21052024-LT-01.qxd 5/21/2024 1:15 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune CM TOUCHES EMOTIONAL CHORD AT SURJIT PATAR’S BHOG ACTRESS YAMI GAUTAM BLESSED WITH SON AR RAHMAN UNVEILS TEASER OF HIS DOCU-FEATURE People in large numbers from different walks of life were present at the bhog at a gurdwara in Asha Puri. P2 Actress Yami Gautam Dhar and her husband-director Aditya Dhar announced arrival of their baby. P4 AR Rahman unveiled the teaser of his upcoming documentary feature titled Headhunting to Beatboxing. P4 » » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 45°C | MIN 28°C YESTERDAY MAX 44°C | MIN 27°C SUNSET TUESDAY 7.12 PM SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 5:26 AM TUESDAY | 21 MAY 2024 | LUDHIANA 9-yr-old violated by shopkeeper Ludhiana, May 20 A nine-year-old girl was sexually exploited by a shopkeeper at Meharban. The suspect also resorted to unnatural sex with the victim. He has been identified as Ram. The complainant said the girl’s mother, on May 19, her daughter had gone to Bittu Karyana store to buy something. When she did not return for a long time, they started searching for her. When they reached the shop, they saw that the suspect was molesting the victim after tying her hands and legs. She said the suspect pushed her away and fled the scene. She then brought her daughter to home and lodged a police complaint. ASI Radhey Sham said the police registered a case on Sunday. Raids were being conducted to nab the suspect. — TNS 2 R’sthan peddlers nabbed with opium Ludhiana, May 20 The Jagraon City police yesterday arrested two Rajasthanbased peddlers and seized 1.5 kg of opium from them. They have been identified as Madhav Jaat and Mahipal Jaat of Bhilwara, Rajasthan. The duo were roaming in the bus stand of Jagraon City. The police conducted a raid and nabbed the duo. — TNS 542 held with drugs, arms Open murder, suicide case of grain contractor: Bittu to CM since poll code imposition Accuses Cong’s Raja Warring, his kin of involvement in case 88% of licensed arms deposited, 132 FIRs lodged, all 70 plaints disposed of in CP limits CP PROFILE INDIA VOTES Assembly segments: 8 Police sub-divisions: 8 Police stations: 28 Polling locations 666 Vulnerable polling locations: 164 Special city nakas: 17 CCTV monitored nakas: 8 Special surveillance teams: 72 CAPF: 1 company 2024 Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 20 Pulling all stops under to further intensify its drive against violators of the model code of conduct (MCC), which was in force since March 16 when the Lok Sabha elections were announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI), the Ludhiana Commissionerate of Police (CP) have arrested 542 criminals, smugglers and gangsters with huge cache of drugs, liquor, arms, ammunition and cash during the past almost two months. Under the special campaign to ensure implementation of the MCC in letter and in spirit and maintain the law and order situation across the Ludhiana CP which was spread , across eight Assembly segments, including seven under Ludhiana and one under Fatehgarh Sahib Lok Sabha constituency, the police have so far registered 132 FIRs and 2 CP Kuldeep Singh Chahal and DC Sakshi Sawhney take stock of strongrooms and counting centres in Ludhiana on Monday. DDRs under various offences punishable under the relevant provisions of the NDPS Act, Excise Act, Arms Act and the Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, 1985, and other relevant law provisions against the arrested persons. Besides, almost 88 per cent of the total over 19,447 licensed arms had so far been deposited with the local police and the registered gun houses, as mandated by the prohibitory order issued by District Magistrate (DM) Sakshi Sawhney last month. All 70 poll-related complaints of criminal nature received by the commissionerate since the imple- mentation of the poll code have also been disposed of. Commissioner of Police (CP) Kuldeep Singh Chahal told The Tribune here on Monday that a strict vigil was being maintained across the limits of eight police sub-divisions and 28 police stations falling under the CP jurisdiction to ensure proper enforcement of the poll code and check activities of anti-social elements and criminals. He said besides 17 special nakas (checkpoints), of which eight nakas were being monitored through CCTV cameras, set up across the city, 72 spe- cial mobile surveillance teams, including flying squad and surveillance teams, static surveillance teams, and video surveillance teams were fanned out with nine teams patrolling each Assembly constituency in triple shift. “Regular coordination meetings are being held with counterparts at the district, subdivision and police station levels,” Chahal said while revealing that special control rooms and a separate WhatsApp group have been created for sharing the real-time information on poll code violations. continued on page 3 Mann holds roadshows on Tibba Road, in Raikot Ludhiana, May 20 People in a large number took part in a roadshow on Tibba Road that was taken out by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann in support of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate from Ludhiana Ashok Prashar. Party workers and supporters showered flowers on the Chief Minister who, in turn, also threw flowers on the former. A convoy of vehicles followed Mann’s car while he was standing through the roof of the car. The roadshow started from Tibba Road and culminated at the office of MLA Daljit Singh Bhola Grewal. Addressing the people, Mann said Ludhiana is his ‘karmabhoomi’ and if he voted to power again, he would ensure its betterment. “Now, only one guarantee is left and that is to give Rs 1,000 severe heat wave conditions. Now, there is no need for children to go out and they could study in their homes. — TNS Seeks votes for Fatehgarh Sahib candidate CM Bhagwant Mann leads a roadshow on Tibba Road in Ludhiana on Monday. