22022024-LT-01.qxd 2/22/2024 12:59 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune SIMARDEEP, AKASH CLINCH PCTE BODYBUILDING TITLES STRAY DOGS ON PROWL IN ABOHAR, NEARBY VILLAGES VIDYA BALAN FILES FIR OVER FAKE INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT Twenty-one participants showcased their sculpted physiques in presence of a panel of judges in the contest. P2 The stray dog menace has been haunting the residents of Abohar and surrounding villages. P3 Vidya Balan lodged an FIR against an unknown person for creating a fake Instagram account in her name. P4 » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 22°C | MIN 11°C YESTERDAY MAX 21.8°C | MIN 9.4°C SUNSET THURSDAY 6:19 PM » SUNRISE FRIDAY 7:00 AM THURSDAY | 22 FEBRUARY 2024 | LUDHIANA Miscreants pelt stones, open fire at house over property dispute Ludhiana, February 21 Several assailants pelted stones and opened fire at a house in Jot Enclave on the Manakwal road on Monday night. They had a property dispute with the house owner which was said to be the cause of attack. The Sadar police yesterday registered a case under various sections of the IPC and under the Arms Act against the suspects identified as Kuldeep Singh, Kulwant Singh of Harnam Nagar, Charanjit Singh Bhatia of Sua road, Parminder Singh of Jagraon bridge and Paramjit Singh of Gill Road. The complainant, Jaswant Singh, said on the night of February 19, the suspects came outside their house and started pelting stones at the gate. They also tried to break open the gate by hitting it by swords. They had threatened that if he would not vacate the house, he will be killed. The miscreants also opened three bullets at the gate to intimidate him. Jaswant said he had a property dispute with the suspects and they wanted to take possession of his house. Earlier also, they had attacked him on various occasions. Investigating officer ASI Satwinder Singh said raids were on to nab them. — TNS City roads in bad shape even as MC spent ~292 cr in 3 yrs 758 road development works undertaken, max 674 in 2021-22 Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 21 The majority of roads, both inner and outer, in the city continue to be in a bad shape despite heavy expenditure made by the Municipal Corporation (MC) on road development works during the past three years. The MC had spent a whopping Rs 292 crore on construction and repair of the road infrastructure between 2021-22 and 2023-24 with a maximum amount of Rs 262.3 crore spent on 674 road development works in 2021-22 alone, official records have revealed. A visit to various parts of the city, spread across 159.39 sq km with over 4,000-km road, lane and by-lane network, showed that most of the road and lane network was in a dilapidated condition with deep and wide potholes, posing risk to commuters. The road and lane network in the city, which has a population of over 17 lakh as per the 2011 Census and over 24 lakh registered vehicles, besides a huge number of non-motorised vehicles, presents a picture of sheer neglect The Dairy Complex road in a dilapidated state. ASHWANI DHIMAN TELLING NUMBERS YEAR 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 Total WORKS 674 65 19 758 COST ONGOING COMPLETED 26,230.55 111 563 2,357.12 55 10 611.79 19 0 29,199.46 185 573 (Source: MC, cost in rupees lakh) EFFORTS ON TO FACELIFT ROADS, LANES ❝ We are working hard and making massive expenditure to facelift roads, lanes and by-lanes in the city. While the majority of the works have been completed, rest were in the advanced stage of completion. Our endeavour is to provide the best basic civic infrastructure in Ludhiana. — Sandeep Rishi, MC COMMISSIONER ❞ as majority of the roads and lanes are in a shambles. Official data available with The Tribune revealed that the MC had initiated a total of 758 road development works at the cost of Rs 291.99 crore between 2021-22 and 2023-24. While the maximum of 674 works at the cost of Rs 262.3 crore were undertaken in 2021-22, 65 projects worth Rs 23.57 crore were initiated in 2022-23 and the minimum of 19 schemes at the cost of Rs 6.12 crore were initiated in 2023-24. The civic body records showed that as many as 573 road development works at the cost of Rs 204.83 crore had already been completed while 185 projects worth Rs 87.16 crore were still in progress. Of the completed works, 563 had been done at the cost of Rs 203.76 crore from the allocation of 2021-22, and 10 had been finished at the cost of Rs 1.07 crore from those initiated in 2022-23 while none of the total 19 projects worth Rs 6.12 crore started in 2023-24 has been completed so far. The ongoing works included 111 roads at the cost of Rs 58.54 crore from the allocation of 2021-22, 55 worth Rs 22.5 crore from the share of 2022-23, and all 19 projects worth Rs 6.12 crore initiated in 2023-24. Six arrested for killing man Victim was brutally murdered with sharp weapons on Feb 14 Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 21 The