19032024-LT-01.qxd 3/19/2024 1:07 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune OPEN URINATION PERSISTS OUTSIDE RLY STN, CITY AREAS 40-YEAR-OLD MAN DIES BY SUICIDE IN DISTRICT JAIL ANANYA, MADHURI TURN ON THE HEAT AT LFW GRAND FINALE Lack of an adequate number of proper public facilities has led to open urination becoming a common occurrence. P2 A prisoner committed suicide by hitting himself with a sharp object in district jail of Sriganganagar. P3 It was all about glamour, fashion and star power at the grand finale of Lakme Fashion Week x FDCI 2024. P4 » » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 30°C | MIN 13°C YESTERDAY MAX 29°C | MIN 12°C SUNSET TUESDAY 6.37 PM SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 6:30 AM TUESDAY | 19 MARCH 2024 | LUDHIANA Man robbed of car on Dhandra Road by trio Tribune News Service 4-year-old child of migrant Nine-year-old boy dies after hit by train, narrow escape for 2 children family raped, murdered Tribune New Service Blood-stained bed sheets recovered from migrant labourer’s room Our Correspondent Mandi Ahmedgarh, March 18 The Sadar police have initiated a probe into an incident in which a four-year-child of a migrant family had been raped and killed. They were staying at a colony on the premises of a woolen mill, situated along the LudhianaMalerkotla road near here. The profusely bleeding body of the victim was found in a bag lying along the wall of the mill. Though the police have rounded up a migrant labourer on the basis of circumstantial evidence, the police are yet to ascertain where he is the main suspect or somebody else had com- Cops inspect the crime scene near Ahmedgarh. mitted the heinous crime at his room where bloodstained bedsheets were recovered during investigation. The victim’s father informed the police that he had been staying at the colony for about seven years and his four-year-old daughter had gone missing from his room about 11 am on Monday. It was about 3.30 pm that the family came to know about a bag containing a child’s body was found along the wall of the factory. Having received information about the recovery of the body of the child, police officials, led by Ahmedgarh DSP Amritpal Singh Bhatti and Sadar SHO Surinder Bhalla initiated a probe into sequence of events leading to the crime. It was during investigation that some bloodstained bedsheets were recovered from the room of a migrant labourer, who was yet to be arrested. The DSP said the police had initiated a probe into the incident but it was too early to arrive at a conclusion regarding the identity of the suspect. He said some persons had been rounded up on the basis of circumstantial evidence. The police were yet to register an FIR in the case. Ludhiana, March 18 In a tragic incident, a nineyear-old child was fatally hit by a train while crossing the railway tracks near the Peeru Banda area, Salem Tabri, here on Monday. According to information, his foot got stuck on the railway tracks, following which the train reached the place. Meanwhile, two other children, who were also crossing the tracks, had a narrow escape. The deceased has been identified as Shiva. He was a student of Arya School. As soon as the police received information about the child’s death after being hit by the train, they reached the scene and started investigation in the matter. On receiving information about the tragedy, grieving family members of the The wailing kin of Shiva (inset) in Ludhiana. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN child reached the spot. A local resident said the incident was so horrifying that the child’s limbs were severed. It has been learnt that the child came under a passenger train. He said the boy was crossing the railway tracks with his two friends when the train POLL CODE VIOLATION Tribune Reporters Ludhiana, March 18 Violating the model code of conduct, pictures of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann can be still seen at hoardings at Aam Aadmi Clinic (AAC) located near Chand Cinema. Though most of the pics have been covered, these remain an exception. The state Health Department has already written to all district heads in the state to either remove or cover pictures of the Chief Minister as the model code of conduct has been imposed. Dr Rupinder Gill, under whose zone the Aam Aadmi Clinic falls, said he had already issued instructions to the officials concerned and asked them to cover the pictures. “I will again ask the doctor concerned to cover the picture as it is a clear violation of A hoarding bearing image of the CM at the AAC near Chand Cinema. the poll code,” he said. Not only outside but pictures of the Chief Minister have also been put inside all clinics and some clinics also have flex boards carrying images of the Punjab and Delhi Chief Ministers. BJP chief gets notice Assistant Returning Officer, Ludhiana West-cum-Joint Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, has served a notice on Ludhiana BJP president Rajnish Dhiman, stating that a few party workers, including Sunita Saini, Aman Saini and Balwinder Singh Bindar, had violated the poll code, which was imposed on March 16. On March 17, a camp was organised, which was in violation of the poll code. A complaint regarding the same was received by the office through WhatsApp. The BJP president has been told to submit his reply to the office within 24 hours and also mention, if any permission was sought to hold the camp. In case the reply is not given or delayed, action, as per the Election Commission, will be taken against the violators, said the Assistant Returning Officer. The notice was served today. Mandi Ahmedgarh, March 18 The Dehlon police claimed to have arrested a woman and her paramour, who had killed her husband Harjit Singh of Kilaraipur village in Ludhiana