01102023-LT-01.qxd 10/1/2023 12:47 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune RESIDENTS STAGE PROTEST AT BEGOWAL BUS STAND KARISHMA GETS NOMINATED FOR SCOOP AT BUSAN FEST Karishma Tanna has been nominated in ‘Best Lead Actress’ category & show named in ‘Best Asian TV series’. P3 MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 34°C | MIN 21°C YESTERDAY MAX 34°C | MIN 21°C POP ICON SHAKIRA IS PROUD TO HAIL FROM COLOMBIA The protesters urged the authorities to reconstruct and repair roads in Begowal village at the earliest. P2 FORECAST Pop singer was honoured by Spotify on Sept 29, as the platform declared that Friday as ‘Shakira Day’. P4 » » SUNSET SUNDAY 6.12 PM SUNRISE MONDAY 6:20 AM » SUNDAY | 1 OCTOBER 2023 | LUDHIANA Work begins to build four bridges Admn all set to begin paddy procurement from today over Sidhwan Canal at ~17 crore Tribune News Service 17-km-long steel truss bridges on Laddowal Bypass to come up by March next Nitin Jain PROJECT REPORT Tribune News Service Ludhiana, September 30 Finally, the work has begun to construct four bridges over the Sidhwan Canal on Laddowal Bypass here, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has said. It would help decongest the massive traffic congestion in the busy south city area, which is becoming a hotspot for the food, recreation and tourism industry. The development assumes significance as the project was awaiting nod for the past some time and Rajya Sabha MP from Ludhiana Sanjeev Arora had recently impressed upon NHAI Chairman Santosh Kumar Yadav to accord green signal to the project. Arora, who reviewed the progress of NHAI projects with Deputy Commissioner Surabhi Malik and the NHAI officials concerned here recently told The Tribune here on Saturday that following the in-principle approval received from the NHAI headquarters in March, the NHAI regional office had allotted the work to construct four bridges over the Sidhwan Canal to a Bathindabased construction firm at the cost of Rs 16.64 crore. He said as per the scope of work, 17.041-km-long four steel truss bridges at four locations — 1+700, 2+450, 3+300, and 3+900 — over the Sidhwan Canal on four-lane partial access-controlled Laddowal Bypass from 0 to 17.041 km would be built on the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode. “Your quoted bid price amounting to Rs 16,64,11,000 has been determined to be the lowest evaluated bid, substantially responsive and has been accepted by the competent authority,” the work order issued to the successful construction firm by NHAI Deputy General Manager (Technical) Ankush Mehta read. Arora said nine bids had been received, which were examined and the most eligible one was awarded the project. He said a feasibility and alignment survey was conducted to prepare the detailed project report on the basis of which tenders were floated to 13 cell phones seized from jail Two get 10-year RI for rape ~16.64 crore Cost Four A view of Sidhwan Canal in Ludhiana. FILE PHOTO Legal Correspondent Tribune News Service Ludhiana, September 30 Staff of the Central Jail, Ludhiana, conducted three surprise checks on the jail premises and seized a total of 13 mobile phones on Thursday. In response to these findings, three separate FIRs have been filed at the Division Number 7 police station on Friday. In the first instance, during a jail inspection on Thursday, the jail employees claimed to have found five abandoned mobile phones and 35 packets of tobacco. A first information report (FIR) has been filed against an unidentified person under Sections 42, 45, and 52-A (1) of the Prisons Act. In the second case, following the seizure of three mobile phones, an FIR under Section 52-A (1) of the Prisons Act has been registered against three inmates who have been identified as Gagandeep Singh, Sachin Kumar and Puneet Malik. In another incident, the jail employees claimed to have found five mobile phones from four persons. Thereafter, an FIR under Section 52-A (1) of the Prisons Act has been lodged against four inmates who have been identified as Naginder Singh, Amanpreet Singh, Deepak Kumar and Paramjeet Singh. Ludhiana September 30 The Court of Additional Sessions Judge Harbans Singh Lekhi has convicted Gurjinder Singh, a resident of Manuke village, and a woman of Agwarh Daala village, Jagraon, in a rape case. They were sentenced to 10-year rigorous imprisonment (RI) in the case. The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each upon the accused. According to prosecution, a case was registered on June 13, 2022, at the Jagraon police station on the complaint of the girl. award the work. “The work would be completed by March next year,” the MP said. According to the scope of work, the steel truss bridges would be constructed 300-m away from the F2 Raceway bridge (both on its right and left sides) and 300-m away from the Barewal bridge (both on its right and left sides) over the Sidhwan Canal on Laddowal Bypass. “The bridges would help decongest the south city area which is dotted with heavy traffic flow,” Arora said, adding that the project would also help improve road safety and convenience of commuters on national highways covered under the project. Arora said the NHAI Chairman had kept his words of giving approval to the construction of the four bridges over the Sidhwan Canal, which he had demanded during his Victim’s maternal aunt among convicts The complainant had told the police that she was staying at her maternal uncle’s house. On June 4, 2023, her maternal aunt persuaded her to go to the house of a known woman. When she, along with her aunt, reached the house of the woman, the latter or any family member of the woman were not present. The victim’s aunt pushed her into a room, where Gurjinder was already present. The accused grabbed her forcefully and raped her. Steel truss Bridges Material Length: 17.041 km Location: 300-m away from Raceway and Barewal bridges over Sidhwan Canal on Laddowal Bypass Deadline: March 2024 recent meeting with him. “I had apprised the NHAI Chairman that construction of the four bridges across the Sidhwan Canal towards the south city in Ludhiana was yet to see the light of day for which application was pending with the NHAI since long,” Arora said while thanking Yadav for approving the project. Arora had informed the NHAI Chairman that Ludhiana being one of biggest industrial cities in the country with over 5 million population, the traffic situation was getting chaotic due to pending projects. He had requested him to direct the officials concerned to speed up the pending projects in and around Ludhiana. While appreciating the work being done, he had drawn the NHAI Chairman’s attention towards the matters, which needed immediate intervention. He