18032024-LT-01.qxd 3/18/2024 12:48 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune THOUSANDS FROM DISTRICT APPEAR FOR NILP EXAM AT MALERKOTLA HOSPITAL, NGO FEEDING HUNGRY FOR 5 YRS VIJAY, FATIMA SANA WIND UP SHOOTING FOR UL JALOOL ISHQ Over 6,000 persons, including minors, old men and women, appeared for exam at various centres in dist. P2 Muslim Federation volunteers have been serving free meals at Malerkotla Civil Hospital for past five years. P3 Helmed by Vibhu Puri, the film also stars veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah and Sharib Hashmi in lead roles.P4 » » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 29°C | MIN 13°C YESTERDAY MAX 29°C | MIN 14°C SUNSET MONDAY 6.36 PM SUNRISE TUESDAY 6:31 AM MONDAY | 18 MARCH 2024 | LUDHIANA Poll code: 1,842 defacements removed Bizman gets extortioncall from England, one arrested frompublic properties, 176 from pvt ones Nabbed suspect ex-employee of victim, brother at large A number of hoardings, banners yet to be removed from various city areas Take approval for political ads on electronic, social media, parties told Harshraj Singh Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 17 The Municipal Corporation (MC) persisted in its drive to combat illegal political advertisements, aiming to enforce the model code of conduct for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. Nevertheless, no decisive action has been taken against politicians accountable for defacing public properties in the city. MC teams conducted a campaign to remove the defacements in city areas of seven constituencies — Sahnewal, Ludhiana East, Ludhiana South, Atam Nagar, Ludhiana Central, Ludhiana West and Ludhiana North. According to the report compiled by the corporation as of Sunday regarding the enforcement of the model code of conduct, a total of 2,991 advertisements, comprising 44 wall writings, 1,996 posters, 615 banners and 336 other materials, were recorded on public properties. Of these, 1,842 defacements were removed. Specifically, 491 defacements were removed in the Ludhiana East constituency, 555 in Ludhiana South, 333 in Atam Nagar, and 463 in Ludhiana North. However, no case was lodged. Furthermore, 416 advertisements, including 10 wall writings, 280 posters, 111 banners, and 15 others, were observed on private properties. Among these, 176 Tribune News Service A hoarding carrying pictures of the Chief Minister and the Health Minister installed outside the Civil Surgeon’s office; and (below) hoardings near Damoria bridge in Ludhiana. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN ‘EXISTING ADS TO BE REMOVED IN FEW DAYS’ An official from the Municipal Corporation said they were systematically assessing various areas of the city and it might take a few more days to eliminate existing political advertisements. defacements were removed from the Ludhiana West constituency, with no cases filed. Numerous political advertisements on both public and private properties are yet to be removed from various areas of the city. Several politicians have prominently displayed their photos on religious advertisements near Damoria Bridge and other parts of the city. Additionally, a political party has painted its advertisement on the wall of Damoria Bridge. Moreover, a banner featuring photos of Chief Minister and the Health Minister was spotted on the wall of a government department on Hambran Road, here. An official from the MC said they were systematically assessing various areas of the city and it might take a few more days to eliminate existing political advertisements. The report had been forwarded to the higher authorities and subsequent action would be taken in accordance with their directives. In December 2023, the MC issued a public notice instructing violators to remove unauthorised political, social and religious banners or hoardings from public properties in 15 days. The civic body also announced its intention to take action against violators under the Defacement of Public Property Act, 1985. However, despite these measures, the violators persisted in their actions, and the MC did not take decisive action at that time. Ludhiana, March 17 District Election Officer-cumDeputy Commissioner (DC) Sakshi Sawhney on Sunday asked political parties to seek permission to run advertisements on social media, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and electronic media platforms. Sawhney said only precertified advertisements would be allowed to be flashed on social media platforms. She said all expenditure on these advertisements would be added to the election expenditure account. Pamphlets, posters, handbills, etc, must carry the name of publisher and printer, besides the number of printed copies, and a declaration of the publisher must be submitted with all information regarding the publication. Further, political hoardings/banners/posters on private buildings in the city would need consent from owners of the private properties, the Deputy Commissioner said, adding that such lists must be submitted to her office. Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 17 The Ludhiana rural police today claimed to have cracked the case involving a threatening call to the Mandi Mullanpur-based businessman. The police arrested one person who hatched the conspiracy while brother of the suspect, who stays in England and made the extortion call, is at large. Earlier, the nabbed suspect was working at the office of the complainant but due to some issue, he had left the job. Dhanpreet Kaur, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Ludhiana Range, Navneet Singh Bains, Senior Superintendent of Police, Ludhiana (Rural), Parminder Singh, Superintendent of Police (Investigation), Ludhiana rural, Jatinderpal Singh, DSP, Dakha, Inspector Jasveer Singh and CIA inspector Kikar Singh issued a joint statement in this regard. Police officials said in February 2024, an unidentified person had called the businessman of Mullanpur from some foreign number and demanded extortion of Rs 10 lakh, else threatened to kill him. Later, on February 7, a case under Section 387 (putting person in fear of death or grievous hurt in order to commit extortion) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered against the unidentified suspects. During investigation, the police identified the suspects behind the extortion call as Vishal Dev, a resident of Kot Mangal Singh mohalla in Dholewal, Ludhiana, and his brother Rahul Dev, a resident of Birmingham (England), and they were nominated in the case, they said. Meanwhile, on March 15, Vishal was arrested. During questioning, he admitted that he hatched a conspiracy to extort money from the rich businessman of Mullanpur and he asked his brother Rahul Dev to call from an Englandbased number and demand extortion amount in lakhs. The suspects resorted to the trick to become rich in a short span of time, they said. “Since Vishal had the mobile number of the victim, he gave the same to his brother Rahul. Following which, the latter called the businessman from England and demanded Rs 10 lakh extortion, else threatened to kill him,” the police said. Vishal was arrested and produced in a court, which remanded him in two-day police custody. His brother Rahul was yet to be arrested, they added. One of the suspects in police custody in Ludhiana on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTO Police dispose of 2,752 complaints 2 booked for putting obscene pictures on wall Tribune News Service SPECIAL CAMPS Ludhiana, March 17 The Ludhiana police organised special camps at various police stations in the Commissionerate Police to dispose of pending complaints. The camps were supervised by senior police officials who also listened to the complaints. As per the Ludhiana police, as many as 2,752 complaints were disposed of at the camps. The officials disposed Cops attend to complaints at a special camp in Ludhiana. of the complaints after patiently attending to them. Commissioner of Police Kuldeep Singh Chahal in a statement issued stated that special teams were organised at police stations and units where officials attended the complainants and provided on-the-spot solutions to their complaints. The Ludhiana police would continue to make every possible effort to extend justice to the people. “Complaints that are lying pending would also be addressed on a priority basis soon and the camps would be organised in a regular manner in the future to clear the pendency. In the previous camp, 3,782 complaints were disposed of by the police. — TNS Ludhiana, March 17 Refusing a marriage proposal of her former friend costs a woman dear as the suspect got pasted posters having her obscene and morphed pictures on the boundary wall of her house. The City Jagraon police yesterday registered a case against her friend, identified as Raj Kumar, a resident of Gurdaspur, and his friend Deepak Kumar, a resident of Shakti Nagar, here. The complainant, a resident of Jagraon, told the police that in 2019, she worked at some laboratory in Jagraon where Raj Kumar was also working. She had developed a friendship with the suspect. After sometime, the man got married and he left the job and gone to his village. The complainant said she also left the job at the laboratory and joined another job in Ludhiana. She had already blocked the number of the sus- pect after he got married. In 2022, when Raj Kumar went to Malaysia, he again started calling her and proposed her for marriage. However, she denied the proposal on the pretext that he was already married. “Despite being married, the suspect continued to force me to get married with him. When I refused the proposal, he started threatening me and said if I would not marry him, he would viral her obscene and morphed pictures on social media. He also threatened to send the pictures to my relatives to defame me,” she said. The victim said on February 11, 2024, he sent his friend, who pasted posters containing her obscene pictures on the wall of her house, adding that afterwards, she lodged a complaint and after preliminary probe, the police registered a case. ASI Jagroop Singh said one of the suspects, Deepak, was arrested and five posters were seized from him. 26 mobile phones Day after FIR against MP, residents again oppose carcass plant seized from jail Harshraj Singh Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 17 A surprise checking conducted in the Central Jail, Ludhiana, led to the recovery of 26 mobile phones in three separate incidents. Of the 26 mobiles, 19 were found abandoned in jail barracks. In the first incident, three mobile phones were seized from four jail inmates, identified as Jagsir Singh, alias Jagga, Raminder Singh, alias Gagandeen Singh, Gurvinder Singh and Akashdeep Singh. Assistant superintendent of jail Surinderpal Singh said he, along with jail staff, had conducted a checking in the jail that led to recovery of three mobiles. A case was registered against the suspects on Saturday. Assistant superintendent of jail Bhiwam Tej Singla said on March 9, during a surprise checking in the jail, four mobile phones were seized from Ravi Kumar, Ishwar Singh, Amandeep Singh and Shiv Kumar. A case under the Prisons Act was registered against them on Saturday. In another incident, assistant