19022024-LT-01.qxd 2/19/2024 1:01 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune ‘STATE GOVT BIASED TOWARDS UNDERPRIVILEGED STUDENTS’ OVER 4,600 STRAY DOGS STERILISED IN 6 MONTHS RAKUL PREET SINGH JETS OFF TO GOA FOR WEDDING Teachers at Meritorious Schools alleged that government wants to shut these schools. P2 MC Commissioner claimed that over 4,600 dogs have been sterilised during the last six months in Amritsar. P3 Rakul Preet Singh, who is set to tie knot with producer Jackky Bhagnani, jetted off to Goa with her parents. P4 » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 25°C | MIN 12°C YESTERDAY MAX 24.2°C | MIN 9°C SUNSET MONDAY 6.16 PM SUNRISE TUESDAY 7:03 AM » MONDAY | 19 FEBRUARY 2024 | LUDHIANA Man booked for raping, impregnating 32-year-old Ludhiana, February 18 The women police station here on Saturday registered a case against a man on the charges of raping, impregnating a woman and later forcing her to abort the child. The suspect has been identified as Nitin Tomar, native of Himachal Pradesh, at present staying in Phase 1, Dugri. The complainant (32) told the police that the man had developed a friendship with her in 2021. The friendship turned into a love affair after the suspect promised the woman that he would marry her. The victim alleged that he first developed a sexual relationship with her in March 2021 and raped her on several occasions on the pretext of marrying her. Later, when she became pregnant, the victim asked him to marry her. He refused to marry the woman and later forced to got her pregnancy aborted. She alleged that to defame her, the suspect had revealed about her pregnancy to some people who also called the victim and insulted her. ASI Meet Ram said recently, the woman had lodged a police complaint. After conducting a preliminary probe, a case of rape, cheating and criminal intimidation was registered and raids were on to nab him. — TNS 5 hurt as dense fog leads to two pile-ups in Khanna Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 18 Dense fog on Sunday led to two pile-ups involving around seven vehicles on the National Highway-44 in Khanna. Five persons suffered injuries in the accidents were taken to a Civil Hospital, Khanna, for treatment. The mishaps occurred near the office of the Khanna SSP here. After the incidents, a team of the Sadak Surakhya Force (SSF), Khanna, reached the spots within a few minutes and first-aid was given to all persons involved in the mishaps. Five injured persons were taken to the hospital. Traffic on the highway had also come to a standstill due to the accidents. Later, SSF personnel removed the damaged vehicles from the road and resumed the traffic. As per information, around 8.10 am on Sunday, there was low visibility on the national highway, which led to a two pile-ups of around seven vehicles. Two trucks, a motorcycle, two cars, a bus and a pick-up vehicle were involved in the pile-ups. The injured persons include a bus driver, a woman and three others. In one of the mishaps, a car, in which a woman and Ferozepur man lands in police dragnet with 300 gm heroin Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 18 The Ludhiana rural police (Sidhwan Bet police station) arrested a man and seized 300 gm of heroin from his possession. The suspect was on the way to deliver drugs when he was nabbed by the police. The man has been identified as Ranjit Singh, a resident of Ferozepur. Investigating officer in the case assistant-subinspector (ASI) Lakhbir Singh said he, along with a police team, was patrolling near the bus stand in Sidhwan Bet on Saturday, during which he received a tipoff that the suspect, who was into the heroin smug- ‘IDENTIFIED MAJOR DRUG SUPPLIERS’ Police sources said while questioning the suspect, the police had identified some major heroin suppliers and investigation had also been launched to nab them. More recovery of heroin could be expected in coming days. gling trade, was on the way to Sidhwan Bet on a motorcycle from Ferozepur to deliver a huge quantity of heroin to his clients. The ASI said after verifying information, the police laid a naka at a strategic point in Sidhwan Bet where the motorcycle was stopped for checking. During frisking of the sus- pect, heroin was seized. After registering a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, against the suspect, he was arrested. Now, police remand of the man would be sought from court so that in further questioning, entire drug supply line could be busted and big suppliers of heroin could also be nabbed. Police sources said while questioning the suspect, the police had identified some major heroin suppliers and investigation had also been launched to nab them. More recovery of heroin could be expected in coming days. One of the vehicles that was involved in a pile-up in Khanna on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTO SEVEN VEHICLES INVOLVED IN PILE-UPS Two trucks, a motorcycle, two cars, a bus and a pick-up vehicle were involved in the pile-ups. The injured persons include a bus driver, a woman and three others. Traffic on the highway had also come to a standstill due to the incidents. Later, SSF personnel removed the damaged vehicles from the road and resumed the traffic. other occupants were travelling in, rammed into a truck on the national highway, following which another vehicle rammed into the car from the rear. Nobody suffered any serious injuries in the mishap. Police sources said in the first mishap, a motorcycle rammed into a stationary roadways bus while the truck, which was behind the motorcycle, applied brakes. However, the bus coming behind the truck failed to notice the big vehicle and rammed into the same. While in the other pile-up, a car collided with a truck from the rear, following which a pick-up vehicle, which was behind the car, rammed into the vehicle. As per traffic police incharge SI Satnam Singh, five persons, who suffered injuries, were taken to the hospital for treatment and their condition was stated to be stable. The preliminary probe suggested that dense fog was the main cause behind the accidents and occupants of all vehicles involved in the pile-ups said low visibility caused the mishaps. The suspect in custody of the Ludhiana rural police on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTO Major fire breaks out at factory Foggy morning greets residents, max temp rises to 24.2 Tribune News Service Our Correspondent Doraha, February 18 A major fire broke out this evening at a transformer manufacturing factory near here. Short-circuit is said to be the reason behind the fire. Though the losses could not be ascertained at the initial stage, no loss of life has been reported. Doraha SHO Rohit Sharma reached the spot after getting information. He