had told Yadav that Afterwards, her aunt came to the room. The accused threatened to kill her and her family if she told anyone about the incident. When she returned to her house in Barnala, she told her mother about the incident. Following which, they approached the police for registration of a case against the accused. After registering the case, the duo were arrested by the police. In court, the accused pleaded innocence and said they were falsely implicated in the case. However, on the basis of the evidence in the court, it convicted the duo. Man held for raping minor stepdaughter Ludhiana, September 30 A man has been arrested for allegedly raping his 14-yearold stepdaughter in an area that falls under the jurisdiction of the Shimlapuri police station. The victim’s mother filed a complaint, leading to the registration of an FIR against the suspect. According to the complainant, she has a daughter from her first marriage and she got married with the suspect in October 2019. She alleged that her second husband harbored malicious intentions towards her daughter for the past around two years. He used to sexually assault her daughter and when the victim protested, the suspect threatened her. The complainant said: “As my daughter was in distress, her schoolteacher inquired about the cause one day, Subsequently, the girl told the teacher about the matter. Consequently, the teacher accompanied me and my daughter to a welfare committee located in Shimlapuri and recommended us to commence legal proceedings against the suspect.” A case has been registered against the suspect at the Shimlapuri police station, Ludhiana, under Sections 376, 511 and 506 of the IPC and Section 8 of the POCSO Act. — TNS c m y b the traffic situation within the MC limits of Ludhiana was in a bad shape on account of ongoing NHAI projects passing through the city causing traffic snarls and was causing a nightmare for commuters. “Frequent and long traffic jams are making citizens lose their temper as it takes a long time to commute between office and homes,” the MP expressed while requesting the NHAI Chairman to take stock of the situation and take necessary initiatives for the speedy work as soon as possible to enable easing out of traffic situation. “All assurances of the NHAI Chairman have come true,” he said while recounting that the Sherpur Chowk railway over bridge (RoB) had already been opened to traffic in March after its construction was completed and the ongoing work on the elevated road project had been expedited to be completed by the month-end. Arora said the NHAI Chairman had also assured him that the construction of the four bridges across the Sidhwan Canal would be completed by the beginning of next year. “City residents had been raising a strong demand for construction of the four bridges over the period of time and had been meeting him with the demand, which has been finally met,” the MP added. 3 held with heroin, ~72K drug money Tribune News Service Ludhiana, September 30 The police have arrested three persons for alleged drug peddling. The police claimed to have seized 305 gm of heroin and Rs 72,000 drug money from their possession. SI Sukhwinder Singh said the suspects had been identified as Angrez Singh, Rajwinder Kaur and Seema of Charan Nagar, Ludhiana. The trio used to sell drugs to their clients. A case under Sections 21, 61, and 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against the suspects at the Tibba police station. Ludhiana, September 30 Paddy procurement will start from October 1 in the district. The administration is all set to ensure smooth and hassle-free paddy procurement in the district. Chairing a review meeting with the officials concerned, Deputy Commissioner Surabhi Malik said as many as 16.95 lakh metric tonnes of paddy was expected to arrive in grain markets in Ludhiana, adding that the state government was committed to procure every grain of the produce as it was the fruit of six months of hard work of farmers. “The state government has made all-out arrangements for the smooth and 16.95L MT OF PADDY EXPECTED TO ARRIVE Chairing a review meeting with the officials concerned, Deputy Commissioner Surabhi Malik said as many as 16.95 lakh metric tonnes of paddy was expected to arrive in grain markets in Ludhiana. uninterrupted procurement of paddy crop in all mandis of the state,” she said. Malik said there was sufficient availability of gunny bags, besides proper arrangements for lifting and payments were already made at all 108 purchase centres where farmers would get the payment of their produce within the stipulated timeframe. She appealed to th farmers not to set fire crop residue in the fields as it would lead to air pollution. The DC said the district administration had made elaborate arrangements to ensure that the harvest of farmers was lifted from the grain markets promptly. The farmers would not be allowed to face any sort of problem while selling their produce. She said the sub-divisional magistrates and chiefs of all procurement agencies were asked to supervise paddy procurement operations minutely. Surabhi Malik also reviewed several arrangements at the grain markets to ensure a seamless procurement experience for the farmers. DC Surabhi Malik interacts with officials during a meeting in Ludhiana on Saturday. TRIBUNE PHOTO LAKHIMPUR KHERI INCIDENT Farmer unions to observe ‘black day’ on October 3 to seek justice for victims Tibune News Service Ludhiana, September 30 A meeting of 32 farmer unions under the Punjab chapter of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) was held under the leadership of Raghbir Singh Baniwala, Nachhatar Singh Jaito and Balwinder Singh. They announced to observe ‘black day’ on October 3 to seek justice for the victims of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident. On October 3, 2021, an incident occurred in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh, where an SUV mowed down the farmers protesting against the controversial agricultural laws. The SKM leaders announced that they would observe a ‘black day’ on October 3 in various tehsils and districts to mark SKM leaders address the media in Ludhiana. INDERJEET VERMA their protest. They disclosed their plan to burn effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra Teni, whose son Ashish Mishra is an accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident. In their official statement, the SKM leaders emphasised that Ajay Mishra’s continued presence in a ministerial role in the Modiled Central Government was weakening the Lakhimpur Kheri case. Simultaneously, they decried the unjust ordeal faced by the four youngsters who were being falsely accused in the case, causing them significant continued on page 2