07022023-LT-01.qxd 2/7/2023 12:37 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune CITY COLLEGES REMAIN SHUT FOR 2 HOURS IN PROTEST PHULKARI WOMEN OF JALANDHAR HOLD WORKSHOP HARRY STYLES, BEYONCE WIN BIG AT GRAMMY AWARDS The protesting teachers were opposing the government’s decision of lowering retirement age from 60 to 58 yrs. P2 Phulkari Women of Jalandhar held ‘Afreen - Celebrating the Beautiful You’ in Jalandhar recently. P3 Harry Styles took home three awards while Beyonce won her 32nd award, breaking a 26-year-old record. P4 » » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 25°C | MIN 9°C YESTERDAY MAX 25°C | MIN 10°C SUNSET TUESDAY 6.06 PM SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 7.14 AM TUESDAY | 7 FEBRUARY 2023 | LUDHIANA Vigilance seeks info on ‘shady’ Interlocking tiles fixed in wrong manner deals of previous LIT regime Public Action Committee complains to Local Government Dept, MC chief Tribune News Service Kuldip Bhatia Ludhiana, February 6 There seems to be more trouble in store for staff and officials of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT), as the ghost of criminal action for the alleged misdeeds of the previous (Congress) regime continues to haunt them. The Vigilance Bureau (VB) is now doggedly probing the allegedly shady deals executed during the chairmanship of Congressappointed LIT chairman Raman Balasubramanium. However, the LIT staff is said to be putting up determined opposition to the Vigilance probe by their reluctance in providing relevant records to investigating officials. In May 2022, a DSP of the economic offences wing of the Vigilance Bureau had asked the LIT Executive Officer to provide relevant files, allotment letters, ownership details, approved building plans, and in some cases measurement books (MBs), which form the basis of payment made to contractors. Details were sought for the deals for 27 shop-cum-flats (SCFs) constructed in Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar, the earth work carried out in Maharishi Valmiki Nagar and sales record of shop No 41 25-yr-old man dies of ‘drug overdose’ Proclaimed offender nabbed after 13 years Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 6 A 25-year-old man lost his life allegedly due to drug overdose. His body was found in the washroom of a fuel station at Gill village in Ludhiana district on Sunday. The victim has been identified as Jasmeet Singh of Bhai Himmat Singh Nagar. According to information, he had gone to the washroom at the fuel station but when he did not come out, staff knocked on the door a number of times. When they broke open the door of the washroom, they found his body lying on the floor. After receiving information, the police reached the spot and started investigation. The police suspected that the man had injected a drug into his vein and died due to an overdose. The police also found a syringe near his body. It came to light that the man was consuming drugs for the past few years. Following a complaint filed by the victim’s father against an unidentified drug seller, the Sadar police registered an FIR in this regard. Further investigation in the case is underway. Ludhiana, February 6 In a case related to thousands of missing paddy bags, a man, who was declared a proclaimed offender (PO) more than 13 years ago, was arrested here today. The suspect, Hardial Singh Dhanoa, owner of Kuber Rice Mill in Dakha, near here, was declared a proclaimed offender on April 4, 2009. A case under Sections 406, 409, 420, 465, 467, 468, 471, 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 7 of the Essential Commodities Act and 13 (1) of the Prevention of Corruption Act was registered against the suspect on February 26, 2008. Now, the suspect, Dhanoa, in this case has been arrested and he would be produced in a court on Tuesday. NON-COOPERATION BY OFFICIALS HINDERING PROBE “Non-cooperation by Ludhiana Improvement Trust officials in providing relevant information about acts of omission and commission is hampering further probe into the misdeeds of a few senior officials,” Vigilance Bureau sources said. 22 mobile phones, cash stolen from shop A group of miscreants stole 22 mobile phones from a shop near Pippal Chowk in Gobindgarh village here during the wee in Bhadaur House. The VB had also requisitioned records pertaining to the ownership of plot nos 344-C in the Model Town Extension area and 93-E in Maharishi Valmiki Nagar along with tender documents and MBs for renovation of six parks executed by Aglow Builders in the EWS Colony and details of a plot in one of the Trust schemes on Pakhowal Road which had been put to commercial use as Ramdev Store. Sources in the VB said this record was demanded from the LIT for an ongoing inquiry into a specific complaint against certain senior officials of the Trust but even after reminders, no document or file of record had been made available. Notably, the Vigilance sleuths had lodged an FIR for fraud, heating, corruption and fabrication of documents in March 2022 in which two trust engineers, a couple of Junior Engineers, employees of the sales branch, PA to the then chairman and some other staff members were arrested. “However, non-cooperation by LIT officials in providing