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN per month to women. The groundwork on the scheme has been done and as people are now getting zero electricity bill, women will be able to get Rs 1,000 every month,” he said. He said till now, every government that came to power has talked about Ludhiana being the heart of the state but nobody cared to take care of the ailing heart. “Now time has come, and I will take care of the heart and time has come to help flourish the trade and business community of the city,” he said. Targeting BJP candidate Ravneet Singh Bittu, he said he was often confused about the party to which he belongs. He had not fully downloaded BJP into his brain as he often calls himself a ‘Congress man’. Mann also announced that the government has declared holidays in schools due to Raikot: Election campaign of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate from Fatehgarh Sahib Gurpreet Singh GP received a shot in the arm as Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann conducted a massive roadshow in his support on Old Tehsil Road here on Monday. However, administration officials remained on their toes handling the situation as office-bearers and activists of the party had started arriving at the venue before the scheduled time of the roadshow. Gurpreet Singh GP and local legislator Hakam Singh Thekedar accompanied the cavalcade. — OC Ludhiana, May 20 Ravneet Bittu, BJP candidate from the Ludhiana Lok Sabha constituency, today demanded that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann should reopen the case of murder and suicide by a contractor after being reportedly fleeced and threatened by PPCC president and Congress candidate Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and his brother-inlaw Dimpy Vinayak. The Gidderbaha contractor, Karan Kataria, had shot dead his three-year-old son and seven-year-old daughter and left his wife seriously injured before committing suicide on February 6, 2021. Bittu said Warring was directly involved in the gruesome murder and suicide tragedy. He would also approach the Central Gov- ernment for a time-bound CBI probe so that justice could be ensured for the victim family. The tragedy had shocked the state and unmasked the face of Warring, he claimed. The BJP leader said the deceased, Karan and his brother Ankit Kataria had taken contract for lifting of grain bags from mandis in Gidderbaha and surrounding areas. He alleged that Warring and his brother-in-law had borrowed Rs 1.22 crore from Karan with the promise of returning it after some time. The money belonged to small transporters paid by government agencies into the account of Karan. Bittu said after the Congress formed government in Punjab, Warring and his brother-law refused to return the money. Warring’s brother-in-law had threatened and told Karan: “Now we are in power and forget the money, rather you will be made to pay us more.” All these facts are mentioned in the FIR. It was cancelled after 20 days when Charanjit Singh Channi became the CM. Under pressure from Warring and his brother-in-law, Karan couldn’t sleep on the night before the tragedy. His wife narrated in the FIR that she kept talking to her husband the whole night to boost his morale but at 5 am, she fell asleep. It was the time when Karan killed his son and daughter and fired at his wife before killing himself with the licensed revolver. Karan’s brother took the injured to the DMCH where three of them were declared brought dead while the wife survived. — TNS Bittu has proved beyond doubt, once a traitor, always a traitor: PPCC chief Ludhiana, May 20 Punjab Congress president and party candidate from the Ludhiana parliamentary constituency Amrinder Singh Raja Warring said today that BJP candidate Ravneet Bittu has proved him right, sooner than expected, that once a traitor is always a traitor. He also cautioned people against voting for AAP or the SAD as that will mean indirectly helping the BJP candidate. Replying to a question about Bittu’s conversation with Simarjit Singh Bains that has gone viral, Warring said, he (Bittu) had also proved that he could “bite the hand that feeds him”. He said BJP leaders must have realised soon that he could not be loyal to anyone. “If he can betray the Congress that gave him so much, he can betray the BJP also, which has nothing to offer him,” the Congress leader observed while remarking: “Both Bittu and the BJP will realise on June 4 that they had committed a mutually fatal mistake out of sheer opportunism.” He pointed out that it was no secret that the Ludhiana AAP candidate was fielded with a sole purpose of helping Bittu to cut into Congress votes in urban Cong candidate Amrinder Singh Raja Warring campaigns in Gill. areas while the SAD candidate had also been fielded with the same purpose for rural areas. Warring while campaigning in the Gill constituency emphasised Congress’s substantial contributions to the state. Senior Congress leader Bharat Bhushan Ashu bolstered Warring’s campaign. He condemned BJP’s divisive policies to create fear among Hindu citizens. “Even during the tyrannical rule of Aurangzeb, when forced conversions