27032023-LT-01.qxd 3/27/2023 12:04 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune FOLLOW ALL FIRE SAFETY GUIDELINES RELIGIOUSLY SANA TALKS ABOUT 20-YR LEAP OF KUNDALI BHAGYA DANIEL RADCLIFFE, ERIN DARKE EXPECTING THEIR FIRST CHILD Industrial owners should obtain fire NOCs for their units, impose heavy fines on violators, say residents. P2 After a lot of twists and turns, Preeta (Shraddha Arya) and Karan (Shakti Arora) have finally reunited. P3 Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe is expecting his first child with long-term partner Erin Darke. P4 » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 28°C | MIN 14°C YESTERDAY MAX 27°C | MIN 14°C SUNSET MONDAY 6.42 PM SUNRISE TUESDAY 6:21 AM » MONDAY | 27 MARCH 2023 | LUDHIANA 14-yr-old raped, neighbour held Three of thieves’ gang nabbed Involve experts to oversee execution POOR QUALITY OF WORKMANSHIP IN REPAIR WORK OF LEISURE VALLEY Committed over 24 thefts; traders protested against rising cases recently Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 26 The Focal Point police on Saturday arrested a youth on the charge of raping a 14year-old girl at Jeevan Nagar here. The suspect has been identified as Gorakh (24), a resident of the same area. The complainant, the victim’s mother, told the police that on March 10 when her daughter was alone at home, the suspect who was a neighbour, barged into the house and raped her daughter. The youth also told her daughter not to reveal about the incident to anyone, otherwise he would kill her, she said. In the past week, the youth violated her two times and also warned her of dire consequences, she alleged. The girl’s mother revealed that on March 25, her daughter was looking depressed and when she was asked about the reason, she told her about the sexual assault. The investigating officer in the case, Assistant SubInspector (ASI) Gurmeet Kaur, said on Saturday after registering a rape case, police personnel conducted a raid at the suspected whereabouts of the suspect and arrested him. POWER SHUTDOWN LUDHIANA 10 am to 3 pm: South City all blocks, Basera Heights, Garden Enclave, F-2 Raceway, Victoria Enclave, St Joseph Sacred Heart School, Kothari Marbles Side Canal Road, Ayali Khurd, Dashmesh Nagar, Raikoti Jain Colony, Golf Link Colony and Hambran Road. Ludhiana, March 26 The Haibowal police on Sunday claimed to have busted a gang of thieves and nabbed three of its members. The suspects had committed over 24 thefts in Haibowal and stole valuables worth lakhs. The suspects have been identified as Sanju Kumar, alias Batawa (24), of Haibowal, Ranjit Singh, alias Rana (40), of Ajit Nagar, Haibowal, Varun, alias Tamohan (24), of New Vijay Nagar. JCP (City) Saumya Mishra, ADCP Shubham Aggarwal, ACP Mandeep Singh and Haibowal SHO Inspector Bittan Kumar addressed a press conference in this regard today. Mishra said on February 28 night, the miscreants had targeted a footwear shop and a general store in the Haibowal main market. Angry over incidents of thefts, Haibowal market shopkeepers had blocked traffic in the market in protest against the police recently. He said after the police started a probe, Sanju was arrested on March 24. He was a notorious criminal as two cases of theft and liquor smuggling were already registered against Kuldip Bhatia The suspects in police custody in Ludhiana on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTO ~84K, GOLD RING, OTHER ITEMS SEIZED ■ The police seized ~84,000 in cash, a gold ring weighing 6 gm, 21 pairs of shoes, 15 packets of desi ghee, a electronic stabiliser, two LCDs, jeans, lowers and some other items from the gang members. ■ SHO Bittan Kumar said after the arrest of the thieves, Haibowal market shopkeepers had expressed thanks and the police also assured them that they will keep a strict eye on notorious elements in future. ■ The suspects have been identified as Sanju Kumar, alias Batawa (24), of Haibowal, Ranjit Singh, alias Rana (40), of Ajit Nagar, Haibowal, and Varun, alias Tamohan (24), of New Vijay Nagar. him in the past. Sanju, along with his aide Varun, had committed over 24 incidents of thefts in Haibowal. They had also committed a major theft at some hosiery on the Chuharpur road recently. Later, they committed a theft at a real estate office at Sant Nagar. Both had also targeted footwear shops in Haibowal, the JCP said. Mishra said both of them used to sell stolen valuables Couple arrested for duping Merchant Navy officer’s wife Ludhiana, March 26 The Haibowal police have nabbed a couple, who along with their son, had duped the wife of a Merchant Navy Captain of Rs 1 crore in cash and gold and diamond ornaments worth Rs 40 lakh in December last year. The suspects have been identified as Pawan Kumar Sharma and Kiran Bala, residents of Raghuvir Park, Haibowal. Inspector Bittan Kumar, Station House Officer (SHO), Haibowal police station, said in December last year, Merchant Navy Captain Gautam Chopra had lodged a police complaint that their driver Bhavya Sharma, alias Bhanu, had taken Rs 1 crore in cash and gold and diamond ornaments worth Rs 40 lakh fraudulently from his wife. The police had initially registered a case against him and he was also arrested in January this year. However, no recovery of money and gold was made from him. During questioning, Bhanu had admitted that his father Pawan, mother Kiran and brother Paras were also involved in the fraud. Later, the police booked them also in the fraud case, the SHO said. He revealed that on March 25, Pawan was arrested and Rs 1.5 lakh cash was recovered from him. On March 26, Kiran Bala was also arrested and gold ornaments worth Rs 1 lakh were recovered from her. Now, the police remand of the accused would be sought so that the remaining cash