Khanna police claimed to have nabbed six persons who had brutally killed a man on February 14 in Machhiwara Sahib. The suspects have been identified as Gurpreet Singh (23), Ashok Kumar (20), Jaspreet Singh (22), Gaganpreet Singh and Taranpreet Singh, all residents of Machhiwara, and Arun Somaj (32) of Basant Avenue, here. Superintendent of Police (Investigation), Khanna, Sourav Jindal, Samrala DSP Tarlochan Singh, CIA incharge Inspector Amandeep Singh and Machhiwara SHO Bhinder Singh addressed a press conference in this regard on Wednesday. Jindal said on February 14 when Amit Kumar and his friend Pardeep Singh were going to their homes in a car, the suspects attacked the duo and damaged their vehicle. When Amit sped away the car to save their lives, the vehicle overturned in the fields in Machhiwara. Afterwards, the assailants also reached the place and brutally beaten up the duo with sharp weapons and sticks. Both injured were taken to the hospital, where on February 15 Pardeep succumbed to his injuries. Initially, the police registered an attempt-to murder case against the assailants. Lat- er, when one of the victims succumbed, murder charge was added to the case. The SP said after the incident, the police had been conducting raids at the whereabouts of the suspects and nabbed six persons. Four other suspects, Anmol Singh, Jeeta, Sameer, Jaspreet Singh, alias Jassa, who were also nominated in the murder case, were yet to be arrested. Jindal said among the nabbed suspects, Gurpreet was facing a case of kidnapping registered at Machhiwara in 2024, Jaspreet was facing three criminal cases at the Maloud police station in the past while Gaganpreet was booked in a drug case at Samrala in 2021. Five of the suspects in custody of the Khanna police on Wednesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO 2 land in police net Vigilance nabs man for taking ~30K bribe Truck overturns on car, close shave for with 1.97-kg heroin Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 21 The Special Task Force (STF) claimed to have nabbed two persons and recovered 1.97 kg of heroin from his possession. The suspects have been identified as Shubham Kumar, alias Aman (23), of Patiala and Honey Kumar (23), a local resident. STF Inspector Harbans Singh said a tip-off was received that the suspects, who were into the heroin smuggling trade, were on the way to deliver heroin to their clients in the city. After verifying information, STF officials laid a naka at a strategic point and stopped their motorcycle for checking. Later, during checking of their bag, 1.97 kg of heroin was recovered. The Inspector said during preliminary questioning of the duo, Shubham confessed that he came out on bail from jail in August 2023 as around a dozen criminal cases were registered against him in the past. After coming out on bail, he continued the illegal trade. Honey said he joined the drug trade to become rich in a short span of time. Now, the police remand of the suspects would be sought from court so that the entire drug supply line could be busted, Harbans said. A case has been registered. Ludhiana, February 21 The Vigilance Bureau (VB), Ludhiana, today arrested Amardeep Singh Bangar, a resident of Amarpura, here, who has his office at Jagjit Nagar, for accepting a bribe of Rs 30,000 in the name of Ludhiana Municipal Corporation (MC) officials. An official spokesperson for the state Vigilance Bureau said the suspect was arrested on the basis of an online complaint lodged at the Chief Minister’s anti-corruption helpline by Naresh Kumar, a resident of Preet Nagar, Shimlapuri. He said the complainant alleged in his complaint that Amardeep had taken a bribe of Rs 30,000 from him for getting issued a no objection cer- The suspect in custody of VB sleuths in Ludhiana. TRIBUNE PHOTO tificate (NOC) from the Municipal Corporation. The spokesperson said during verification of the complaint, it was found that Madan Lal, father of the complainant, had purchased a house in 2022 and he needed an NOC to sell the house. The complainant had alleged that Amardeep, a private per- son, claimed himself to be working in patwarkhana (revenue office) at Gill village and he could get issued the NOC soon by paying a bribe of Rs 30,000 as he was acquainted with officials of the MC, Ludhiana. On his assurance, the complainant paid Rs 30,000 to Amardeep at his office in the presence of his friend Om Prakash. After failing to provide the NOC, Amardeep gave a cheque for Rs 40,000 to the complainant and told him to return Rs 10,000 to him after withdrawing Rs 40,000. But the cheque could not be passed due to mismatched signature. The spokesperson said during investigation, allegations made by the complainant against Amardeep were found to be true. In this regard, a case under Section 7-A of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 420 of the IPC was registered at the VB Range police station here against Amardeep and he was arrested on Wednesday. Further