and oppression were rampant, Hindus were not in danger due to the brave stand taken by the Sikh Gurus. The state will now remind the oppressive BJP government that its divisive agenda will not succeed here,” Ashu said. Warring hits back at Bittu over baseless allegations Warring today hit back at his BJP rival Ravneet Singh Bittu for levelling wild and baseless allegations against him which have no truth. Responding to Bittu’s allegations that he was named in any FIR over the tragic suicide by a family, Warring clarified that there was neither any complaint nor any case registered against him. He said the case registered against his brother-in-law in this regard had been closed by the court and not by the government, after the family gave a statement that there was no involvement of his brother-inlaw in the tragic incident. “The complaint was against my brother-in- law who came out clean and you are unnecessarily dragging me in the matter,” Warring told Bittu while pointing out to him that “there may be many complaints against you and your kin also but that does not mean that I drag your name, the way you are doing”. — TNS Samrala residents reel under blistering heat as mercury soars MC clerk nabbed for Manav Mander Tribune News Service Samrala, May 20 Samrala, a small town located 55 km from Ludhiana, has been witnessing severe heat wave conditions. As per the Meteorological Centre, Chandigarh, on Saturday, Samrala recorded the highest maximum temperature in Two days ago, Samrala recorded highest max temperature in state at 46.3°C A farmer works in the fields amid scorching heat at a village on the outskirts of Samrala. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN the state and was sizzling at 46.3°C while on Sunday it was 46.1 and today it was 45°C. Ludhiana city today witnessed 44.2°C. It has become difficult to bear the intense heat wave conditions and people staying here are finding it hard to cope up with the extreme weather, especially those working in the fields. Harbhajan Singh, a farmer working in the fields in a village located on the outskirts of Ludhiana, is finding it hard to work amid the rising temperature. He works in the fields from 8 am to 5 pm and it becomes difficult to even stand in the fields between 12 pm and 3 pm. “I take frequent breaks and sit under the tree in the afternoon and also have my lunch there. Trees are a gift of nature that we should be thankful to as they protect us during extreme weather conditions,” he said. The best thing to beat the heat is sardai, a healthy energy drink, and Satnam Singh, who has put up a stall at a highway near Samrala, is selling almost 100 glasses of the same a day. Some are his c m y b regular customers who come to him daily just to have a glass of sardai while many stop while travelling towards their destinations. “Besides, sometimes buses also halt for five minutes and passengers relish the drink to get some relief from scorching heat,” he said. Sardai is made by grinding almonds, khus-khus, pepper, cardamom, saffron and saunf and makes for a really powerful energiser. It is rich in antioxidants and improves digestion, shared Satnam, who charges Rs 30 for a small glass and Rs 50 for a big glass of the drink. Das Som Nath’s small makeshift shop is located in the Samrala’s small market and he is making some quick bucks by selling earthen pots. “On any usual day, I sell 10-12 earthern pots while these days due to extreme heat, the demand has increased suddenly and I am selling 25-30 pots a day,” he said. PAU issues advisory for farmers taking ~11,500 bribe There is a prediction of ‘heatwave’ to ‘severe heat wave’ conditions at many places in the state during the next fourfive days. In view of the same, PAU experts have advised farmers to apply light irrigation to crops frequently during early morning or evening hours. Farmers are advised to change their working hours due to intense hot weather conditions, especially between 11 am and 4 pm. In addition, they should take frequent breaks and remain in the shade. They are also advised to take plenty of liquids and keep themselves hydrated along with a healthy diet. They are also advised to provide water to animals frequently along with a healthy diet so that animal production and health is not adversely affected by the weather. Ludhiana, May 20 The Vigilance Bureau (VB), Ludhiana, on Monday arrested Mohit Mahajan, posted as Clerk in Municipal Corporation Zone-A, Ludhiana, a resident of Guru Nanak Nagar, Civil Lines, for accepting a bribe of Rs 11,500. Disclosing this here today, an official spokesperson for the VB said the case was registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by Rajinder Pal Sharma of Farid Nagar, Rampura Phool, Bhatinda, on the Chief Minister’s anti-corruption action line. He said the complainant had alleged in his complaint that he had applied to the office of Registrar, Birth and Deaths, in MC, Ludhiana, for correction of father’s name and place of birth in the birth certificate of his son. A clerk, The suspect in VB custody. Mohit Mahajan, in the MC office demanded Rs 30,000 for making corrections. He said the clerk had already taken 9,000 in cash and Rs 2,500 via Google Pay and he had been demanding the balance bribe money. The spokesperson said during verification of this complaint, the facts were found correct that the accused had got Rs 11500 and accordingly a case was registered and he was arrested. The role of MC officials concerned would also be examined. — TNS
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