16032023-LT-01.qxd 3/16/2023 12:13 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune ROADWAYS CONTRACTUAL EMPLOYEES HOLD PROTEST I ENJOY DOING ROMANTIC FILMS WITH SRK: MUKERJI “My favourite genre is romance. I enjoy doing romantic films with SRK,” says Rani Mukerji. P3 GENERALLY CLOUDY MAX 31°C | MIN 17°C YESTERDAY MAX 32°C | MIN 16°C NETFLIX ANNOUNCES SEASON 3 OF ITS TOP 5 WEB SHOWS The protesters raise slogans against government for not regularising the jobs of contractual employees. P2 FORECAST Successful Indian shows on Netflix from previous years are set to return on the OTT platform soon. P4 » » SUNSET THURSDAY 6.35 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 6:34 AM » THURSDAY | 16 MARCH 2023 | LUDHIANA 18 traders issued challans for illegal slaughtering Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 15 Continuing the drive against illegal slaughtering of animals for meat, the Municipal Corporation (MC) conducted inspections in areas falling under Zone A, B and D of the civic body and issued challans against 18 shopkeepers on Wednesday. Corporation Sanitation Officer (CSO) Ashwani Sahota said civic body teams destroyed around 180 kg of meat, which was being sold in unhygienic conditions by the shopkeepers. A minimum challan of Rs 1,000 was issued against the traders. The inspections were conducted by the MC in the Shivpuri area, on the Chandigarh road and 33 feet road in Chander Nagar and its adjoining areas. 3 fresh cases of virus in dist Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 15 Three fresh cases of Covid-19 were reported from the district on Wednesday. According to the Department of Health and Family Welfare, a 32-year-old man from Machhiwara, a 30year-old man (an undertrial) and a 40-year-old man, a resident of Dehlon, tested positive for the virus. A total of 1,13,653 positive cases and 3,018 deaths due to Covid in the district have been confirmed by the department since march 2020. FIGURES Samples Positive Deaths 40,84,099 1,13,653 3,018 FOR ANY INFORMATION RELATED TO COVID Contact 0161-2444193 0161-4622276 POWER SHUTDOWN LUDHIANA 10 am to 5 pm: Denty Sweet, Tej Enclave, Sukhdev Nagar, Onkar Vihar, Trikoni Park and Ansal Enclave. Four of gang arrested with ~1.19 lakh counterfeit notes Tribune News Service Lack of safety arrangements caused casualties: Officials Owner booked under bailable sections on officer’s plaint Nikhil Bhardwaj Ludhiana, March 15 The Khanna police today claimed to have busted a fake currency gang and arrested four of its members along with Rs 1.19 lakh counterfeit notes. The seized notes were of Rs 500 and Rs 20 denominations. A case under various sections of the IPC was registered against the suspects. Khanna Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Amneet Kondal, SP (Investigation) Pragya Jain and other police officials conducted a press conference in this regard on Wednesday. Kondal while addressing the media said the team, under the supervision of Dr Pragya Jain, comprising Jashandeep Singh Gill, DSP (D), Khanna, Karnail Singh, DSP Khanna, Inspector , Amandeep Singh, in-charge, CIA staff, Khanna, and Inspector Nachhatar Singh, SHO, City-2 police station, Khanna, and SI Jagjivan Ram, in-charge, anti-nar- Tribune News Service The suspects along with the seized fake currency in Khanna police custody on Wednesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO FAKE CURRENCY BROUGHT FROM UP SUPPLIERS During the preliminary interrogation, the suspects revealed that they had been bringing fake currency from some UP-based suppliers. The police also seized a white Maruti Swift Dzire car (bearing registration number HR 05AJ 3839 from them. cotics cell, arrested the four suspects and seized fake Indian currency notes from them. The police also seized a white Maruti Swift Dzire car (bearing registration number HR 05AJ 3839. The SSP said police personnel were patrolling around Amloh Chowk, Khanna, when an informant gave a lead that Nirpal Singh, alias Happy, of Ghungrali Rajputan, Ludhiana, Naresh Kumar, alias Raj, of Patanpuri, Haryana, Kuldeep of Sijoli, near Panipat, and Ravi, also of Sijoli, were supplying fake Indian currency notes and they were present near the Military Ground in the Swift Dzire vehicle. The police conducted a raid and nabbed the suspects with the fake currency. During their preliminary interrogation, the suspects revealed that they had been bringing fake currency from some UP-based suppliers. They sell and even use counterfeit notes in the market. Now, the police remand of the suspects would be obtained for further interrogation so that big suppliers of fake currency can be nabbed. Ludhiana, March 15 After the death of three factory workers in a factory fire that occurred near Lakkar Bridge here on Tuesday morning, the Ludhiana police have registered a case against the factory owner, Arun Kumar, and his partners under Section 304-A (causing death by negligence) of the IPC. The police registered a case under bailable sections against the factory owner. The case was registered on the complaint of Fire Station Officer Maninder Singh. In the FIR, it is clearly written that, “The factory owner had not made the necessary fire safety arrangements due to which workers were made to work under dangerous conditions. Fire could not be controlled at the initial stage and it spread to the entire unit due to the lack of the arrangements. leaving three factory workers dead and seriously injuring two. The factory near Lakkar Bridge where a fire broke out on Tuesday. FILE FACTORIES BEING RUN WITHOUT GETTING NOCS Ludhiana has hundreds of factories which are being run without obtaining NOCs from the Fire Department. Earlier also, such fire incidents have occurred in Ludhiana. The Gola factory collapse at Suffian Chowk was a major incident in 2017 in which a multistorey factory first caught fire and later collapsed, killing 16 persons, including nine fire fighters. Still, the government has not learnt any lessons from past tragedies and allowing the factories to run without making mandatory fire safety arrangements. Required action should be taken against the factory owner for adopting a negligent attitude,” a copy of the FIR, which is with The Tribune, states. Sources said when the fire broke out and fire fighters were dousing the flames, factory owner Arun Kumar had reportedly told fire men that no