24052023-LT-01.qxd 5/24/2023 12:35 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune RESIDENTS BLOCK HIGHWAY FOR OVER HALF-AN-HOUR SUNNY HINDUJA COMPLETES TVF ASPIRANTS 2 SHOOT Actor Sunny Hinduja has completed shooting for the second season of the TVF Aspirants show. P3 GENERALLY CLOUDY MAX 35°C | MIN 25°C YESTERDAY MAX 41°C | MIN 27°C BEYONCE, JAY-Z BOUGHT $200 MILLION MANSION WITH CASH They were protesting against GLADA’s failure to check illegal commercial constructions on NH 95-A. P2 FORECAST Star couple Jay-Z and Beyonce Knowles purchased their $200 million mansion with cash. P4 » » SUNSET WEDNESDAY 7.20 PM SUNRISE THURSDAY 5:26 AM » WEDNESDAY | 24 MAY 2023 | LUDHIANA Video of youth being assaulted goes viral Tribune News Service Slow pace of ROB,RUB project With no major clue, police probe to rely on call dump troubles residents, shopkeepers TRIPLE MURDER In March, officials had told contractor to complete project by Aug 15 Harshraj Singh Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 23 Though officials had anticipated the completion of the railway overbridge (ROB) and railway underbridge (RUB) on Pakhowal Road by August 15 this year, the situation on the ground tells a different story. The construction work of the ROB near a private bank on Pakhowal Road was stalled last year and it had not been resumed to date. The works on the another side of the ROB (near the canal side) and the RUB also appear to be progressing at a slow pace, residents said. The project has already missed multiple deadlines, causing inconvenience to residents of neighbouring areas. The project work order was issued to the contractor in June 2019 and the scheduled completion date was set for September 2021. However, the project has encountered delays. Expressing disappointment over the slow pace of the project work, a retired senior bank manager and resident of Sarabha Nagar, GS Chawla, said the project remains incomplete within the expected time TRIBUNE PHOTO: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN Ludhiana, May 23 A video of a youth being assaulted by four youngsters in Khanna went viral on Tuesday. In the video, a youth, son of a Shiv Sena leader, was being beaten up publicly. The Khanna police on May 20 had already registered a case against the assailants, identified as Chahatpreet, Manga, Deepi and Lehmber, all residents of Bullepur village in Khanna. The complainant, Rajan Giri, of Khanna told the police that on May 18, he, along with his friend Sanamdeep, was heading towards Khanna in a car from Mandi Gobindgarh. When they reached Krishna Nagar in Khanna, two Bullet motorcycle-borne persons stopped them. “Before we could ask anything, the suspects attacked us with rods and a stick. Two more accomplices of the suspects also reached the place after which, all of them attacked us. The assailants had also snatched my gold chain. As the people started gathering, they fled the scene,” the complainant alleged. DCP Karnail Singh said he had also seen the video that went viral and the police were conducting raids to nab the suspects. He said action would be taken against them. The ROB construction work near a bank on Pakhowal Road has not been resumed so far in Ludhiana. MISSED MULTIPLE DEADLINES The project has already missed multiple deadlines, causing inconvenience to residents of neighbouring areas. The project work order was issued to the contractor in June 2019 and the scheduled completion date was set for September 2021. However, the project has encountered delays. frame, causing significant inconvenience to the public. He said the residents urged the authorities of the LSCL and MC to acknowledge their problems and prioritise the early completion of the project. The prolonged delay in completing the project has had a significant impact on the local business community. Several shopkeepers have been compelled to shut down their businesses due to the ongoing disruptions caused by the construction work. Selfless service Some NGOs and traders had also staged a protest against the MC earlier this year. The protesting people had said the railways previously undertook the construction work for the project within its jurisdiction while the work under the MC’s jurisdiction remains incomplete. In the Smart City Advisory Forum (SCAF) meeting held last month, the pending work on the project was discussed. Officials claimed that the project had reached 85 per cent completion in terms of physical progress. Earlier in March, MLA Gurpreet Gogi, MC Commissioner Shena Aggarwal and the contractor, along with officials, inspected the project site. The project contractor was directed to expedite the construction work and finish the project by August 15. Executive engineer of the MC and LSCL, Balwinder Singh, said efforts were being made to ensure that the project was completed by August 15. Furthermore, the construction work on the ROB near HDFC Bank would resume soon as the work on the site was to be carried out by specialised workers who were expected to arrive here in the next few days. Doc dies by suicide Army jawans distribute ‘chabeel’ to commuters to mark the martyrdom day of Guru Arjan Dev near the Jagraon bridge in Ludhiana on Tuesday. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN SEE ALSO P2 Ludhiana, May 23 A doctor reportedly ended his life by hanging himself at his clinic in Baba Colony here this afternoon. The incident came to light when his family members reached the clinic in the afternoon and found the doctor’s body hanging from a rope. When the information reached the police, officials of the Jodhewal police station reached the scene and shifted the body to the Civil Hospital for a postmortem examination. The deceased has been identified as Sandeep Kumar (32), a resident of the Meharban locality. The victim owned a clinic, Verma Clinic. The family members stated that Sandeep had left home in the morning and went to his clinic. When they called him during lunchtime, he did not answer the phone. Subsequently, one of his family members went to the clinic to enquire about his lunch but found its shutter closed. When the shutter was opened, the victim’s body was found hanging from a rope. However, no suicide note was recovered from the clinic. The police said a probe was launched in the case. — TNS Couple adopts martyr’s village to wean youths off drugs Revolutionary Kartar Singh Sarabha’s native place turned drug hotspot in recent past Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Sarabha (Ludhiana), May 23 This sleepy village on the outskirts of Ludhiana was till recently known for being the native place of an Indian revolutionary and a fearless martyr, Kartar Singh Sarabha. But in the recent past, it earned a dubious distinction of being