superintendent of jail Avtar Singh said on March 9, he, along with a special team, conducted a checking in the jail. Each nook and corner of the jail was checked during which 19 mobile phones were found abandoned. Some inmates might have abandoned the same on the jail premises to prevent them from being caught. Now, investigation in the case would be done to identify the inmates who had dumped the mobiles. A case under the Prisons Act was registered against the unidentified inmates and their names would be added to the FIR after their identification. Ludhiana, March 17 A day after Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu and over 100 unidentified persons were booked for allegedly locking the MC’s carcass utilisation plant at Rasulpur Patti village near Noorpur Bet village here, a large number of residents gathered near the plant on Sunday. Bittu also addressed the people who had been opposing the opening of the plant. Significantly, after making efforts for over two years, the Municipal Corporation, with the support of the administration and police, had succeeded in making the carcass utilisation plant operational on January 15, 2024. However, it was locked on January 25 and is still non-operational. On Sunday, again, there was opposition from a number of villagers against the issue, with concerns raised that its operation would lead to further diffi- culties and health problems for them. They raised questions over registration of FIR in the matter related to the locking of the carcass plant and claimed that the plant was set up on land designated for agricultural purposes near residences. They alleged that it could potentially contaminate groundwater and emit foul odours. Balbir Singh, who lives in Rasulpur Patti, said they don’t want the plant to be made operational again. He alleged that officials had previously misled them by stating that the Municipal Corporation intended to install a plant for preparing poultry bird feed. However, when it was established a few years ago, they learnt that it was actually a carcass utilisation plant. Balbir alleged that the MC had taken no nod from the gram panchayat to set up the plant. The carcass utilisation plant was established at the cost of around Rs 7.98 crore under the Smart City Mission during the c m y b Residents hold a protest at Rasulpur Patti village. TRIBUNE PHOTO OPENED ON JAN 15, LOCKED AFTER 10 DAYS After making efforts for over two years, the Municipal Corporation, with the support of the administration and police, had succeeded in making the carcass utilisation plant at Rasulpur Patti operational on January 15, 2024. However, it was locked on January 25 and is still non-operational. regime of the previous Congress government. The then Cabinet minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, along with the then Mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu, were supposed to inaugurate the project in the presence of MC officials on July 13, 2021. However, a large number of people from Rasulpur Patti and nearby villages along with members of a farmers’ union had gathered to oppose the inauguration of the plant. Amid massive protest by the people, the plant could not be made operational that time. Thereafter, the MC had made multiple unsuccessful attempts to make it functional. Last year, a city resident had moved the National Green Tribunal (NGT) against the unscientific handling of dead animals and the non-operational carcass utilisation plant. The NGT had then directed the state PCB, CPCB and MC Commissioner to take necessary steps and submit an action-taken report as the plant remained non-functional. Before the hearing in the matter, the plant was made operational on January 15, 2024, amid protests. On the same day, some protesters announced that they would permit the plant to remain operational only till a week. On January 25, it was allegedly locked by MP Bittu and others. According to the NGT order dated March 5, a fresh report had been filed before the Tri- bunal by the MC Commissioner, stating that the carcass plant was made operational on January 15, 2024, and it functioned till January 25, 2024. Communications sent by the MC chief to the Deputy Commissioner of Ludhiana, enclosed along with the report, mention that on January 25, some villagers and political representatives came to the carcass plant, threatened workers and locked it. During the hearing, the NGT Bench stated that the report did not reflect any action against those who had illegally forced the closure of the plant. No details of any such FIR or the names of the persons responsible for the same have been disclosed. The NGT order had stated that the state Chief Secretary should appear virtually on the next date of hearing and inform the Tribunal about the efforts made by the state authorities to ensure the smooth running of the carcass plant. Now, the next hearing will be held on April 5.
The Tribune, now published from Chandigarh, started publication on February 2, 1881, in Lahore (now in Pakistan). It was started by Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, a public-spirited philanthropist, and is run by a trust comprising four eminent persons as trustees.
The Tribune, the largest selling daily in North India, publishes news and views without any bias or prejudice of any kind. Restraint and moderation, rather than agitational language and partisanship, are the hallmarks of the paper. It is an independent newspaper in the real sense of the term.
The English edition apart, the 133-year-old Tribune has two sister publications, Punjabi Tribune (in Punjabi) and Dainik Tribune (in Hindi).