relevant information about acts of omission and commission is hampering further probe into the ‘misdeeds’ of a few senior officials,” the VB sources said. Ludhiana, February 6 Members of the Public Action Committee have complained to the Principal Secretary of the Department of Local Government and the Municipal Corporation Commissioner against fixing of interlocking tiles along roadsides at BRS Nagar and other areas allegedly in the wrong manner. “Earlier, the tiles were being laid below the road level but during the last few days, tiles are being laid above the road level from Block D to Block E, BRS Nagar, Ludhiana. Some portion of tiles at another road (Sidhwan Canal bridge to Gurudwara Shri Guru Singh Sabha) has been raised above the road level. A similar act is being done for relaying of tiles in the Kitchlu Nagar area too,” they complained. “As per the rules, the level of the sides of the road should be lower than main metallic road so as to avoid waterlogging on roads during rainy days. It is pertinent to mention here that there is no Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 6 The Municipal Corporation’s carcass utilisation plant, which was constructed at an estimated cost of around Rs 7.98 crore under the Smart City Mission, has not been made operational in a proper manner even after passing of about 20 months after its completion. Amid strong opposition by the people, the carcass utilisation plant constructed by Ludhiana Smart City Limited at Rasulpur village, near Noorpur Bet, was sup- “Earlier, interlocking tiles were being laid below the road level but in the recent past, tiles are being laid above the road level from Block D to Block E at BRS Nagar in Ludhiana and in other areas in the city," say members of the Public Action Committee. storm water drainage network provided by the Municipal Corporation along roadsides and no space is being left for the percolation of water into the earth’s surface, thus the rainwater goes into the sewage disposal network system which situated on sides of roads. Now with a higher level of interlocking tiles above road level, the rainwater which was supposed to enter earth’s sur- Management says they were given admission on provisional basis Tribune News Service hours of Monday. After breaking open the shop shutter, the miscreants also stole mobile phone accessories and cash from the shop. The shop owner, Ajay Kumar, said he had closed his shop around 9.30 pm on Sunday and later received a call from his friend that the shutter of his mobile shop was lying broken. When the shopkeeper reached the place, he found 22 mobile phones, accessories, and cash missing from the shop. After receiving information, police officials reached the spot and started investigating the case. According to information, the suspects have been identified. A case under Sections 457, 380, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered against the suspects. 20 MONTHS ON, PLANT NOT INAUGURATED DUE TO OPPOSITION BY VILLAGE RESIDENTS Amid strong opposition by the people, the carcass utilisation plant constructed by Ludhiana Smart City Limited at Rasulpur village, near Noorpur Bet, was supposed to be inaugurated in July 2021 by a then cabinet minister but the event was cancelled. The residents of the village, who have been opposing the plant, did not allow its inauguration even to date. posed to be inaugurated in July 2021 by a then cabinet minister but the event was cancelled. The residents of the village, who have been opposing the plant, did not allow its inauguration even to date. According to information, the plant had allegedly got TILES BEING LAID ABOVE ROAD LEVEL: PAC MEMBERS BEd exams: Students protest against college for not issuing roll numbers Ludhiana, February 6 After they were allegedly not allowed to sit in the BEd examinations, a group of students, including girls and a few visually challenged students, staged a protest against the Malwa Central College of Education for Women, Ludhiana, on Monday. They were earlier given admission on a “provisional basis” by the college as they had not appeared in the entrance exam for the BEd course. Expressing anger, the students gathered outside the college and raised slogans against the management and the state government. They said after their getting admission to the college, they attended classes for nearly six months. However, they were not issued roll numbers to appear in the examinations that started today. They demanded that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann must hear their voice and ensure justice. A protesting student said: MLA Gurpreet Gogi interacts with protesting students in Ludhiana. TRIBUNE PHOTO: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN “We had not appeared in the entrance exam for the BEd course. However, the college authorities had claimed that the government would allow those students who had not appeared in the entrance exam to appear in the BEd examinations if seats remain vacant, as happens every year. They had asked us to pay fee of Rs 5,000 to get a seat in the BEd course reserved. Once we paid the fee as demanded by the college, we were given Carcass utilisation plant lying non-operational Harshraj Singh Tiles have been