06032023-LT-01.qxd 05-03-2023 23:56 Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune STERILISATION, VAX DRIVE CAN CHECK STRAY DOG MENACE DAISY TO BE SEEN SWORDFIGHTING IN NEW WEB SERIES COSMIC COMPANION: THERE IS SOMETHING OUT THERE The cooperation of public, dog lovers & NGOs is needed for achieving the goal, say residents . P2 Actor Daisy Shah will be seen in some intense action sequences in web series Lahora, The Kingdom. P3 Director Steven Spielberg says it is just impossible that we are the only intelligent species in the cosmos. P4 » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 29°C | MIN 14°C YESTERDAY MAX 29°C | MIN 15°C SUNSET MONDAY 6.28 PM » SUNRISE TUESDAY 6:47 AM MONDAY | 6 MARCH 2023 LUDHIANA Ludhiana, March 5 Four unidentified miscreants snatched the car of a Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) professor, Naveen Aggarwal, from Jhammat canal bridge on Friday night. Sarabha Nagar police yesterday registered a case in this regard. The complainant said that on the night of March 3, he along with his family had gone to attend a function. They were returning home in their Ertiga car (PB10FA1698) at around 11.45 pm when they were stopped by four motorcycle-borne persons on the Jhammat canal bridge. Before he could comprehend anything, the accused pointed a sharp weapon at him and his family members. He tried to protest but the accused started beating him up. Later, he called his friends and informed the police about the loot. Investigating officer ASI Rajpal Singh said after registering a case, a probe was launched to get a clue about the robbers. Footage from the CCTV cameras were also being scanned to identify the suspects. The police have rounded up some suspects in the case and was questioning them. The alleged suspects were said to be drunk as well. — TNS Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 5 The Ludhiana police yesterday registered three gang rape cases in which nine persons were booked in three separate cases. Among the raped were two minor girls. In the first case, the Tibba police registered a rape case against four persons, identified as Shahid, his wife Imran of New Shankar colony, Rehan and Yashad. The complainant (19) said she had been working at the house of Shahid since September 2022. The accused had been asking for sexual favours from her, but she didn’t cooperate. “In October last year, Shahid in connivance with his wife forcibly took me inside his room where he raped me. The accused even shot objectionable videos of mine and warned me against revealing the incident to anyone otherwise he would viral those videos on social media. I left the job and started doing another work at Kakka village,” alleged the complainant. Later on March 3, two accomplices of Shahid — ONE OF THE ACCUSED MADE OBJECTIONABLE VIDEO ■ Tibba police registered a rape case against four persons, identified as Shahid, his wife Imran of New Shankar colony, Rehan and Yashad. ■ The complainant (19) said she had been working at the house of Shahid since September 2022. The accused had been asking for sexual favours from her, but she didn’t cooperate. “In October last year, Shahid in connivance with his wife forcibly took me inside his room where he raped me.” ■ The accused even shot objectionable videos of mine and warned me against revealing the incident to anyone, she added. Rehan and Yashad — came to Kakka village and asked her to talk to Shahid else they would viral her objectionable videos on social media. The victim raised the alarm and asked villagers for help, following which the accused fled the spot. Yesterday on her complaint, the police registered a case against the accused. 14-year-old raped by three The Sadar police registered a case against three persons, including a bus driver, on the charge of raping a 14-year-old girl at Phullanwal. The accused have been identified as Rajwinder Singh (bus driver) of Daad village, Jaspreet Singh of the Dhandra road and Love. The complainant, mother of the victim, told the police Flowery feast that on March 3, her daughter was looking depressed and when she was asked about the reason, she revealed that she had befriended Jaspreet and Rajwinder recently. On March 2, both accused took her to a city hotel where they served her drinks laced with sedatives and then raped her. “The accused also made objectionable videos of mine and threatened to viral these on social media if I tried to spill the beans. On March 3, the accused forcibly took me to the same hotel again where they along with their third friend sexually assaulted me,” alleged the complainant. The police said the accused bus driver was working in the same school where the victim girl was studying. Investigating officer ASI Gurmukh Singh said raids were being conducted to nab the accused. 17-year-old raped at Ranike village The Sadar police registered a gang rape case against two persons, identified as Jashandeep and Daman, both residents of Rania village. The complainant told the police that she and Jashandeep were good friends. On March 1, the accused offered to give her treat at McDonald’s, but instead of taking her there, he took her to some house at Rania village. The accused along with his friend raped her and threatened to kill her if she revealed the incident to the police or somebody else,” alleged the complainant. The complainant said the accused kept her in the house for the whole night and later early in the morning dropped her outside her house at Gill village. She then informed her family about the sexual assault and lodged a complaint with the police. Investigating officer ASI Sukhvir Singh said after registering a case, both the accused were arrested by the police. ROB, RUB projects hang fire Harshraj Singh Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 5 Residents and shopkeepers are forced to suffer a lot due to the delay in the completion of the railway overbridge (ROB) and railway underbridge (RUB) construction works on Pakhowal Road in Ludhiana. Both works are parts of Ludhiana Smart City Limited’s ROB & RUBs project which was supposed to be completed by August 