24082025-JTR-01.qxd 8/23/2025 11:48 PM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune FLOOD SITUATION WORSENS AS BEAS SWELLS The flood situation continued to remain grim as the water level in the Beas river once again rose to 1.25 lakh cusecs. P2 » BJP SLAMS AAP FOR BLOCKING CENTRAL WELFARE CAMPS NORA UNVEILS HER NEW AVATAR IN UFF YEH SIYAPAA The BJP staged a protest march over what it called state govt's efforts to block campaigns on welfare schemes. P3 Nora Fatehi’s first look from Uff Yeh Siyapaa has been unveiled. The poster presents her in a new avatar as Kamini. P4 » » FORECAST RAIN/THUNDERSHOWERS MAX 31°C | MIN 27°C YESTERDAY MAX 33°C | MIN 28°C SUNSET SUNDAY 7.01 PM SUNRISE MONDAY 5.59 AM SUNDAY | 24 AUGUST 2025 | JALANDHAR Residents block road after LPG blast No check on LPG smuggling, black marketing: Oppn leaders Say ~2 lakh not enough for victims of gas tanker blast Our Correspondent The tanker and pickup truck, which were reduced to ashes, after an explosion triggered by a collision at Mandialan village. Sanjiv Kumar Bakshi Hoshiarpur, August 23 Villagers and local residents blocked the Hoshiarpur-Jalandhar road at Adda Mandialan to protest against the administration over the explosion caused by fire in a gas tanker-pickup truck collision on Friday night. The protesters alleged that gas was being siphoned off in connivance with the people who owned LPG tankers. They said tankers were illegally parked on roadsides and gas extracted and sold. They demanded that a high-level investigation be conducted in this case and strict action be taken against culprits. The protesters demanded that the responsibility of the accident be fixed and strict action be taken INBRIEF MAN ARRESTED UNDER NDPS ACT Phagwara: The Nakodar Sadar police have arrested a drug peddler on the charge of selling intoxicating tablets. Investigating Officer (IO) Kulwindar Singh said 23 intoxicating tablets (loose) were recovered from the possession of the accused, identified as Santokh Singh, alias Sukha, of Rahimpur village. The IO said a case under the NDPS Act was registered against the accused. OC Six booked for halting work Phagwara: The Nakodar Sadar police have booked six villagers, including a panchayat member (Panch), on the charge of stopping development work in a village. Investigating officer (IO) Gurnam Singh said the accused were identified as Rannjit Singh, Pappu, and his brothers Kaka, Lov and Khapat, and Parminder Singh, all of Gill village. Daljit Kaur, sarpanch of Gill village, complained to the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), and Block Development and Panchayat Officer (BDPO) that the accused stopped the solid waste management development work in the village, abused the panchayat, assaulted labourers on work, and stole bricks and sand from the spot. The IO said a case was registered against the accused. — OC against the LPG plant management and other responsible for the mishap. They said the people, who suffered losses in the fire, should be given adequate compensation. They alleged that no ambulance or fire tender was sent to the spot by the HP LPG plant. They said an investigation into why the tanker laden with gas was being taken away from the plant on a different route must be conducted. Protesters alleged that machines had been installed at two private places at a short distance from the plant to extract LPG from tankers. They said repeated complaints had been sent to the police and the administration, but no action was taken in this connection. On learning about the road block, SDM Gursimranjit Kaur, Naib Tehsildar Hirdevir Singh and other senior officials reached the spot and assured protesters that the matter would be thoroughly investigated and no culprit will be spared. They the Punjab Government would provide help to families of the deceased and injured. The police present on the spot said a case had been registered in this regard and a thorough probe would be conducted into the matter. On receiving assurances from officials the protesters lifted the road block. Lok Sabha MP Dr Raj Kumar Chabbewal, former minister Mahinder Kaur Josh, and former Shamchaurasi MLA Pawan Kumar Adia also reached the spot and assured protesters of all possible help. Recalling the horror One of the victims, who had his father, mother, sister and wife seriously injured, alleged that the tanker was to be parked around 1 km away from the LPG plant. He said drivers used to steal gas from tankers and sell it illegally. He said all his family members except him and his four-year-old son, had suffered serious burns and were lingering between death and life at a private hospital. The fire reduced goods in shops and houses to ashes. An owner of Ashwin Boutique said all equipment, clothes and dresses inside her shop were reduced to ashes. The owner said she had suffered a loss running into lakhs of rupees. A chicken shop, a chemist shop, a flour mill and a two- wheeler repair shop were also got gutted in fire. At least 10 bikes that were parked in shop for repairs were charred. Electricity meters of many shops and houses got damaged. The power and water supply was badly hit today, adding to the misery of villagers. What experts say Experts said the LPG turned into vapours. Being heavier than air, it settled down and moved with the wind, they said. Since it was night and lights were on in every house, the vapours in the air got ignited from the spark in switches that were on, resulting in fire in rooms where people were sitting even in far off places, they said. This led to damage in 7 km radius of the site of the explosion, the experts said. Hoshiarpur, August 23 After an explosion that took place at Mandiala village when a Hindustan Petroleum LPG tanker collided with a vegetable-laden pickup truck, triggering a blast on Friday night, politicians from various parties visited the site on Saturday and enquired about the condition of the injured admitted to hospital here. While the ruling party leaders assured all kind of help from the government, the CM announced free treatment to all and Rs 2 lakh as compensation to the kin of the deceased. The Opposition leaders called the compensation amount as