A 37-year-old man has allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself. The deceased has been identified as Prem Chand, who had been working with a broadband company since 2016. He has left a suicide note on the basis of which the police registered an FIR against three persons for abetment to suicide. The suspects have been identified as Gagandeep Singh, his wife Rasanjeet Kaur, and his brother Inderjeet Singh. According Two groups had entered into scuffle over kite flying on Jan 13 FIR REGISTERED ON BASIS OF SUICIDE NOTE The victim has left a suicide note on the basis of which the police registered an FIR against three persons for abetment to suicide. to the information, Prem Chand was running a business after taking a franchise of a broadband firm and the accused were his partners. The victim’s wife alleged that her husband suffered a huge financial loss due to the accused. The victim’s wife, Rani Sharma of Urban Estate, Dugri, complained to the police that her husband was allegedly disturbed by the accused. Investigating officer Hazoor Singh said the man ended his life by hanging himself from a ceiling fan at his house on January 15. The investigation into the case is underway, he said. A case under Sections 306 and 34 of the IPC was registered against the accused at the Dugri police station. — TNS ❞ 100 drug hotspots The situation seems grim as at least 100 villages and localities in Ludhiana had been identified as drug hotspots by the administration. The identification was done under a special drive launched to identify and reform drug addicts, besides catching peddlers at the grassroots level in a bid to make Ludhiana a drug-free district. Man tests +ve for Covid in dist Ludhiana, January 16 According to the office of the Civil Surgeon, Ludhiana, one tested positive for Covid while no loss of life was reported due to the virus in the district on Monday. The person who tested positive is a 31-year-old man from SBS Nagar. He was tested positive in the OPD. Civil Surgeon Hitinder Kaur said a total of 1,13,635 persons have tested positive and 3,018 patients have lost their lives to the deadly virus since March 2020 in the district. — TNS The suspects in police custody in Ludhiana. TRIBUNE PHOTO Two nabbed for assaulting ASI Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 16 Two persons have been arrested for allegedly assaulting an on-duty assistant sub-inspector (traffic wing) of the police. The suspects have been identified as Simranjot Singh (28) and his brother Prabhjot Singh (23) of Field Ganj, here. The complainant, ASI Sharanjeet Singh, who was deployed outside the railway station’s gate number 2, said both sus- Duo were stopped by cops for traffic violation pects, who were riding a two-wheeler on the wrong side of the road, were stopped for violation. The ASI alleged that when he asked them to show documents, the suspects entered into arguments and assaulted him. The complainant further alleged that they had also snatched his mobile phone during the incident. The investigating officer in the case, Des Raj, said both of them had been arrested. The police claimed to have recovered the snatched mobile phone from them. A case under Sections 379-B, 353, 186, 332, 506, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered at the Division No. 1 police station against the duo. 20-yr-old girl seriously hurt by kite string 2 held with 70 spools of deadly string Lovleen Bains RESIDENTS SHOW RESENTMENT Doraha, January 16 A Doraha girl got seriously injured by a kite string when she was returning from work to her residence here last night. She was taken to a private hospital at Doraha from where she was referred to SPS Hospital, Ludhiana. Shubhneet Kaur (20) was returning from a McDonalds outlet where she is employed when the kite string got entangled around her neck badly. She was bleeding profusely due to the injury. The victim was taken to a private hospital in Doraha from where she was referred to the Ludhiana hospital due to her serious condition. She and her brother are working to make both ends Resentment brewed among residents as they are holding the authorities responsible for inaction against the Chinese string menace. The banned string was openly being bought and sold in Doraha but there had been no action against defaulters. meet after the demise of their father Gurjeet Singh. The family is now facing a financial crisis as they have no money to pay the medical expenses of her treatment. Shubhneet’s brother said it was the worst thing that had happened to them. “I pray to God that my sister comes out of danger. At present, she is fighting the battle of her life. To make matters worse, we are in a state of financial penury as we are unable to pay the hospital expenses.” Meanwhile, some Good Samaritans of Doraha have come to the rescue of the family by providing financial support to them. They are collecting money to help the family. “We have asked for financial aid through WhatsApp groups. The amount can be transferred to her mother’s account. However, resentment brewed among residents as they are holding the authorities concerned responsible for inaction on the matter. Chinese string was openly being bought and sold in Doraha but there had been no action against defaulters. Innocent lives were at stake and the authorities had been watching as mute spectators, they alleged. Payal DSP Harsimrat Chettra said: “We are conducting intensified raids to nab those selling and buying the banned string. Strict action will be taken against them and they would be booked as per law. Now, we have started registering cases against the offenders. Parents of children below 18 years of age using the banned string will also be booked. We have registered three cases against persons using the banned string at Payal and two at the Malaud police station. More such cases will be registered and no violators would be spared.” c m y b Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 16 The Jagraon police arrested two persons for allegedly selling the banned Chinese string in two separate cases in the city. The police claimed to have seized a total of 70 spools of the string from the suspects. The miscreants have been identified as Harpreet Singh and Sanjeev Kumar, both residents of Jagraon. Separate cases under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) were registered at the city police station, Jagraon, against the two nabbed suspects. The police said 50 spools of the banned string were The suspects with the seized Chinese string in Jagraon. TRIBUNE PHOTO recovered from Harpreet Singh and 20 from Sanjeev Kumar. SDM inspects kite shops Meanwhile, joint teams comprising officials from the district and police administration inspected the selling points of kites and strings in various areas of the Jagraon subdivision. Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Jagraon, Vikas Hira, said Chinese string had been completely banned by the state government. The SDM appealed to the people to inform the local administration or police station about violators so that immediate action could be taken against them. He also urged parents not to allow their children to use the banned string and make them aware of the dangerous outcome of using the same