worker was stuck inside the factory due to which the fire personnel did not bother to conduct a check before starting their operation. SHO, Police Division 8, SI Vijay Kumar said There were also some business partners of Arun Kumar. After identifying them, their names would also be added to the FIR. Sarpanch among Self-styled godman gets 20-yr 15 injured as Safari, five booked on jail for sexually exploiting girl mini-truck collide extortion charge Rajneesh Lakhanpal Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 15 The Ladhowal police today registered a case against the Rjjapur village sarpanch and four others on the charge of extorting money from sand traders. The suspects were extorting between Rs 500 to Rs 700 as protection money from the sand transporters to give them a safe passage. The suspects have been identified as Raju, sarpanch, former village sarpanch Gurdeep Singh, Gurvinder Singh, Harbhajan Singh of Khairabet and Sukhi Buttar of Nurpur Bet. Complainant Jaswinder Singh, a mining inspector, in a statement to the police said recently the state government started a public sand mining site at Mao Sahib from where traders load sand at the government’s subsidised price. The suspects, after threatening the traders, who transport sand from the mining site to sites of their clients in tractortrailers, had been extorting money from them. Recently, a complaint was received from some sand traders, and after verifying the allegations, a complaint was lodged before the police and a case was registered against the suspects. ASI Surinder Singh said raids were being conducted to nab the suspects and after their arrest, investigation would be done to inquire from how long they had been extorting money and how much money they had collected illegally from the sand traders so far. Ludhiana, March 15 The Court of Additional Sessions Judge Amar Jeet Singh has convicted a self-styled Baba Vicky Sai, alias Vicky Walia, a resident of Dharampura, here, on the charge of exploiting a minor girl under the garb of treating her. He was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment (RI) for 20 years and also ordered to pay fine of Rs 2,10,000. The court made it clear that out of the recovered fine amount, Rs 2 lakh would be paid to the victim as compensation. Delivering the verdict, the court held that the prosecution had successfully proved the charges against the accused. The court declined the plea of leniency raised by him. The additional public prosecutor, BD Gupta, apprised that a case MP meets Shah, discusses law & order situation, other state issues Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 15 Rajya Sabha MP from Ludhiana Sanjeev Arora paid a courtesy call on Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi during the Parliament session on Tuesday evening. In a statement here, Arora said: “A detailed discussion on various national and state issues was held during the meeting.” Discussions were also held about the prevailing law and order situation in the state. He said affordable health for the poor was also discussed. The MP expressed his satisfaction over the meeting. “The Union Home Minister assured his full support DEATH OF THREE WORKERS IN FACTORY FIRE MP Sanjeev Arora with Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi. to Punjab with regard to every aspect,” he said. The Rajya Sabha member said they also exchanged pleasantries with each other. “The meeting will prove to be useful for the state in many aspects,” he hoped. c m y b against the accused was registered at the Division No. 3 police station on December 4, 2020, following the statement of the mother of the victim. The prosecution has examined 12 witnesses to prove the guilt of the accused. The complainant has stated to the police that her husband was not keeping good health since long. Someone told them to contact self-styled Baba Vicky Sai for treatment. Afterwards, she contacted him and requested for help. A day before my husband’s death, the accused had come to our house and performed some exorcism ritual. He had then assured that his illness would be cured. But the next day he passed away, the complainant alleged. After the death of her husband, the accused again visited her house to perform some “path for her daughter’s wellness” and stayed in their house. On the pretext of treating some illness of the girl, he raped her. After that the accused came to their house many times. They were also called to his dera. The girl faced sexual exploitation repeatedly. One day, she saw her daughter frightened and disturbed. On her insistence, she broke up and started weeping. Then she told her mother about the sexual exploitation committed by the accused under the garb of treatment. The matter was reported to the police. Investigating officer ASI Rachpal Kaur had arrested the accused. However, during the trial, the accused pleaded innocence. But after appreciating the evidence on record, the court found him guilty and sentenced accordingly. Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 15 Around 15 persons suffered injuries after a mini-truck (Bolero Camper) they were travelling in collided head-on with a Tata Safari near the Pawat canal bridge in Samrala here on Wednesday. The mini-truck was ferrying pilgrims to some religious place in Anandpur Sahib. ASI Avtar Chandar said the incident occurred this morning. Bolero was going towards Anandpur Sahib from Raikot and around 25 passengers were travelling in the vehicle. When it reached Samrala, it collided head-on with Tata Safari which was going to Ludhiana from Chamkaur Sahib. After the incident, an ambulance was called and the injured were taken to the Civil Hospital, Khanna, for treatment, the ASI said, adding that around 15 persons suffered injuries and three of them got serious injuries. Later, many of them shifted to other hospitals where they were undergoing treatment. After recording statements of the injured, required action would be taken against the negligent driver. One of the passengers, Daljit Singh, said driver of Tata Safari was driving in a rash manner and he was also using a mobile phone while driving which actually caused the mishap.Two of the injured also suffered fractures in their legs. Dr Navdeep Singh from the Civil Hospital, Khanna, said the injured include some women too and first-aid treatment was given to all of them.