07032025-LT-01.qxd 3/7/2025 12:59 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune MLA PAPPI INSPECTS WORK TO COVER DHARAMPURA NULLAH NEVER COMPROMISED ON MY ETHICS, SAYS KRITIKA KAMRA NORA FATEHI TO FEATURE AS RAPPER IN FLICK BE HAPPY Ludhiana Central MLA Ashok Prashar Pappi issued directions for expediting the work. P2 Actress Kritika Kamra has said she has never sold her soul or compromised her ethics to make it big. P4 Nora loves pushing boundaries and says getting to rap on this track was an incredibly exciting experience. P4 » » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 26°C | MIN 12°C YESTERDAY MAX 26°C | MIN 12°C SUNSET FRIDAY 6.24 PM SUNRISE SATURDAY 6:43 AM FRIDAY | 7 MARCH 2025 | LUDHIANA Two nabbed for generating fake invoices Ludhiana, March 6 In another major breakthrough, the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) has arrested an uncle-nephew duo, Raj Kumar and Prince Kumar. Both of them were engaged in generating fake invoices. A total value of fake invoices amounting to Rs 282.96 crore was issued to pass on ineligible input tax credit (ITC) of Rs 42.98 crore through 26 firms managed/operated by them. All these firms were engaged in trading of iron and steel scrap, TMT bars, cardboard scrap, etc. During the search operation, CPUs, mobile phones and other incriminating documents such as invoices, cheque books and diaries were seized from the official premises of the two suspects. They have availed, utilised and passed on fraudulent ITC of about Rs 42.98 crore without underlying supply of goods through fake billing of Rs 282.96 crore in violation of provision of the CGST Act, 2017. The suspects were confronted with the gathered evidences wherein they have admitted to commit the offences in their statements. Accordingly, both of them were placed under arrest on Wednesday and sent to judicial remand for 14 days. Further investigation is underway. The DGGI, Ludhiana, is unearthing fake billing and other GST-related fraud/evasion in different sectors. Till date, 13 persons have been arrested in various cases unearthed by the office. — TNS No rest till state is free of drugs, says minister Warns smugglers to either surrender or face consequences Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 6 Cabinet Minister Aman Arora on Thursday said the state government would not rest till Punjab was freed of drug menace by crushing drug peddling and smuggling with an iron hand. Chairing a meeting with civil and police officials under the state government’s flagship “Yudh Nashian Virudh” programme, Arora, who is also a member of the five-member Cabinet sub-committee formed to combat the drug menace in the state, emphasised that either drug peddlers should themselves surrender or remain prepared to face serious consequences as the AAP government would not rest till winning the war on drugs. Expressing confidence in the Punjab Police, while highlighting their strength, intelligence and ability to apprehend those involved in the illegal activity, he stressed that it was a collective responsibility to help eliminate the drug menace and called on the public to support the police in their efforts to combat drug trafficking. Arora said the police had been given a free hand to take action against drug peddlers to free society of narcotics. He revealed that from March Minister Aman Arora (right) discusses a point with DC Jitendra Jorwal during a meeting in Ludhiana. 1 to 4, the Punjab Police have registered 580 NDPS cases. As many as 789 suspects had been nominated in these cases and 170 kg of drugs had been seized. Besides, 60 demolitions of illegal properties of drug lords had also been carried out throughout the state. He urged people to give tipoff about peddlers to eliminate the menace. He also asked the Health Department to check chemist shops and quacks. Deputy Commissioner Jitendra Jorwal said the prevention and enforcement activities were already being conducted on a large scale, besides deaddiction and rehab institutions were also being strengthened to provide proper treatment and counselling services for individuals strug- gling with addiction. The individuals would be offered various job opportunities and skill enhancement through training programmes, empowering them to earn a livelihood. A mass awareness campaign against drug abuse had already been launched, collaborating with civil society, industry, educational institutions and NGOs. He said the administration was also preparing a proposal to upgrade a local hospital into a modern de-addiction and rehabilitation centre. He said the administration would hold a massive marathon to sensitise the community to drug menace this month, besides running small video clips in theatres or on social media, putting wall paintings, holding five-minute talk on drug abuse daily in schools during assembly and other public awareness programmes to make the drive a mass movement. Commissioner of Police Kuldeep Singh Chahal, Ludhiana SSP (rural) Ankur Gupta and Khanna SSP Jyoti Yadav informed the minister that properties worth hundreds