27092023-LT-01.qxd 9/27/2023 12:58 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune BUS SHELTERS WAITING FOR CIVIC BODY’S ATTENTION SEERAT KAPOOR DEBUTS AS SINGER WITH AAO NA Seerat Kapoor, who is known for her work in Telugu cinema, made her singing debut with song Aao Na. P3 MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 34°C | MIN 23°C YESTERDAY MAX 33°C | MIN 24°C JAWAN CREATES A TIZZY AS IT RAKES IN ~1,000 CR WORLDWIDE A number of bus queue shelters in city have deteriorated over time due to a lack of maintenance by MC. P2 FORECAST SRK’s Jawan has finally crossed the ~1,000-crore benchmark worldwide in just 19 days of its release. P4 » » SUNSET WEDNESDAY 6.17 PM SUNRISE THURSDAY 6:17 AM » WEDNESDAY | 27 SEPTEMBER 2023 | LUDHIANA Toddler crushed to death by school van Tribune News Service Power theft: PSPCL detects Now, docs appointed nodal officersfor Civil Hospital depts 220 cases, 57L fine imposed PATIENT’S DEATH Ludhiana, September 26 A one-and-half-year-old child was crushed to death by a school van at Pawat village in Machhiwara on Tuesday. The deceased was identified as Manjot Singh. The incident came to light when the school van came to drop the deceased’s elder brother at home. When the victim’s mother came out to receive the boy, Manjot also came out of the house. His mother was unaware of the fact. Later, when the van was leaving the spot, boy was crushed under one of its rear tyres and died on the spot. Samrala DSP Jaspinder Singh said after recording the statement of the deceased’s family, the police would take further action. Kuldip Bhatia Ludhiana, September 26 In a major drive to curb the menace of power theft, teams of different circles of the Central Zone (Ludhiana) of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) carried out a special drive and conducted systematic checking in their respective areas in the past two days. PSPCL Chief Engineer, Central Zone (Ludhiana), Inderpal Singh, personally coordinated the crackdown on power theft. The teams of officials checked as many as 4,092 connections, including 127 connections in east circle, 1,594 connections in west circle, 844 connections in sub-urban circle and 1,527 4,092 POWER CONNECTIONS CHECKED The teams of officials checked as many as 4,092 connections, including 127 connections in east circle, 1,594 connections in west circle, 844 connections in sub-urban circle and 1,527 connections in Khanna circle. The Chief Engineer said they detected a total of 220 cases, which included 78 cases of power theft, six cases of unauthorised use of electricity (UUE) and 136 cases of unauthorised extension (UE) and some other irregularities. connections in Khanna circle. The Chief Engineer said they detected a total of 220 cases, which included 78 cases of power theft, six cases of unauthorised use of electricity (UUE) and 136 cases of unauthorised extension (UE) and some other irregularities. The total fine charged from defaulters in all 220 cases was Rs 57.04 lakh. Of the 220 cases, 94 were Ensuring safety detected from suburban circle, followed by 73 from Khanna circle, 42 from west circle and 11 from East circle. During the drive, maximum connections were checked in west circle — 1,594, of which 469 were alone checked in the Aggar Nagar division with the special efforts of Executive Engineer (Aggar Nagar) Daljeet Singh. Inderpal Singh said the power utility was committed to controlling the menace of power theft in the state with clear-cut instructions from CMD Baldev Singh Sran and Director, Distribution, DPS Grewal, to take strict action against consumers using illegal connections. He said the department wants to curb power theft which had made a big dent in revenue and put restraint on the objective of providing uninterrupted supply to consumers. The ongoing action against power theft would be intensified and stringent action would be taken against consumers violating th power consumption norms, the Chief Engineer said. Sex racket busted at spa centre, 7 nabbed Police personnel conduct a flag march to maintain law and order in the city on Tuesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN Ludhiana, September 26 The city police today busted a sex racket being run from a spa centre in the Sarabha Nagar area and arrested seven persons. ADCP (Crime) Rupinder Kaur Sran said a tip-off was received that owner of Unisex Day Spa Centre Inderjit Singh and manager Pallavi Handa, agent Kiratpreet Kaur were supplying women to their clients at the centre. The ADCP said a joint team of the anti-narcotics cell and the Sarabha Nagar police was formed which conducted a raid at the spa centre. The police arrested Mohd Dilshad of Malerkotla, Rashid of Malerkotla, Gurmanpreet Singh of Model Town Extension, Soham Kumar of Meharban, Amit Verma of Puneet Nagar, Pallavi Handa of Thareeke and Kiratpreet Kaur of Amritsar from the spot. Sran warned other spa centres to avoid such practices, otherwise, the police will take strict action against them. She also asked the spa centre to maintain proper registers for the entry of visitors, install CCTV cameras and ensure