10092024-LT-01.qxd 9/10/2024 12:15 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune POOR CONDITION OF CITY ROADS HAUNTS RESIDENTS DRIVE BEGINS TO INCREASE LAND UNDER HORTICULTURE Dilapidated roads of the city pose a grave threat to safety of motorists and pedestrians. P2 ~45-lakh plan of action prepared for Malerkotla under national scheme, says administration. P3 » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 35°C | MIN 27°C YESTERDAY MAX 35°C | MIN 27°C AMAR KAUSHIK, DIRECTOR OF STREE, HINTS AT A THREEQUEL SUNSET TUESDAY 6.35 PM Amar is not flattered by comparisons with Marvel Cinematic Universe. He says ‘let us be just what we are’. P4 » SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 6:04 AM » TUESDAY | 10 SEPTEMBER 2024 | LUDHIANA Patients face trouble as docs go on strike Many return empty-handed due to huge rush; OPD services remain suspended for 3 hrs Possession of counterfeit currency alone not an offence: High Court Saurabh Malik Tribune News Service Patients stand in a queue at the Civil Hospital; and (right) doctors hold a protest in Ludhiana on Monday. TRIBUNE PHOTOS: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN Manav Mander Tribune News Service Ludhiana, September 9 Huge inconvenience was faced by patients after doctors at the Civil Hospital here shut OPDs for the first half as they proceeded on an indefinite strike from today onwards. OPD services remained suspended from 8 am to 11 am. In the first phase of the strike from September 9 to 11, OPDs will remain suspended for three hours. The Punjab Civil Medical Services Association is scheduled to meet the cabinet sub-committee, formed to resolve their issues, on Wednesday. Patients in a huge number reached the hospital as usual and kept on wait- ing for OPDs to start working. The OPDs were full and visitors kept on waiting for doctors to reach their consultation rooms. Many left without consulting the surgeons. Ankit Rana, who came to visit a medicine doctor after taking leave from work, said: “It generally takes a half day whenever I come to the hospital but upon reaching here I came to know that the OPD will start at 11 am. Left with no other option, I have to wait till the OPD opens as I can’t take leave every other day,” he said. Another patient Raj Kumar from Shimlapuri had come with his son, who was suffering from high fever. “My son got fever on Sunday night. Though I have give him a precautionary dose of medicine, the fever is not going. He is crying and I had to wait till the doctor examines him,” he said. Meanwhil, Shobha Rani from the Tajpur Road area said there was a huge rush of patients and it had become impossible to wait due to the same. “I will consult some private doctor as even if I wait, my turn will not come,” she said. Harish Lal from Shivpuri decided to decided to return after waiting for an hour due to a huge rush of patients. “I am not feeling well and seeing the rush and chaos, my health is deteriorating further. I will come back early on Tuesday,” he said. The Punjab Civil Medical Services Association (PCMSA) had been struggling for their demands since long and last month they had announced to go on an indefinite strike after a round of talks with the government failed to deliver any results. They had even distributed pamphlets about their strike, mentioning their demands to OPD patients to make them aware about the step being taken by them. The PCMSA doctors are protesting for their unresolved issues, which include stalled assured career progression scheme, pending 6th CPC arrears and security at workplace. “Government health institutes in the state are working at half the capacity. In addition to our routine job, we are also doing other works such as VIP duties, emergency duties, postmorterms and also medicolegal cases.There are 4,600 sanctioned posts of doctor in the state, of which 2,800 are lying vacant,” said Akhil Sareen, state president of the assiciation. In the first phase of the strike from September 9-11, OPDs will remain suspended for three hours but in the next phase from September 12 to 15, there will be complete closure of the OPDs. Today, OPD services were suspended for the first half, 8 am to 11am. Only caesarean sections (both elective and emergency) and life-saving surgeries were done. Only Emergency trauma cases were attended. Chandigarh, September 9 The Punjab and Haryana High Court has recently held that mere possession of counterfeit currency does not constitute an offence under Sections 489B and 489C of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in the absence of mens rea or criminal intent. The ruling came as a Division Bench upheld a two-decade old decision of a fast-track court in Ludhiana acquitting two individuals in a 1999 case involving the alleged recovery of counterfeit currency. Sections 489B and 489C deal with the possession and use of forged or counterfeit currency. The matter was placed before the Bench after the state government challenged the acquittal judgment by an Additional Sessions Judge on March 10, 2014. The case stemmed from an FIR registered on January 6, 1999, under the two provisions of the IPC. The Bench was told that 28 counterfeit currency notes of Rs 500 denomination were recovered from the purse of one accused while 10 counterfeit notes of the same denomination were found in the possession of the other in the Basti Jodhewal area, all of UPHOLDS DECADES OLD DECISION The ruling came as a Division Bench upheld a