of crores belonging to drug peddlers had been frozen so far besides their illegal encroachments had also been demolished in their respective jurisdictions. They said big fish of the drug trade were also being arrested every day and their entire network would be crushed soon. Civil Surgeon Pradeep Kumar Mohindra said OPDs at 46 OOAT centres in the state receive 20-40 patients daily. Six illegal properties of drug peddlers razed in meat market Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 6 Continuing its crackdown on illegal properties owned by drug peddlers, the Khanna police, in collaboration with the Municipal Council authorities, demolished six structures in the local meat market on Thursday morning. These structures were built by illegally encroaching upon the Municipal Council land and allegedly financed with drug money. The buildings were occupied by six peddlers who are facing multiple cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The demolition was carried out smoothly, with sufficient police personnel deployed to maintain order and prevent any disturbances. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Jyoti Yadav led the operation and said the demolition came after the Municipal Council reported the illegal encroachments by the six drug peddlers. She highlighted that two brothers, Aslam and Sunil, who are known as major drug peddlers in the area, are already facing five drug-related cases. Sunil is currently in judicial custody, while Aslam is absconding. Other notorious smugglers, including Shindi, Mohendro, Pappu and Gulshan, were also facing cases related to drug trafficking and illegal liquor trade. Their illegal properties were razed and police teams were working round the clock to apprehend the absconding peddlers soon. The SSP emphasised the commitment of the state government, led by Bhagwant Mann, to take strict action against those involved in the drug trade. She assured the public that no one would be spared till the menace was eradicated, pledging severe penalties for the peddlers. She also called for public cooperation in the fight against drugs. Additionally, the Khanna police had frozen three properties belonging to peddlers in the Payal sub-division on Wednesday, she added. Interestingly, the Khanna police had gone also gone live on it’s official social media channels while the properties of the smugglers were being pulled down. see also page 2 An illegal property of a drug smuggler being demolished in Khanna on Thursday. One more held in fake property registration case Food panel chief inspects ration depots Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 6 After the Vigilance Bureau (VB), Ludhiana, registered a case against nine individuals for fraudulently executing the sale deed of a 14 kanal land in Ludhiana belonging to an NRI residing in the USA, VB may initiate DA inquiry against tehsildar using forged documents and arrested advocate Gurcharan Singh, the VB is likely to start Disproportionate Assets (DA) inquiry against the tehsildar west, Jagsir Singh Saran, who executed the registration of land worth crores without verifying facts. Interestingly, the registration of the land was executed at Rs 30 lakh. However, the land was having a market value of Rs 6 crore. Meanwhile, the Vigilance Bureau on Thursday claimed to have made the second arrest in the case. The nabbed suspect was identified as realtor Gurjot Singh, owner of Land- The suspect in custody of Vigilance Bureau sleuths in Ludhiana on Thursday. mark Real Estate. Gurjot was nominated in the case as the tenth accused as he was not nominated in the initial FIR. Now, raids were being conducted to nab the remaining eight suspects, including tehsildar Jagsir. He was reportedly gone underground. Gurjot was produced in a court on Thursday which sent him to one-day police custody for investigation. An official of the Vigilance Bureau told The Tribune here on Monday that “Recently when a case was registered against nine individuals, includ- ing the tehsildar, the police had also conducted a raid at the house of the tehsildar in Ajit Villas, South City, and reportedly recovered some important documents. The VB have the information that he had gathered properties more than known sources of his income”. The official said some properties of the tehsildar were already zeroed in on by the VB during it’s ongoing probe and records of the same were being obtained. The VB will also scan the properties bought by tehsildar in the name of his wife, other family members and relatives. Sources even said records of old property registrations done by the tehsildar were also likely to be checked as the Vigilance suspects that property registrations were done at low value by ignoring the market value. Earlier, the case was registered against tehsildar Jagsir Singh Saran, buyer Deepak Goel, namberdar Baghel Singh, registry clerk Krishan Gopal, advocate Gurcharan Singh, Amit Gaur, a computer operator, property dealer Raghbir Singh and a person posing as land owner Deep Singh. Ludhiana, March 6 Punjab State Food