police verification of all employees. Get 10% rebate on property tax till Sept 30 Tribune News Service Ludhiana, September 26 With September 30 the last day to submit property tax returns for the current financial year (202324) with a 10 per cent rebate, the Municipal Corporation (MC) has appealed to residents to submit the tax on time and avail benefit of rebate. The residents can also avail a 10 per cent rebate on the payment of watersewer user charges for the current financial year. Municipal Corporation officials said around 1.40 lakh property owners in the city were yet to pay property tax for the current financial year and they should submit the same by September 30 to avail 10 per cent rebate. MC Commissioner Sandeep Rishi said different steps were being taken to facilitate residents in submitting the property tax and water-sewer user charges at suvidha kendras. The residents should avail the rebate on the payment of property tax and water-sewer user charges. Witnessing a heavy rush of residents at the suvidha kendras, additional staff had been deputed for expediting the process of submitting tax. The kendras in zonal offices of the civic body would also remain open on Saturday (September 30), the MC Commissioner said. The amount recovered in form of taxes is used for the development of the city and providing basic amenities to the residents. Manav Mander Tribune News Service Ludhiana, September 26 The incident occurred on August 27 at the Civil Hospital where a man lost his life after falling off the stretcher in a ward has caused lot of stir at the hospital. Three employees who were found negligent were suspended and yesterday, Principal Secretary Health Vivek Pratap Singh also visited the hospital and asked staff to follow SOPs with utmost care and responsibility. Senior Medical Officer has issued guidelines for better functioning and management of the hospital. Now, doctors have been appointed nodal officers for different departments and instructions have been issued to keep proper check on the working of the departments assigned to them. In case any nodal officer is sent any communiqué by the SMO, then he/she has to revert back within 24 hours. On the other hand, doctors are not happy with the new arrangement. Already overburdened, UNHAPPY WITH ARRANGEMENT Doctors at the Civil Hospital are not happy with the new arrangement. Already overburdened, they feel the responsibility will put more burden on them. “We are already overburdened and the added responsibility of nodal officers will take a toll on us," said a doctor. they feel the responsibility was too much for them. “We are already overburdened and the added responsibility of nodal officers will take a toll on us. Yesterday also during the visit of the Principal Secretary, we have put forward our demand for more staff to which he proposed to depute more staff from health centres where the footfall of patients is less,” said a doctor on the condition of anonymity. On Monday when the Principal Secretary was asked if workload was the main reason behind the Residents catch two mobile snatchers in Sidhwan Bet Tribune News Service Ludhiana, September 26 Two miscreants who were fleeing with a snatched mobile phone were chased by the people at Kotman village in Sidhwan Bet on Monday evening. Later, the suspects were handed over to the police. The duo have been identified as Harshdeep Singh and Manpreet Singh, residents of Kaunke Kalan. Complainant Amrik Singh said he, along with his worker Sajan Kumar, was heading towards Gorsian Kadar village. He was riding a motorcycle while Sajan was on a bicycle. “When we reached Kotman village, two motorcycle-borne persons came and snatched the mobile phone from Sajan. As they were trying to flee, I raised the alarm and tried to chase them. Later, residents cornered them in the village. The mobile was recovered and the suspects were handed over to the police,” the complainant. Investigating officer ASI Jaswant Singh said further questioning of the suspects was on to inquire about other snatching incidents committed by them in the past. Victim, kin foil snatching bid in another incident In another incident, two persons who snatched cash from a resident near the Old Sabji Mandi chowk yesterday were caught by the victim and his kin. The sus- City police to auction 1,779 vehicles soon, orders procured Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, September 26 In what appears to be a positive development in the Police Commissionerate, Ludhiana, the 29 police stations of the industrial hub are set to get a relief as the city police are going to auction impounded and unclaimed vehicles soon. These vehicles impounded in various cases have been gathering dust at the police stations and have literally turned them into junkyards. In fact, some police stations, including Police Division 5, Salem Tabri, Haibowal, Focal Point, Police Division 7, Daresi and PAU, have dumped the vehicles on roads due to lack of space. With the initiative of the Ludhiana Commissioner of Police Mandeep Singh Sidhu, the city police have obtained orders from the court to start the auction of large chunk of vehicles. Impounded vehicles have turned most police stations into junkyard, some are over decade old SEIZED/UNCLAIMED VEHICLES LYING AT 29 POLICE STATIONS Impounded vehicles outside a city police station. