24032023-LT-01.qxd 3/24/2023 12:11 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune ‘DEFECTIVE’ LAYING OF SEWER LINES: HOUSES DEVELOP CRACKS CRICKETER SHIKHAR DHAWAN TO BE SEEN AS POLICEMAN VIRAT, ANUSHKA SHARMA LAUNCH JOINT INITITATIVE Cracks have emerged in walls of several houses at the Krishna Puri Colony in Machhiwara. P2 Rumours are rife that cricket player Shikhar Dhawan is set to play the role of a cop in Kundali Bhagya. P3 Couple to merge their foundations to launch a joint non-profit initiative aimed at helping the needy. P4 » » » FORECAST GENERALLY CLOUDY MAX 23°C | MIN 16°C YESTERDAY MAX 28°C | MIN 15°C SUNSET FRIDAY 6.40 PM SUNRISE SATURDAY 6.24 AM FRIDAY | 24 MARCH 2023 | LUDHIANA Mayor holds all-party meet to discuss Budget agenda 3 get life term in murder case Tribune News Service To be presented today; SAD councillors to raise stalled projects’ issue Ludhiana, March 23 The Ludhiana police yesterday registered a case against a couple on the charges of committing a fraud of Rs 8.5 lakh. The suspects have been identified as Rohit Dhawan and his wife Anchal Dhawan. Complainant Jaswinder Singh of Vishal Nagar told the police that he owns Kings Financial Services and lend money on interest to his clients. His firm had lent Rs 8.50 lakh to the couple. “In 2021, the couple had given two cheques and when he deposited the same in bank, those could not be encashed. I got to know from the bank that Rohit had given cheques of his father on which the former’s wife had signed. Hence, they committed a forgery as well,” he said. Jaswinder said a complaint in this regard was lodged in 2021 and after over two-year-long probe, the police registered a fraud case against the couple. ASI Balvir Singh said after registering a case of fraud, forgery and criminal conspiracy against the couple, probe was launched in the case. Tribune News Service pal Singh were ‘last seen’ with the deceased just before his murder. They had failed to explain the circumstances under which the death of Avtar Singh had occurred. The doctrine of ‘last seen together’ shifted the burden of proof upon them, requiring them to explain how the incident had occurred. Failure on their part to furnish any explanation gave Couple booked in ~8.5-L fraud case after two years Ludhiana, March 23 As the estimated Budget for the upcoming financial year 2023-24 is set to be presented before the Municipal Corporation (MC) House on Friday, Mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu held an all-party meeting on Thursday evening. The Budget agenda will be presented during the General House meeting of the MC, which will be held at the MC’s Zone A office on Friday afternoon. Councillors and leaders from the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), BJP, Lok Insaaf Party and Congress participated in the all-party meeting, which was also attended by MC Commissioner Shena Aggarwal, during which they discussed the Budget agenda. The civic body has planned to present an estimated Budget of Rs 1,043.46 crore for the upcoming financial year 2023-24. Sources suggest that the Budget income target might be slightly Mayor Balkar Sandhu, MC chief Shena Aggarwal and councillors during the all-party meeting in Ludhiana. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN ~1,043.46-CR ESTIMATED BUDGET The Municipal Corporation has planned to present an estimated Budget of ~1,043.46 crore for the upcoming financial year 202324. Sources suggest that the Budget income target might be slightly increased during the meeting on Friday. increased during the meeting on Friday. During the all-party meeting today, a BJP leader raised the demand to generate more income from advertisements. He stated that about 50 per cent of the sites were earlier surrendered by the contractor concerned but these were not being auctioned. He demanded that condi- tions be made easier to conduct an auction of vacant advertisement sites in the city. The matter related to the low collection of cow cess and the low revenue from no objection certificates was also raised. A senior councillor of the SAD, Harbhajan Singh Dang, said they discussed the Budget agenda and gave suggestions to increase the Bud- c m y b get for 2023-24. He also raised the issue of stalled development projects under the councillor quota in various wards of the city. “We will be calling for a zero hour during the House meeting on Friday. Development projects that were approved for the councillors’ wards are not being carried out due to political pressure after AAP came into power in the state. Despite the issuance of work orders, the projects had not been commenced so far,” he said. Congress and BJP councillors had earlier raised the issue of the approved development projects not being carried out in their respective wards. Recently, Congress councillors staged a protest against the state government and MC officials in this regard. It is learnt that the MC is expecting to get an income of Rs 610 crore from GST share, Rs 115 crore from property tax, Rs 90 crore as municipal tax on electricity and Rs12.10 crore from advertisements during the coming financial year. Youth was killed over suspicion of evil eye on accused’s sister Rajneesh Lakhanpal Ludhiana, March 23 The Court of Additional Sessions Judge KK Goyal has convicted Gurpal Singh (29) of Araicha Village, Doraha, Inderpal Singh (22) of Jatana village, Khanna, and Jaspreet Singh, alias Jassa, (22), of Dhandari Kalan village, Ludhiana, on the charges of killing an 18-year-old boy. All the three accused have been ordered to undergo rigorous life imprisonment. The court held that Jaspreet Singh, alias Jassa, and Inder- Two arrested with intoxicants Raikot, March 23 The police claimed to have arrested Ramesh Kumar of Hargobind Nagar Sadhar and Deepak Kumar of Barnala for supplying drugs and narcotics. As many as 250 habit-forming tablets, a China-made toy pistol, two cartridges and a Maruti Alto K10 car, which was used in the crime, were seized from the duo who were nabbed from Halwara Drain Bridge yesterday. Ludhiana (Rural) SSP Navneet Bains said the police had received a tip-off about their illegal activities. — OC rise to a strong presumption against them that they are the murderers, the court held. Even otherwise, the prosecution was successful in bringing on record circumstantial evidence, i.e., existence of motive, the circumstances in which the deceased was ‘last seen alive’, in their company. As far as Gurpal Singh is concerned, he was also party to the plan of the other accused and all of them had acted in furtherance of common intention of one another continued on page 2 Two of mobile phone thieves’ gang nabbed Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 23 The Focal Point police today busted a gang of thieves and arrested two of its members. The police seized nine stolen mobile phones from the suspects. The suspects have been identified as Mintu Kumar of Dhandari Khurd and Chandar Kumar of Ishwar Colony. Station House Officer, Focal Point police station, Inspector Amandeep Singh Brar, said the suspects had stolen mobile phones from a shop by posing themselves as clients. On March 19, complainant Irfan Ali lodged a complaint that he runs ‘Brothers Click Studio’ at Dhandari Khurd where he sells old and new phones. On March 15, the suspects had come to his shop to buy two mobile phones. Though he showed several phones to the duo, continued on page 2