too low. They also alleged that the incident had exposed rampant LPG smuggling and black marketing. Mandiala village residents alleged that the driver of the tanker was off-route for stealing the LPG when the incident occurred. On Saturday, Cabinet Minister Dr Ravjot Singh, MP Dr Raj Kumar Chabbewal and Hoshiarpur MLA Bram Shankar Jimpa visited hospital and enquired about the condition of the injured and also met their family members. MP Dr Chabbewal said proper compensation would be ensured for the families whose houses and shops were damaged in the accident. Jimpa said the process for providing relief and rehabilitation to accident victims would be initiated soon. All India Congress Committee secretary and MLA Pargat Singh also reached the spot and shared grief over the incident. He said such a big accident happened due to gas theft. After vis- Chief Medical Officer shares details of treatment of the injured victims with PPCC president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring in Hoshiarpur. iting the spot, he demanded that the Punjab Government should register a murder case against all those responsible for the accident, including gas distribution agencies and gas black marketers. He also demanded action against officials concerned and a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of the deceased and Rs 5 lakh each to the injured as well as their free treatment. Adampur MLA Sukhwinder Singh Kotli, Harneet Singh Lali and other local Congress leaders also accompanied Pargat Singh. Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, who arrived here on Saturday evening, said the government should conduct a thorough investigation into this incident and punish those involved as per the law. He said families of the deceased should be given Rs 1 crore each and the government should build houses damaged in the accident. He said the Deputy Commissioner should prepare a complete report of the accident and send it to the government so that victims could get proper help. On the occasion, Warring provided financial assistance of Rs 1.1 lakh to victims on behalf of the Congress, which was handed over to former minister Sundar Sham Arora and former MLA Pawan Kumar Adia. MP Sukhjinder Randhawa and former MLA Kulbir Zira also met victims. Adampur MLA Sukhwinder Kotli alleged rampant pilferage of gas from tankers. Senior Shiv Sena Bal Thackeray leader Shinde Ranjeet Rana demanded that families of the deceased be given Rs 1 crore under ex- gratia grant and the injured be given free treatment and Rs 25 lakh as compensation for the losses caused by the fire. BJP leader Tikshan Sood also visited the spot and demanded that apart from rebuilding houses and shops of all affected people, the government should give Rs 20 lakh each to dependents of the deceased and Rs 10 lakh each to the injured, in addition to free treatment. Former BJP MP Avinash Rai Khanna visited hospital to enquire about condition accident victims. Five BJP leaders detained Youth held with at house, released at 5 pm 25gm heroin Our Correspondent Garhshankar, August 23 BJP district vice president Raj Kumar Rana, who was going to make cards for people under various Central Government schemes under the “Sevak Aapke Dwar” campaign, was detained by the police at his home at 10 am and released at 5 pm on Saturday. Also, mandal president Vijay Kumar Billa Kambala, intellectual cell convenor Alok Rana, BC cell president Satpal Dhanjal and SC cell’s Ram Kumar Sonu Tabba, along with their other colleagues, were preparing to set up a camp at Rana Raj Kumar’s residence at Harwan village, were detained by the police. Gagandeep Singh Sekhon, Station House Officer (SHO), Garhshankar, ASIs Mahinder Pal, Rajesh Kumar and Balveer Singh reached the spot with a police party to detain the BJP leaders. Before being detained, the BJP leaders indulged in verbal arguments with the police over setting up the camp. The Garhshankar SHO told the BJP leaders that the camp could be set up only after taking permission from officials concerned. Phagwara, August 23 The Kapurthala police have arrested a youth in possession of 25 grams of heroin. The accused, identified as Lakhwinder Singh, a resident of Khalsa village in Amritsar district, was intercepted near Kanjli Kuhni village turn. According to the police, a team was on patrol duty heading from FC Chowk, Chuharwal Chungi to Kanjli–Subhanpur when its members spotted a youth approaching on foot. On being stopped and searched on suspicion, he was found carrying 25 grams of heroin. The accused was booked under the NDPS Act and taken into custody. — OC Student attacked with knife in Phagwara Accused demanded ~20L ransom from victim’s family Phagwara, August 23 In a shocking incident at Khajurla village near Phagwara, a 17-year-old student was allegedly attacked with a knife by an acquaintance, who later demanded a ransom of Rs 20 lakh from the victim’s family. According to police records, complainant Aryan, son of Vijay Kumar and resident of Khajurla village, stated in his complaint that he was pursuing a diploma in mechanical engineering at Khalsa Technical College, Jalandhar. On Thursday evening, his acquaintance Mangat Raj, of the same village, invited him to a house belonging to villagers currently residing abroad. Aryan told the police that after a brief conversation, Mangat Raj suddenly pulled out a sharp knife concealed inside a nail cutter and launched multiple attacks on him. The victim sustained injuries on his neck, right shoulder, arm, chest, back and legs and began bleeding profusely. Amid the assault, Aryan’s father called on his mobile phone, which the accused allegedly snatched from him. He told victim’s father that his son would only be released if the family paid Rs 20 lakh. The accused removed the SIM card from victim’s mobile phone and kept it aside. Seizing an opportunity when the accused’s attention diverted, Aryan managed to escape from the spot and reached his home. His family immediately rushed him to the Civil Hospital, Phagwara, where he is undergoing treatment. The police registered a case on Aryan’s statement and confirmed that accused Mangat Raj was arrested. — OC c m y b *Approval Due