district on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday. The body of the victim was found hidden in the bushes along the Abohar branch of the Sirhind canal near Khan- pur village on Thursday. Earlier, the police claimed to have solved the case within hours of the crime. Harwider Kaur, alias Mani, and Sajid Alam, alias Bengali, had absconded from the village after recovery of the body, which had made the investigating officials believe that the duo had got the victim murdered by some professional contract killer. However, no such killer has been identified so far. Police officials, supervised by Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Guriqbal Singh claimed to have arrested the duo near Jan- Remove political ads from pvt properties or submit consent Ludhiana, March 18 District Election Officer (DEO) Sakshi Sawhney on Monday directed all political parties either to remove any kind of political advertisement in the form of banners, posters, hoarding, billboards/stickers/flags from private properties by tomorrow (March 19) 3 pm or submit consent of owners 72-hour deadline ends today of the properties. She said as the 72-hour deadline ends tomorrow 3 pm (since the announcement of the model code of conduct), all political advertisements must be taken off from pri- vate properties. If the parties had taken consent from the owners, the same could be submitted with annexure 2, which could be downloaded from Ludhiana.nic.in. Sawhney said if the political parties fail to do follow the directions, strict action would be taken in accordance with provisions of the poll code. — TNS Work picks up pace to renovate, upgrade dist hospital at ~20 cr Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 18 The work has picked up pace to renovate and upgrade the ailing healthcare services at the district hospital here. One of the biggest district health facilities in the state, with an OPD exceeding 1,100 patients daily, was being RS MP Arora takes up major philanthropist project with 6-month deadline revamped, expanded and given a new look at an estimated cost of Rs 20 crore with a deadline to complete the work in six months. It has been taken up by Rajya Sabha MP from Ludhiana Sanjeev Arora, who has adopted three district hospitals (DHs) for complete renovation and upgradation in the state. Besides Ludhiana, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) member in the Upper House of Parliament from the state has undertaken the task to arrived. His friends moved away from the tracks. But Shiva’s foot got stuck in the tracks due to which he was hit by the train. Police officials sent the body for a post-mortem examination. After the autopsy, the body will be handed over to the family. — TNS CM’s pictures still intact at Woman, paramour held for killing spouse AAC near Chand Cinema HIMANSHU MAHAJAN Ludhiana, March 18 Though the case of a car robbery that occurred at Middha Chowk near Kochar Market is yet to be solved, a similar incident has now been reported from Dhandra Road, here. Three miscreants took away an i20 car from a city resident by flashing a sharp weapon. The suspects are yet to be identified and caught. Akhlesh Kumar, a 32-yearold resident of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar on Dhandra Road, stated that he was on his way home on the night of March 15 when three miscreants surrounded him and threatened him with a sharp weapon. He alleged that the suspects then took away his car and managed to escape towards the Dugri side. He said they had left their motorcycle at the crime scene. On receiving information about the crime, the police initiated an investigation and began checking footage of nearby CCTV cameras to identify the culprits. In the complaint filed with the police, Kumar explained that he was into the flex printing business. On the night of March 15, he visited the medical shop of his friend Kuldeep Gupta near Ekam Dairy on Dhandra Road. After spending some time with him, later he came out and sat in the car. During this time, three unidentified assailants on a bike arrived, opened the window of his car, pointed a sharp weapon at him and threatened to kill him. Subsequently, the culprits managed to take away the car. By the time Akhilesh could react, the culprits had already gone far. Later, he informed the police. After three days of investigation, no clues were found to identify the trio. A case under sections 379-B and 34 of the IPC has been registered at Sadar police station against the three unidentified persons. Head Constable Balwinder Singh is investigating the case. MP Sanjeev Arora reviews ongoing work to renovate and upgrade district hospital in Ludhiana on Monday. TRIBUNE PHOTO overhaul the health facilities at Jalandhar and Sangrur, the home district of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann as well. In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the major philanthropist project would entail revamp of civil works and upgrade of health facilities to raise them on a par with private hospitals. The present ailing state of the district hospital at the biggest and largest district headquarters in the state, in terms of area and population, could be gauged from the fact that both lifts in the hospital were out of order for the past over 12 years, the sewerage system was almost blocked for the past over a decade, rodents were posing a major health and safety risk to patients and their attendants, most of the ceilings were leaking and the centralised air-conditioning was also out of order for a long time. Taking cognisance of all these perennial problems, Arora issued necessary directions to his team of experts put on the job and the government departments concerned to initiate immediate requisite steps for addressing the issues being faced by the patients