Commission Chairman Bal Mukand Sharma conducted surprise inspections at government ration depots in the district. The purpose was to check ration distribution by the depots. Sharma checked the depots on the Barewal road and in other areas of the city. He also interacted with beneficiaries, who had come to collect their ration and provided them with information about their rights. Officials of the Food and Civil Supplies Department were also present during the inspection. Sharma said the government was distributing wheat under a three-month plan from January to March. According to official data, around 87 per cent of wheat has already been distributed in the district. “Additionally, the introduction of biometric machines and electronic weighing machines in all government Punjab Food Commission Chairman Bal Mukand Sharma interacts with beneficiaries at a ration depot in Ludhiana. ration depots has enhanced transparency in the distribution process, providing relief to the public,” he said. The Chairman said surprise visits were being done regularly and if any negligence was found in welfare schemes, the commission would take strict action against the guilty. Earlier, Sharma also held a meeting with officials and reviewed the progress of various schemes and programmes, including the School Health Programme, Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), fair price shops, Integrated Child Develop- ment Scheme, Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, National Food Security Act, Mid-Day Meal and food/water samplings by health teams in the district. He emphasised the need for regular testing of mid-day meals and asked the officials concerned to maintain a food testing register in schools, provide quality food to children and maintain cleanliness while preparing the meals. “The drinking water quality in schools must also be ensured. RO systems must be provided to schools which don’t have the facility. He also directed that health check-ups of students and mid-day meal workers in schools be conducted every six months,” he directed the officials concerned. DDPO Navdeep Kaur, DFSC Sartaj Singh Cheema, DPO Gulbahar Singh Toor and Assistant Civil Surgeon Vivek Kataria were among others present on the occasion. — TNS Civic body removes Mayor conducts surprise checks at MC office 17 detained farmers released after 2 days 24 encroachments Ludhiana, March 6 To streamline the movement of traffic, the tehbazaari wing of the Municipal Corporation (MC) removed around 24 encroachments on the service lane of the Delhi highway, starting from the Jalandhar bypass till the Dhandari railway station on Thursday. The anti-encroachment drive was jointly organised by tehbazaari teams of the MC Zone A and B. Most of the encroachments were in the form of shanties/slums. Tehbazaari inspectors Sunil Kumar and Vipan Handa said the drive was organised on the directions of MC Commissioner Aaditya Dachalwal and Zonal Commissioner Neeraj Jain. The encroachments had been removed and warnings had also been issued to the encroachers. Drives were being held in different areas on a regular basis. — TNS Ludhiana, March 6 For ensuring punctuality at civic body offices, Mayor Inderjit Kaur conducted a surprise inspection at the Municipal Corporation’s (MC) Zone B office near Shingar Cinema here on Thursday. Around 20 employees were found absent during the inspection. Strict warning has been issued to staffers to reach office on time, otherwise departmental action would be taken against them. The Mayor also interacted with visitors and directed the staff to ensure hassle-free 20 EMPLOYEES FOUND ABSENT, WARNED Around 20 employees were found absent during the inspection. Strict warning has been issued to staffers to reach office on time, otherwise departmental action would be taken against them. Mayor Inderjit Kaur during an inspection at MC's Zone B office. services for residents. She said the state government, led by Chief Minister (CM) Bhag- c m y b want Singh Mann, was committed to welfare of residents. Steps were also being taken to streamline the working of the civic body, wherever required. The Mayor said she would be conducting inspections in coming days too and every effort would be made to ensure hassle-free and timely services to the residents. — TNS Ludhiana, March 6 Two days after the arrest of some members of farmer unions by the Police Commissionerate, Ludhiana rural police and Khanna police, as many as 17 farmers were released from the Central Jail here on Thursday. Union members in a large number, who reached the jail to receive them, garlanded them when they came out. Veerpal Singh Dhillon, general secretary, BKU (Kadian), said he was detained from his residence at Model Gram near Kochar Market early on March 4. He was initially taken to the Kochar Market police post, from where he was sent to jail. He said of the released farmers, most of them belong to the BKU (Lakhowal) while others were from the BKU (Kadian), Punjab Union Mansa, Jamhuri Kisan Sabha (Ugrahan), BKU (Dakonda) BKU (Rajewal) and Punjab Kisan Union. — TNS