laid above road level at BRS Nagar in Ludhiana. TRIBUNE PHOTO a completion certificate in May 2021 after a trial run but it could not be made fully functional as people of nearby areas are still opposing the plant. They wanted the plant should not be made operational. The people, who were opposing the plant, believed they would be forced to suffer a lot if the plant is made functional at the site. They claimed that the plant could pollute the groundwater in the area. However, officials claimed that it would not cause pollution. In a letter written to an official of the LSCL, the private firm which handles the plant, claimed that the plant was run at low capacity by the administrator in the presence of police officials from June 1, 2022, to July 18, 2022. But the operations were later stopped again due to protests. The firm had also alleged that its c m y b workers were thrashed by protesters in December 2022. Now, the firm concerned has written to an official of Ludhiana Smart City Limited (LSCL) to deploy sufficient police force at the plant 24x7 so that the firm could operate it properly. The firm has also asked the LSCL to pay compensation as it allegedly faced losses of lakhs of rupees. MC’s Superintending Engineer Sanjay Kanwar, who also looks after works of the LSCL, said the firm had given a representation to the LSCL and it was looking into the matter. admission to the college and allowed to attend classes. “Identity cards were also issued to us. Our attendance was also marked like those students who got admission through the entrance exam. When we went to get roll numbers, the college authorities claimed that a case is sub judice in a court and roll numbers can’t be issued without the court orders. There are 53 students of our college who were not allowed to sit in the examinations today. We are demanding justice,” the student said. After getting information, the police also reached the protest site. College staff tried to pacify the protesting students but to no avail. Another student questioned: “Had the government allowed the college to admit students on a provisional basis?” Meanwhile, the college continued on page 2 face, will take longer time to drain off into the sewerage disposal system too, thus would lead to roads damage before their actual life thus it would be over-exploitation of natural resources as well as wastage of public money”, Amandeep Singh Bains, a member of the PAC said. The members have demanded from the authorities to take the required action in this regard. Man held with 3-kg opium, ~4L drug money Our Correspondent Mandi Ahmedgarh, Feb 6 The police claimed to have arrested a man and seized 3 kg of opium and Rs 4.03 lakh drug money from his possession during a late Sunday evening operation conducted by police personnel, led by incharge, CIA, Mahorana Harjinder Singh and Surjit Singh. The suspect has been identified as Prabhjot Singh Lovely of Dehliz Road, Ahmedgarh. The police are yet to identify and nab other accomplices of the suspect. Malerkotla SSP Avneet Kaur Sidhu said a tip-off was received that a gang of drug peddlers had been operating from a motorcycle workshop and spare parts shop at Ahmedgarh. “Having received concrete information about arrival of a consignment, we deployed a team of officials and succeeded in nabbing the suspect with 3-kg opium and drug money worth Rs 4.03 lakh,” SSP Sidhu said, adding that the accomplice and regular clients of the suspect would be soon identified and nabbed. Seven booked in 3 snatching cases Ludhiana, February 6 The police registered three incidents of snatching on Sunday. In the first case, the police booked two persons for their alleged involvement in a snatching case. A resident of Maharishi Valmiki Nagar, Ludhiana, Rajinder Singh, had complained to the police that two miscreants riding a scooter had flashed a sharpedged weapon and snatched his mobile and purse containing his Aadhaar card, Rs 1,500 in cash and other items on January 31. The police have arrested one person in the case so far and recovered a mobile phone from him. A case under Sections 379-B (2) and 34 of the IPC was registered against the suspect at the Haibowal police station. Jaspal Singh of CRPF Colony, Dugri, told the Sarabha Nagar police that he drives a commercial vehicle and when he, along with another person, was returning from Ferozepur on the night of January 16, three miscreants riding a motorcycle stopped his vehicle near Baddowal and started making allegations of hitting their motorcycle. When Jaspal denied the allegations, they started beating him. Later, the suspects stopped his vehicle again by flashing a sharpedged weapon near a mall on Ferozepur Road here and took away five electronics items from his vehicle, he alleged. On Sunday, a case under Sections 323, 34, 379-B and 506 of the IPC was registered against the unidentified suspects. In another case, Deepak Malik, a resident of Iqbal Nagar on Tibba Road, complained to the police that two miscreants riding a motorcycle snatched his mobile phone, which was held by his son, on Tibba Road on February 4. A case under Sections 379-B and 34 of the Indian Penal Code was registered against the unidentified suspect at the Tibba Road police station. — TNS