and ornaments could be recovered from the accused. Raids were also being conducted to nab Paras, Bittan said. — TNS Residents continue to suffer as sewer overflows in parts of Sanyas Nagar Harshraj Singh Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 26 Residents of certain areas in Sanyas Nagar, located in Ward 2, are still experiencing difficulties due to sewage overflowing on streets. The problem has persisted for over five years and despite attempts by the civic body to address the issue, no permanent solution has been found. The accumulated sewage has even flooded some plots, emanating foul smell. The affected residents have repeatedly reported the matter to the authorities but to no avail. Now, they are demanding concrete steps by the civic body to put an end to the longstanding issue. According to the residents, whenever sewers are cleaned, the problem resurfaces within a few days and it has put them at risk of contracting diseases due to the unsanitary conditions. Sewage accumulates on a plot at Sanyas Nagar in Ward 2 of Ludhiana. PHOTO: INDERJEET VERMA FIVE YEARS ON, ISSUE NOT RESOLVED The problem has persisted for over five years and despite attempts by the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation to address the issue in certain areas of Sanyas Nagar, no permanent solution has been found. The accumulated sewage has even flooded some plots, emanating foul smell. A local resident, Imran, said despite several attempts to clean sewer lines by the civic body, the problem persists. of major sports projects, govt urged He said while the issue had been resolved in some parts of the colony, manholes near his house continue to overflow. He appealed to the authorities to take action to resolve the issue. Recently, a sewer was overflowing near an eatery in Sanyas Nagar and plots opposite the eatery were flooded with sewage. A woman said residents had been forced to suffer due to the unsanitary conditions in the area for a long time and their voices remain unheard. Gurmail Singh Jajji, councillor from Ward 2, said he had requested civic body officials to deploy super suction machines to clean the sewer lines more effectively. In the past, Ludhiana East MLA Daljeet Singh Grewal (Bhola) had given assurances to the residents that necessary steps would be taken to resolve the issue. Municipal Corporation’s O&M Branch Superintending Engineer said he would look into the matter. c m y b through their aide Ranjit, who is also facing cases of drug smuggling. All three are drug addicts. The police also seized Rs 84,000 in cash, a gold ring weighing 6 gm, 21 pairs of shoes, 15 packets of desi ghee, a electronic stabiliser, two LCDs, jeans, lowers and some other items from them. After the arrest of the thieves, SHO Bittan Kumar said Haibowal market shopkeepers had expressed thanks and the police also assured them that they would keep a strict eye on notorious elements in future. EACH WORK VETTED BY TECHNICAL EXPERTS: OFFICIALS Ludhiana, March 26 In the wake of poor quality of material and workmanship which came to the fore in the recently carried out repair and renovation work of the skating rink in Leisure Valley, Sarabha Nagar (at a cost of around Rs One Crore), doubts are being raised if other sports infrastructure projects in the pipeline under the Smart City Mission meet a similar fate. Expressing apprehension of poor quality material to be used and poor workmanship in the absence of supervision by technical experts, a city-based social activist, Ramesh Nayyar, has asked the state government to involve technical experts, sportspersons and professional bodies of the sports concerned to oversee the execution of these major sports infrastructure projects. “If left entirely to staff, officials and contractors, who have little or no expertise and technical knowhow of similar works, there is every possibility of that two major sports infra projects – laying Astro Turf MC officials, however, asserted that there was zero-tolerance to poor quality of material or workmanship and each work, being executed under the Smart City Mission or otherwise, was vetted by technical experts before final settlement of bills of contractors or construction agencies. for hockey and athletics (Rs 8.22 crore) and construction of a basketball stadium (Rs 11.26 crore) at Guru Nanak Stadium here would fare poorly on the quality benchmark and also fail to meet the expectations of the sports fraternity,” said Nayyar in a communication to Minister for Local Bodies Inderbir Singh Nijjar. Citing example of shoddy work carried out by the construction agency in laying/repair of synthetic floor in the skating rink, the complainant said the flooring material had started coming off in patches even as the work was still continuing and rather than replacement of defective material, the contractor had resorted to repair on the floor which, in due course, would pose a risk to skaters. Emphasising on quality control of the highest degree and longevity for such significant sports projects, Nayyar said the Municipal Corporation and the state government ought to put a system in place in which only those employees and officials were deployed to supervise such projects who had necessary technical knowhow and expertise of sports infrastructure. “At the same time, for stringent quality control, committee of technical experts as well as sportspersons and sports officials be associated for supervision of the construction work,” he said. MC officials, however, asserted that there was zero-tolerance to poor quality of material or workmanship and each work, being executed under the Smart City Mission or otherwise, was vetted by technical experts before final settlement of bills of contractors or construction agencies.