a drug hotspot after losing over 12 lives to drugs and many residents, especially youths, hooked to contrabands. Pained to know about the plight of the villagers, who would take pride in their great martyr, who was executed for his role in the Ghadar Movement against the British at the age of 19, a retired Colonel, Mandip Grewal, and his wife Kamaljit Grewal came forward to adopt Sarabha village. A decorated Gallantry Medal officer, Colonel Grewal, along with his wife, decided to take up the challenge of eradicating the drug menace with the support of the local civil People queue up outside a drug rehabilitation centre at the Civil Hospital in Jagraon near Ludhiana on Tuesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO EVENTS TO MARK MARTYR’S BIRTH ANNIV TODAY A cycle rally, walkathon and a blood donation camp were among the main events that will be held at Sarabha village on Wednesday to mark the birth anniversary of martyr Kartar Singh Sarabha with an objective to spread awareness against drugs. and police administration. “Together, we planned to help our village overcome this stigma,” Colonel Grewal told The Tribune, here, on Tuesday. A native of Sarabha, he was busy overseeing arrangements for tomorrow’s event when a host of activities would be held to mark the 128th birth anniversary of martyr Kartar Singh Sarabha. A cycle rally, walkathon and a blood donation camp were among the main events that will be held here on Wednesday with an objective to spread awareness against drugs. Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh would be the chief guest on the occasion. Sharing details of his antidrug drive initiated recently, Colonel Grewal said he, along with his wife, went door-todoor and visited schools and colleges of the area to spread the message of how drugs harm the human body. After deliberations with the residents, the couple got a resolution passed by the panchayat against drugs and roped in the sarpanch and panches to take forward the drive. “Slowly, but surely, people started calling us and sought our help to save their sons,” revealed Colonel Grewal, who took them to different de-addiction centres and outpatient opioid assisted treatment (OOAT) centres. However, it was a tough challenge as most of these boys were on drugs for the past six to eight years and were also suffering from other allied diseases. Besides seeking help from the civil and police administration, the couple was also c m y b joined by students and management of several schools and colleges in their mission to free Sarabha of drugs. “Our aim is to prevent more children from getting addicted to drugs and our efforts have started showing results with they now having a renewed sense of hope and the feeling among the villagers that Sarabha will become a drug-free model for the entire state,” he said. The couple’s slogan, “Bacchey bachao, drugs khatam karo” has become popular among the villagers, who have started believing in it. “We aspire to achieve the goal of making Sarabha a drug-free village before the martyrdom day of Kartar Singh Sarabha that falls on November 16,” the retired Col asserted. He said around 12 persons had died due to drug overdose in the past few years and a similar count of youths had so far been weaned off drugs during the drive. continued on page 2 Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 23 With no major breakthrough in the triple murder case that rocked the city, the police have started looking into the call dump to find some clues about the perpetrators. The investigating team is hoping to get some clues from the call dump. Notably on Sunday night, former Punjab Police ASI Kuldeep Singh, his wife and son was found brutally murdered at their house in Nurpur Bet village. The trio was reportedly murdered on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday. However, the bodies were found on Sunday night. Special train from Amritsar to Gandhidham Ludhiana, May 23 The Northern Railways will run a weekly special express train between Amritsar and Gandhidham (Gujarat) from May 26 to cope with the spurt in passenger traffic during the vacation season. Until July 1, the train will make 24 trips, 12 in each direction. The 09461 GandhidhamAmritsar Weekly Special Express will depart from Gandhidham every Friday from May 26 to June 30 at 6.30 am and reach Amritsar at 12.35 noon the next day (Saturday). In the return direction, the 09462 Amritsar-Gandhidham continued on page 2 As a few days have passed, the blind triple murder case has become a challenge for the police. Sources privy to the development said the police had been scanning the call details of the three deceased to inquire about the last interactions of them with any suspicious persons. To further increase the ambit of the police probe, the police have picked up a mobile data dump of the specified time. Since the dump has hundreds of mobile numbers, the officials have been verifying each number to get any clue. The officials said if any of the killers was carrying a mobile phone or made calls during the time of the murder, the police might get any clue about the suspects. The probe team said preliminary investigation suggested robbery as the only motive of the murder. The police are also not ruling out the involvement of some insider in the incident. The deceased’s daughter and daughter-in-law have also not raised suspicion on anyone. They have told the police that neither their family has enmity with anybody, nor they had any dispute with any person in the recent past. No CCTV cameras Since there were no CCTV cameras installed in the house of the deceased and even in the surrounding areas of the house in the village, the police are not able to know about the exact entry and exit route of the suspects. ‘MERI LIFE, MERA SWACHH SHEHAR’ MC ropes in religious bodies, edu institutes for improving outreach Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 23 For spreading awareness among the masses regarding reduce, reuse or recycle old or used items under the ‘Meri LiFE, Mera Swachh Shehar’ campaign, the Municipal Corporation (MC) has initiated a plethora of awareness activities across the city. After establishing 19 reduce, reuse or recycle (RRR) centres across the city and conducting ward-level awareness drives, the civic body is now also rop- ing in religious organisations, educational institutes, besides others, to spread awareness among residents about the campaign. The residents are being urged to donate old or used items, clothes, toys, etc, at the RRR centres. Appointed as nodal officers under the campaign, MC Health Officer Vipal Malhotra and corporation sanitation officer (CSO) Ashwani Sahota said the civic body was already receiving a good continued on page 2