said as thinner and paints, which were highly inflammable, were lying in the factory, the fire spread within no time. “The blaze spread fast and engulfed the entire FIRE CONTROLLED IN OVER ONE HOUR: SHO Doraha SHO Rohit Sharma said: “The blaze spread fast and engulfed the entire area within no time. Fire tenders reached the spot from Doraha and Khanna and these took more than an hour to douse the flames.” area within no time. Fire tenders reached the spot from Doraha and Khanna and these took more than an hour to douse the flames,” he said. “It is too difficult to assess the total loss at this stage since the major concern was to bring the fire under control first,” the SHO said. A fire station employee, Sukhdeep Singh, said as soon as they got information, they reached the spot. “Besides thinners and paints, oxygen cylinders were also lying in the factory. Had the fire not been controlled in time, the loss would have been huge. Such a fire could not be controlled with water, hence, we used special foam to extinguish the flames. However, two fire brigade vehicles have been deployed near the factory to control the situation if the fire ignites again,” he said. Factory employees could not be contacted despite repeated attempts. Ludhiana, February 18 After a hiatus, city residents again woke up to a foggy morning on Sunday. The dense blanket of fog engulfed the district today and two vehicle pile-ups were also occurred due to foggy conditions in Khanna. The maximum temperature recorded today was 24.2°C while minimum was 9°C. Average air quality index (AQI) of Ludhiana on Sunday was 202 which comes in the poor category. According to the Meteorological Centre, Chandigarh, thunderstorm, lightning with hail along with gusty winds are likely on Monday. “Light to moderate rainfall Motorists commute amid dense fog in Ludhiana on Sunday morning. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN is likely to occur at many places in Ludhiana on Monday. Same conditions are likely to stay till February 22,” said a spokesperson for the Meteorological Centre. “I was surprised to see fog in the morning. I thought fog- gy days were gone but it seems they are back again,” said Rupinder, a city resident. Another resident, Paramjit, who was travelling to Patiala to attend a wedding, had a difficult time while commuting early on Sunday morning. “I was not expecting fog, if I had the slightest idea, I would have gone a day earlier to avoid such a situation. It was difficult to drive and I even witnessed an accident due to fog on my way,” he said. PAU experts while giving advisory to farmers for vegetables said they should remove plastic sheets from prepared vegetables under tunnels. “Plant nurseries of chilli, brinjal and polythene/plugtray planted cucurbits in the field conditions by following recommended practices. It is also a right time for direct sowing of okra and cowpea and cucurbits such as muskmelon, cucumber, bitter gourd, bottle gourd, pumpkin, sponge gourd and squashes,” they said. For fruits, farmers should apply one irrigation to ber orchards at this time as trees are laden with fruits and also apply light irrigation to citrus, peach and plum orchards and apply recommended doses of inorganic fertilisers. Ladhowal toll plaza remains free for public for second day Hearing, speech Manav Mander STATE PLAZAS ‘TOLL FREE’ FROM FEB 20-22 Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 18 The Ladhowal toll plaza remained free for the second day today. The toll plaza was made free for commuters for two days yesterday by the Bhart Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) in support of the farmers’ protest against the Union Government for getting MSP on crops and other demands. Addressing the farmers, Charan Singh Noorpura, president of the union, said it was two years ago that the government accepted demands of the farmers but it failed to issue any notification in this regard due to which they had to resort to protest again. “The Central Government offers MSP for only 23 crops and does not assure procurement at this price. Paddy A meeting of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha was held in the city on Sunday where it was decided that all toll plazas in the state will be made toll-free from February 20-22. Farmers protest at the toll plaza; and (right) a protester gives signal to motorists to cross the plaza at Ladhowal on Sunday. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN MSP is Rs 2,183 per quintal. However, it is purchased by traders and their intermediaries in Bihar and East UP for as low as Rs 1,200-Rs 1,400 per quintal. Wheat MSP for 2023-24 was Rs 2,125 but it was being purchased in areas with no government procurement at Rs 1,800 per quintal,” he said. “It’s a result of absence of government procurement agencies and no legal guarantee of procurement and this happens to all crops. We want assured prices and government mandis in all states for c m y b all crops,” he said. Saudagar Singh, general secretary of the union, said the entire debate on the MSP was about increasing farmers’ income. With high rate of inflation, it has become impossible for farmers to make both ends meet. Another leader of the union said the government was only thinking about the interests of the multinational companies and nobody was really concerned about small farmers who were already under debt. Meanwhile, a meeting of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) was held here today in which it was decided that all toll plazas in the state would be made toll-free from February 20-22. impaired woman raped by landlord Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 18 A hearing and speech impaired woman was allegedly raped by her landlord in the Focal Point here. The suspect took advantage of the woman’s inability to speak or hear as the victim could not raise the alarm when she was being violated. The Focal Point police on Saturday registered a case against the man, Dharmender Kumar, of Dhandari Khurd on the complaint of the woman’s husband. In the complaint given to the police, the woman’s husband stated that he went to work on Friday morning and his wife was alone at home. Around 5 pm, he got a call from his neighbour who informed that his wife had been crying for a long time and it seemed that she was in some trouble. When he reached home, the woman was badly crying. On being asked the reason, she explained in sign language that their landlord Dharmender, seeing her alone, entered her room. Afterwards, he forcefully dragged the victim to his room and raped her. SHO Nardev Singh said a case under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered and raids were on to nab the suspect.
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