investigation in the case was on and role of MC officials would also be verified, he added. mother-daughter duo Ludhiana, February 21 A container truck loaded with scrap overturned on a car on the national highway in Khanna on Wednesday. A woman and her daughter travelling in the car had a miraculous escape. Passersby witnessing the mishap pulled the mother and daughter out of the vehicle. As per information, Richa Gupta of Khanna was going to drop her daughter Damini to Gobindgarh Public School. When the car went reached the national highway from the service lane near Shani Mandir, the container truck coming from the rear hit the vehicle. Later, the front part of the container overturned on the car and the rear container filled with scrap fell on the road. Richa’s husband Sumit Gupta said the accident occurred due to the negligence of the truck driver. The truck driver, Ramakant, also helped to pull out the woman and her daughter of the car. After receiving information about the accident, City Police Station SHO Manpreet Singh reached the spot. The Sadak Suraksha Force was also called, which cleared the road by shifting the vehicles to the roadside. — TNS 2 get bullet injuries Day 5: Ladhowal toll remains as gangsters clash free as farmers continue protest Tribune News Service Students bask in the sun at Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana. PHOTO: ASHWANI DHIMAN Weather likely to be cold, dry today Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 21 After the city witnessed gusty winds for the past two days, the sun shone here on Wednesday. The weather is likely to remain cold and dry on Thursday. Today, the maximum tem- perature was recorded at 21.8°C while minimum was recorded at 9.4°C. The length of the day was 11 hours and 16 minutes. The morning relative humidity was recorded at 95 per cent and the evening relative humidity was 42 per cent, according to the Punjab Agricultural University. According to the Department of Climate Change and Agricultural Meteorology at the PAU, Ludhiana, the weather is expected to remain cold and dry over Ludhiana and its adjoining areas during the next 24 hours. Ludhiana, February 21 A clash between two gangs, led by gangster Shubham Arora, alias Mota, and gangster Ankur, at Subhani building here last night rendered bullet injuries to two persons. Shubham and his accomplice Nadeem suffered bullet injuries and were undergoing treatment at a hospital while members of the opposite group had suffered minor injuries in the clash. However, they were not admitted to hospital. Nadeem suffered bullet injury in his back while Shubham got a minor bullet injury on his thigh. After receiving information, the police reached the crime scene. They said during the gang war, the gangsters also broke CCTV cameras installed at the crime scene to prevent the police from identifying them. c m y b The police said gangster Shubham was returning from his friend’s party late on Tuesday night and on the way, he and his friends had a clash with Ankur and his gang members near Subhani Building. Bullets were reportedly fired from both sides and bottles were also thrown at each other by the gangs. Sources said Shubham, who was facing many cases, had come out on bail from jail two months ago. Ankur and Shubham were stated to be good friends in the past. There was a clash between them in the past, after which the enmity between them increased. ADCP (Crime) Amandeep Singh Brar said the police registered a case on the charges of attempt to murder and causing affray against Shubham, Nadeem, Ankur, Rubal, Happy and others. — TNS Ludhiana, February 21 By raising their voices for MSP guarantee for crops and fulfilment of their other demands, members of Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) continued their protest on the fifth day at the Ladhowal toll plaza. They made the toll plaza free on the highway to mark their protest against the failure of the Central Government in meeting their demands. During the ongoing protest at the toll plaza on Wednesday, union members criticised the Central Government’s coercive measures to suppress the voice of the farmers. Charan Singh Noorpura of the union said they continue to protest relentlessly, not only by freeing the toll plaza but also by staging Farmers hold a protest at the Ladhowal toll plaza. INDERJEET VERMA continuous dharnas in front of BJP leaders’ residences, demanding the fulfilment of their accepted demands. It was emphasised that the struggle was going on for their demands. They also sought from the Central Government to call a special session of Parliament to ensure the enactment of laws guar- anteeing MSP on crops and meeting other demands. They said the BJP was attempting to suppress the emerging strength of the farmers by resorting to violent means to serve the interests of big corporates. The farmers had been staging protest at the Ladhowal toll plaza since February 17.
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