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN Police stations Total vehicles Division 1 46 Division 2 50 Division 3 97 Division 4 67 Daresi 11 Jodhewal 29 Salem Tabri 41 Dugri 19 Dehlon 88 Sadar 74 As per the data (the copy of which is with The Tribune), the Commissionerate has as many as 3,090 vehicles lying at 29 police stations. These include vehicles impounded in various criminal cases and traffic violations and unclaimed vehicles. Among the 3,090 vehicles, impounded vehicles are 2,673 twowheelers, 226 three-wheelers, 184 four wheelers, including these inside the thanas. The initiative will provide space to the city police stations and same space can be utilised for other purposes such as plantation or other police works.” Sidhu said he had formed a committee, led by DCP Traffic Varinder Singh Brar, who along with his team followed the lengthy process to obtain court orders for auctioning the vehicles. The committee cars, and seven are heavy vehicles such as trucks. Talking to The Tribune recently, CP Mandeep Sidhu said: “This excercise was needed in Ludhiana as vehicles have been lying at police stations for years and some are even decade old. Some police stations are not having proper space to ensure upkeep of the vehicles and most of them have packed c m y b Police stations Total vehicles Sahnewal 39 Shimlapuri 136 Daba 108 Division 6 193 Ladhowal 25 Haibowal 16 PAU 91 Sarabha Nagar 233 Division 5 133 Division 8 130 was also on the job to obtain orders of remaining vehicles for auction by following the due procedure. Meanwhile, during survey of some police stations, it was noticed that some vehicles are often damaged beyond repair and recognition. Their windscreens are shattered, doors unhinged, tyres punctured and steering wheels broken. Over the time, they reluctance that doctors were not coming forward to join the government sector, he had said both treatment and prevention were the responsibilities of government doctors and both go side by side and could not be ignored. The doctors had been made nodal officers of more than one departments such as one of the doctors has to take care of dengue and swine flu ward, house surgeons, hepatitis C, STEMI stroke and dialysis unit. Another is responsible for oxygen generation plant, ICU and isolation ward. Police stations Total vehicles Model Town 82 Division 7 61 Tibba 85 Meharban 51 Focal Point 518 Jamalpur 61 Koom Kalan 32 Moti Nagar 76 City Traffic 498 Total 3,090 get reduced to mere scrap. Focal Point impounded max 518 vehicles As per data of the vehicles impounded by the 29 police stations, the Focal Point police have impounded maximum 518 vehicles, followed by 498 by the city traffic police, 233 by the Sarabha Nagar police station, 193 by Police Division 6, 136 by Shimlapuri, 133 by Police Division 5, 130 by Police Division 8 and 108 by Daba. While the Daresi police have impounded only 11 vehicles, the minimum among 29 police stations, 16 were impounded by Haibowal, 19 by Dugri, 25 by Ladhowal and 29 by Jodhewal. Vehicles to be auctioned As per the data, the police have obtained court orders to start auction of as many as 1,779 vehicles of which most of them are two-wheelers followed by cars, three-wheelers and four-wheelers. Of the total vehicles to be auctioned, 518 belong to the Focal Point police station, 397 belong to city traffic police, 97 belong to Police Division 6, 85 to Tibba, 84 to Police Division 8, 81 to Model Town, 76 to Moti Nagar, 71 to PS 5, 61 to PS 7, 49 to PAU, 47 to PS 4, 43 to PS 6, 40 to PS 1, 38 to Jamalpur, 32 to Koom Kalan and 16 belong to Haibowal. pects were identified as Sonu of Jawahar Camp and Pawan of Jawahar Nagar. The complainant, Suraj, told the police that “yesterday, he along his brother Dinesh, was going home when two motorcycle-borne persons cornered us and snatched Rs 5,000 in cash from me”. “When the suspects were trying to escape, I held their motorcycle due to which they fell off the vehicle. We caught them and informed the police,” the complainant said. ASI Hardeep Singh said after registering a case, further questioning of the suspects was on to inquire if they were involved in other past crime incidents in the city. Cop wanted in drug case held Ludhiana, September 26 The city police today arrested a constable, Harmandeep Singh, of the Ludhiana Commissionerate in a drug case registered against him and his aide Gurpreet Singh, alias Sheru, in August. Sheru was nabbed along with 450 gm of opium, which he had brought from Muradabad, UP in August. , CP Mandeep Singh Sidhu said Harmandeep was nominated as accused in the said FIR on the interrogation of main suspect, Gurpreet, and based on their call details analysis. The policeman used to travel with the main accused for providing police cover during transportation of the contraband from UP Further . Investigation is going on in the matter. — TNS