and staff at the hospital. Reviewing the ongoing work at the hospital, the MP instructed to immediately repair both lifts, install a new lift, revamp the sewerage system to get rid of the decadelong blockage issue, remove the garbage dump from the backyard of the hospital, which has turned a breeding ground for rodents, mosquitoes and flies, re-plaster the leaking ceilings, repair the centralised air-conditioning plant and relay internal roads and pavements with a provision for mobility of wheelchairs and making them user-friendly for the differently abled and elderly. “While Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has been assigned the task to solve the problem of rodents on the hospital campus, the Municipal Corporation (MC) Commissioner has been asked to clear the garbage dump in its close vicinity on a priority basis,” Arora told The Tribune here on Monday. He said besides undertaking the civil works, new medical equipment would also be provided at the district hospital. “We have asked the hospital authorities to list out require- c m y b ments, which will be met for providing the best healthcare facilities to the ailing humanity,” the parliamentarian said, adding that the ongoing work in Ludhiana would be completed in the next six months at the estimated cost of Rs 20 crore. To become model hospitals “Our aim is to develop these three hospitals as model health facilities in the state and take up a similar revamp and upgrade of remaining hospitals in the next phase,” the Rajya Sabha MP expressed while assuring that the three hospitals would be revamped and upgraded in one year. At present, the Ludhiana district hospital has a capacity of 300 beds with 290 functional beds while Jalandhar and Sangrur have 470 and 100 beds, respectively. It was also decided that any new addition of infrastructure and civil works in these upgraded hospitals would be undertaken as per the Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) norms. Moreover, uniformity in planning would be maintained. Sangrur, Jalandhar hospital works to begin soon While the survey of the Sangrur district hospital has been completed and the formal nod from the state government was awaited to begin the work on the ground, the survey of the Jalandhar district hospital will begin shortly. On CM’s desire It was after the Chief Minister desired that some philanthropist industrial houses may adopt some of the district hospitals for upgrade that leading industrialist-turned-politician Sanjeev Arora volunteered to adopt three facilities and coordinate and lead planning as well as execution efforts to upgrade them under the CSR and the MPLADS. Hailing the MP’s initiative, the Chief Minister assured that all necessary government support would be provided for the project. As per preliminary reports, the repair of two non-functional lifts in the mother and child care hospital campus, two new lifts, one each in the emergency ward and the old hospital building, repair and renovation of structures and buildings, relaying internal roads and passages, landscaping and upgrade of the firefighting and life safety systems would be undertaken at the district hospital. Besides, the entire hospital and blood bank would also undergo a major overhaul with the provision of the latest and ultra-modern facilities and equipment. The district hospital is spread across 6 acres, comprising six buildings and ancillary facilities. The main building houses the OPD, ICU and emergency services while other structures include the old building, mother and child hospital, blood bank and de-addiction centre. Lifeline for needy: MP “The district hospital is a lifeline for over 4 lakh patients, mostly the downtrodden, visiting every year. It is important that we upgrade the facilities and services at the hospital to meet growing needs of the community. I am confident that with the cooperation of all stakeholders, we will be able to transform the hospital into a world-class medical facility,” said Sanjeev Arora, RS MP . dali village on the Ludhiana-Malerkotla road when they were trying to leave the area on Sunday night. The police also claimed to have recovered the metal rod used in the crime. Subash Kataria said the suspects were presented before a court in Ludhiana, which sent them to a threeday police remand for further investigation. Bittu files plaint against MLA Gogi Ludhiana, March 18 MP Ravneet Singh Bittu today lodged a complaint with the Commissioner of Police (CP), Ludhiana, against sitting MLA Gurpreet Gogi for allegedly making a derogatory remark against him. The complaint was submitted to the CP by a delegation comprising former councillors Jaswinder Thukral, Dilraj Singh, Harkaran Vaid and other leaders of the Congress. In the complaint, Bittu alleged that the MLA made a derogatory remark that hurt religious sentiments. He stated: “As a Sikh, I was targeted by Gogi, who made derogatory remark regarding my turban. Besides, he also circulated the video on social media to hurt religious sentiments, humiliate, and defame me.” Bittu has demanded registration of a criminal case against Gogi. The MLA could not be reached for comments. — TNS Man dies in mishap Ludhiana, March 18 A man lost his life after the motorcycle he was riding was hit by a speeding vehicle near a private school at Bhundri in the Sidhwan Bet area. The deceased has been identified as Deepinder Singh of Purain village. Deepak, the brother of the deceased, said he had received information from a contractor, Yashwant Singh, that Deepinder’s motorcycle was hit by an unidentified vehicle in Bhundri when he was returning home on the evening of March 16. He was rushed to a hospital but doctor declared him dead. A case has been registered against the unidentified driver. — TNS
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