31, 2021. A RUB that connects MC’s Zone D office road in Sarabha Nagar with Pakhowal Road & Ishmeet Singh Road was opened for traffic movement last year. But, ROB and RUB on Pakhowal Road have not yet been ready. The residents said the Railways had already completed the project work under its jurisdiction, but construction work under MC’s areas is incomplete, leaving them to face inconveniences. Notably, the work on one side of the ROB construction site near Hero Bakery Chowk on Pakhowal Road was stalled months ago but is yet to be resumed. Now, a group of residents, along with members of different NGOs, are going to organise a “prayer meeting” on Sunday morning to pray for early completion of the ROB and RUBs project. One of the Ludhiana, March 5 Amidst mounting arrears of unpaid electricity bills by most state government departments which have been creating a financial crunch for the power utility, the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has initiated the process for installation of ‘pre-paid smart’ electricity meters for all new and existing government connections up to a contract demand of 45 kVA from March 1 onward. According to informed sources, the government Despite work order, vending zone project yet to see light of day Harshraj Singh Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 5 It seems to be a common scene here that many development projects were generally not completed on time. Even five months after the issuance of work order for setting up a vending zone on Hambran Road in Ludhiana, the project work has not been started on the ground level to date. The work order for this project at an estimated cost of Rs 1.20 crore under the smart city mission was issued on September 21, 2022, and it was supposed to be completed by January 20, 2023, as per the contract. This was said to be an important project under which MC’s first vending zone was to be set up for street vendors who have been fighting for their rights for a long time. The site for the vending zone project was identified near Registrar’s Construction work of a bridge under way on Pakhowal Road. organisers of the meeting said they want to awaken the MC, Ludhiana Smart City Limited, and the Department of Local Bodies to hear their voices and cries due to the delay in the completion of the project. The estimated cost of the entire ROB & RUBs project was initially Rs 124 crore but it was later increased to around Rs 135 crore. Sources said some changes were made in the project design. An executive engineer of MC said that a file regarding variation approval has been sent to the government. Meanwhile, the shopkeepers said they have suffered huge financial losses due to the long delay in the completion of the project. A shopkeeper near the railway crossing on Pakhowal Road said, “We were assured that the project would be com- pleted on time but it is still being delayed. The Railways had constructed the ROB portion over the rail tracks but the construction work under the MC area is incomplete. The government must get the project completed at the earliest.” A resident of Sarabha Nagar, Rahul Verma, said, “The people have been left to face inconveniences due to delay in the completion of the project. The Railways had already completed the project work under its jurisdiction but the project work under the MC’s jurisdiction is not being completed. The ROB construction work was earlier stalled. We will get together near the project site on Sunday morning to awaken the MC, LSCL, and Department of Local Bodies to complete the project at the earliest.” PSPCL does reality check on power bills, introduces pre-paid meters Kuldip Bhatia Visitors enjoy the sight of flowers at a gurdwara in Sarabha Nagar. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN HIMANSHU MAHAJAN Minors gang raped, FIRs lodged Robbers take away PAU professor’s car 2 out of nine suspects in police net, efforts on to arrest others office on Hambran Road but it was flooded with construction waste when the work order was issued as per the information. Sources said the site was later cleared but it is now being used for parking vehicles. An effluent treatment plant for the Dairy complex is said to be constructed at a nearby site. To regulate street vendors in public areas and protect their rights, the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 has not been implemented here to date. Tiger Singh of Rehri Phari Federation blamed MC for the same. He said that they have been waiting for the vending zones for a long time. MC is supposed to ensure the provision of vending zones with ensuring the availability of facilities like potable water supply, street lights, toilets, continued on page 2 c m y b Prepaid smart electricity meter being installed at the office of Civil Surgeon in Ludhiana. PHOTO: ASHWANI DHIMAN departments had cumulative arrears of unpaid power bills of a whopping Rs 128.55 crore at the end of the year 2022. The biggest defaulters were the Water Supply and Sanitation Department (Rs 58.09 crore) followed by the Department of Rural Development and Panchayats and the Department of Health and Family Welfare which owed unpaid power bills of more than Rs 20 crore each. A senior PSPCL official disclosed that in all, 4,600 state and Central government offices had been identified in the district where ‘smart’ meters were to be installed. Till now, 50 such meters have become operational in government offices. According to a circular issued by the PSPCL Chief Engineer (Commercial), the main attribute of prepaid metering was that (government) consumers would pay in advance for the future consumption of electricity and would be actively involved in their power consumption pattern. The PSPCL has laid down a 15-day notice period to be issued to government departments for converting to prepaid meters and the notice will contain details of the last 12 months’ energy consumption as well as billed amount for the respective consumer to give them an idea of the consumption pattern. “Where new connections to government departments are to be released after February continued on page 2