two-decade old decision of a fast-track court in Ludhiana acquitting two individuals in a 1999 case involving the alleged recovery of counterfeit currency. Sections 489B and 489C deal with the possession and use of forged or counterfeit currency. which were seized through separate recovery memos. Taking up the appeal, the Bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Sudeepti Sharma asserted: “To convict any person under both sections, the necessary ingredients are intention to possess as well as to use the counterfeit notes as genuine. In the present case, the essential ingredients are not fulfilled by evidence led by the prosecution”. In its detailed order, the Bench observed that a document presented in the trial court revealed that the determination of currency notes being counterfeit was based solely on their failure to match three genuine currency notes. The record further revealed that the expert report lacked a detailed forensic analysis, “particularly with regard to the specific characteristics of the discrepancies.” The Bench ruled that the prosecution’s case was fundamentally flawed starting with a witness who allegedly disclosed to a police party that one of the accused had handed over a counterfeit currency note of him for purchase of fruits from his ‘rehri’. The Bench asserted his testimony and crossexamination revealed that the prosecution’s version was based on a false narrative, as he categorically denied the allegations and testified that the police had obtained his signatures on blank papers, thereby casting doubt on the prosecution’s credibility. The Bench also observed that the integrity of the seized counterfeit currency was compromised. The notes were not sealed in the presence of witnesses and there was no reliable evidence regarding the chain of custody or proper sampling to ensure the integrity of the seized currency. The lack of evidence undermined the prosecution’s case, as proving the chain of custody was crucial in establishing that the integrity of the seized samples was never compromised. Thieves target houses of retd PCS officer, 5 more FIRs against brother-sister travel agent duo More complaints two businessmen in Ranjit Singh Nagar pouring in, say police Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Decamp with silver utensils, expensive clothing, other valuable items Ludhiana, September 9 In Maharaja Ranjit Singh Nagar, a posh area of the city on the Pakhowal road, six masked miscreants targeted the houses of a retired PCS officer and two businessmen. The miscreants struck at the houses of former PCS officer (retired ADC) and two businessmen on the intervening night of September 7 and 8. Businessman Suresh Kumar said the thieves first targeted his house, breaking the door and stealing valuables. Later, they moved to adjacent houses of Ajay Sood, retired ADC, and businessman Haneef Jain, from where they stole silver utensils, expensive clothing and other valuables. Suresh said his wife and children were in Bengaluru and he was alone at home when the incident occurred. He came to know about the theft when he woke up in the morning. The thieves were captured in CCTV cameras installed in the area and the police have obtained the footage. The police had registered a case on Sunday. Mobile repair shop looted In another incident, six bikeborne miscreants looted a mobile repair shop, Mobile Hub, at Gill Market in Shimlapuri here on Monday. They had taken along 20 old mobiles. Shimlapuri SHO inspector Balwinder Singh said six robbers came on three motorcycles. Three of the masked suspects barged into the shop and by pointing a gun and brandishing swords at the owner of the shop, Sanjay Chaudhary, looted mobiles and fled the scene. The CCTV footage of the miscreants was seized and a probe was on to trace the suspects. — TNS Ludhiana, September 9 After the Ludhiana police exposed a travel fraud racket being run by a brother-sister duo and arrested them along with Rs 1.07 crore illegal money amassed allegedly from foreign aspirants, five more FIRs have been registered by the police against the suspects. Some more complaints have also been received by the police against the agents and a probe into the same might lead to registration of more FIRs in coming days, the police said. On September 6, the police had arrested the suspects, Amit Malhotra (39) and his sister Veenu Malhotra (38), residents of Phase 1, Dugri, and owner of Global Way Immigration, situated in Model Town. They had duped a woman police officer from Mohali, who is part of the Chief Minister security team and following her complaint, the police had recently registered a case against the duo. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Civil Lines, Jatin Bansal, told The Tribune that five more FIRs were registered against the agents at the Model Town police station and the total count had reached six. These cases were registered on the complaint of complainants from Amritsar, Faridkot, Ludhiana and even Haryana. The duo had taken over Rs 55 lakh from the five complainants on the pretext of sending them to different countries but after taking the money, they failed to arrange visa and also refused to return the money. Of the five FIRs, the name of Karun Kumar, office employee of the agents, was also added to two cases. “Now, the police are scanning bank accounts of the suspects. Even properties of the agents, if made from the illegal proceeds, will also be attached by following the due procedure,” Bansal said. On August 12, protesting against the firm of the suspects, a couple, Hardeep Singh and Amandeep Kaur, from Dhuri in Sangrur had climbed atop a water tank at Model Town Extension here as the duo was also duped of Rs 10 lakh on the pretext of arranging visa to the UK. Civic body seals Former Punjab Police cop, mobile repair eight illegal shops shop owner lose ~28.53L to travel agents Ludhiana, September 9 Taking action against illegal constructions, the Municipal Corporation (MC) sealed eight shops constructed illegally in Industrial Area B on Monday. Assistant Town Planner (ATP), Zone C, Jagdeep Singh said the civic body had received a complaint against the illegal construction of shops in the recent past. Working on the directions of MC Commissioner Sandeep Rishi, the illegal shops had been sealed and the owners had been warned of strict legal action in case they continued the illegal construction. The MC Commissioner said building branch officials had been directed to take strict action against illegal constructions and no construction activity should be allowed, if the owners fail to get a building plan sanctioned for the same. He further appealed to residents to get building plans sanctioned before commencing construction works, otherwise strict action would be taken against illegal constructions. — TNS An MC official seals an illegal shop in Ludhiana. Tribune News Service Ludhiana, September 9 A retired assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of the Punjab Police was also not spared by travel agents and was duped of Rs 19.53 lakh. In another incident, a mobile shop owner was duped of Rs 9 lakh on the pretext of sending him to Canada. Five travel agents, including two couples, were booked by the Jagraon City police. In the case of fraud with the retired cop, the booked suspects were identified as Som Dutt and his wife Kanchana, residents of Baga Purana, Moga, and Pardeep Singh of Moga. The complainant, Darshan Singh, of Jagraon said he was a retired ASI of the Punjab Police. He wanted to send his son Akashdeep Singh, daughter Lovepreet Kaur and nephew Lakhveer Singh to Canada. His acquaintance Manjit TWO COUPLES AMONG FIVE BOOKED Five travel agents, including two couples, were booked by the Jagraon City police. In the case of fraud with the retired cop, the booked suspects were identified as Som Dutt and his wife Kanchana and Pardeep Singh. In the other incident, a mobile repair shop owner was duped of Rs 9 lakh by a travel agent couple, Surinderpal Singh and his wife Paramjit Kaur, residents of the Sherpur chowk area. Kaur introduced him to travel agent Som Dutt, his wife Kanchana and Pardeep. The trio assured to send his son, daughter and nephew to Canada. “After taking Rs 19.53 lakh from me, the agents failed to arrange visas. When we asked them to return our money or give us visas, they sent us fake visas. However, during enquiry, the visas were found fake. A complaint was then lodged, which led to the registration of an FIR,” the complainant said. In the other case, a mobile repair shop owner was duped of Rs 9 lakh by a travel agent c m y b couple, identified as Surinderpal Singh and his wife Paramjit Kaur, residents of the Sherpur chowk area. Complainant Manpreet Singh, a resident of Jandiali village, said he runs a mobile repair shop in the village. He wanted to go abroad due to which he contacted his aunt’s acquaintance, agent Paramjit Kaur and her husband Surinderpal Singh, who have their office, Guru Nanak Air Travel at Sherpur Chowk, Jagraon. On September 25, 2023, he came to Jagraon with his friend Manpreet Singh Boparai to their office. The complainant said the couple assured that they would send him to Canada and in lieu, they demanded Rs 16 lakh but the cost of insurance and air ticket was to be paid separately. The duo took his original passport, photocopies of other documents and photographs, etc. to file his visa application for Canada. They took Rs 9 lakh in advance from him and handed over him photocopies of a fake visa. After he got to know about the fraud, he lodged a complaint and a case was registered against the couple. “Earlier, the couple had named their office as Guru Nanak Air Travel but recently they changed its name. The suspects are responsible for dashing my dreams of settling in Canada. Strict punishment should be given to them,” the complainant said. The Jagraon police launched probe after registering the cases. CP Kuldeep Chahal with cops who got the cash rewards in Ludhiana. Nine policemen get cash rewards for best policing Ludhiana, September 9 Commissioner of Police (CP), Ludhiana, Kuldeep Singh Chahal, today distributed cash rewards of Rs 5,000 each along with appreciation certificates to nine police officials for doing best policing. As per information shared by the Commissionerate Police, Chahal had recommended the names of the nine police personnel to the Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab, for cash rewards after evaluating their performances and polic- ing. These officials contributed in solving crimes such as murder and busting of fraud rackets and also did exceptional policing in the recent past. Accepting the recommendations of Chahal, the DGP issued the rewards. While congratulating the officials, the CP told them to continue to perform their duty with utmost honesty and dedication and the Police Department would continue to shower cash rewards and appreciations on such employees. — TNS