27032026-LT-01.qxd 3/27/2026 12:59 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune RIGHTS PANEL ASKS MC CHIEF FOR REPORT BY APRIL 30 FROM HOCKEY FIELD TO CLASS: NAGI’S ENDURING LEGACY FROM STAGE TO SCREEN, HONING CRAFT TO HOG SPOTLIGHT Model Town Market Welfare Association files complaint alleging eatery dumping waste onto street. P2 Onkar Singh, a player, coach and educator, has made remarkable contribution to sports over four decades. P3 From backstage struggles to standing ovations, these actors prove that theatre is a lifelong foundation. P4 » » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 32°C | MIN 17°C YESTERDAY MAX 33°C | MIN 16°C SUNSET FRIDAY 6.38 PM SUNRISE SATURDAY 6:17 AM FRIDAY | 27 MARCH 2026 | LUDHIANA Minor girl among 2 crushed to death by speeding tipper, container truck Lovleen Bains Sahnewal, March 26 Two persons, including a minor girl, lost their lives in two accidents that occurred in Sahnewal on Thursday. In the mishaps, the victims were crushed under the wheels of heavy vehicles. Cases have been registered in both incidents against the tipper and container truck drivers who were driving recklessly. The bodies will be handed over to their kin after post-mortem examinations on Friday. The drivers in both cases fled the scene while the police succeeded in taking one of the vehicles into their custody. ‘NO CHECK ON HEAVY VEHICLES PLYING IN TOWN’ Resentment was writ large on the faces of residents of the town who complained that despite repeated pleas and requests to the administration and the police, heavy vehicles not only enter the town illegally but also ply at high speed without bothering about precious lives. In the first incident, a tipper coming from Sahnewal towards the Kohara side crushed Jindar Singh, a 60-year-old security guard from Ghawaddi village in Dehlon, coming from the same side. In the second case, a container truck coming from Sahnewal and going towards Doraha, crushed a 17-yearold girl, identified as Sonali, a resident of the Ram- garh road area here, when she was riding a twowheeler. Both accidents occurred due to overspeeding of the heavy vehicles. Investigating officer Gurmeet Singh said cases under Sections 281, 106, 125A, 324-4 of the BNS had been registered against the drivers. “In one case, the driver managed to flee along with his tipper from the scene, in the other, the driver left the container truck behind, which was taken into custody by the police,” he added. Resentment was writ large on the faces of residents of the town who complained that despite repeated pleas and requests to the administration and the police, heavy vehicles not only enter the town illegally but also ply at high speed without bothering about precious lives. Overspeeding cause behind many accidents, says cop Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Sahnewal, March 26 After the issue of severe traffic congestion due to illegal entry of the heavy vehicles into the town was highlighted through these recently, the administration on Thursday passed a written order prohibiting the movement of heavy vehicles, including trucks, dumpers, tippers, container trucks, at the Sahnewal main chowk and market from 7 am to 8 pm. SDM, Ludhiana (East), Jasleen Bhullar, stated in the order that to ensure smooth regulation of traffic, public safety and prevention of any untoward incident, it was necessary to impose restrictions on the movement of heavy vehicles in the area. “The movement of heavy vehicles will remain prohibited at the main Sahnewal chowk and its market from 7 am to 8 pm. It would be permitted only from 8 pm till 7 am. Emergency vehicles, including police, fire brigade, ambulance, The order will remain in force from March 27 to 31. are however exempted. Also, vehicles carrying essential commodities and those permitted by the district administration through written orders will also fall under exemption,” the order says. “The order shall remain in force from March 27 to March 31. The CP Ludhiana, will , ensure strict implementation and enforcement of the order,” the order stated. Heavy vehicles have claimed several lives in the town, including a 60-year-old security guard and 17-yearold Sonali, who lost their lives on Thursday after being crushed under the tyres of the a tipper and a container truck. Earlier, 19-year-old Nikhil Garg was crushed under the tyres of a heavy vehicle. Such vehicles not only entered the town at their own will but also driven at high speed. As a result, several precious lives have been lost till date. In the absence of any Minister Arora opens projects worth~8.59 crore in city A video grab shows the overturned vehicle on the Ferozepur road on Wednesday night. which were circulated on social media. One of the traffic police personnel said due to less traffic on roads in late hours, many motorists drive at a high speed due to which such accidents are occurring. “The police are appealing to people to exercise caution and follow prescribed speed limits. We lay nakas on both sides of overbridges on the Ferozepur road. But in late hours, many under the influence of liquor after attending parties, drive recklessly, the police official said. PO held in Gurdaspur firing case Mahesh Sharma Khanna, March 26 The police claimed to have nabbed a person who had allegedly fired at the nephew of a former legislator at Ghuman Kalan in Gurdaspur district on November 18, 2025. The suspect, identified as Gursahib Singh of Dostpur village in Gurdaspur district, had fired at the victim at instance of some handlers of an extortion gang located abroad. The Gurdaspur police have declared him as a proclaimed offender in the case registered at the Ghuman Kalan police station under Sections 109 and 3(5) of the BNS. He is facing at least four other cases at various police stations. Gursahib was identified during investigation of a case registered against Gautam of Hariyon Kalan in Samrala recently at the Samrala police station under the NDPS Act. SSP, Khanna, Darpan Ahluwalia, said police personnel, supervised by SP (I) Pawanjit, DSP (I) Mohit Kumar Singla and in-charge, CIA, Khanna, Jashanpreet Singh, had nabbed Gursahib on information extracted from THE TRIBUNE IMPACT Lovleen Bains Three hurt as speeding SUV overturns Ludhiana, March 26 A speeding Mitsubishi Pajero vehicle went out of control and overturned on the divider near Circuit House on the Ferozepur road late on Wednesday night. There was chaos at the scene after the accident. People and motorists gathered at the spot and helped the victims to get out from the vehicle. According to eyewitnesses, three persons travelling in the vehicle received injuries while their condition is said to be stable. However, the injured had not been identified. After the accident, relatives of the victims reached the scene and took the latter with them. The front portion of the Pajero vehicle was badly damaged in the accident. Later, the vehicle was shifted from the scene. Some commuters made videos of the incident Movement of heavy vehicles prohibited at Sahnewal chowk, market from 7 am to 8 pm The suspect in police custody in Khanna. Gautam, who was nabbed with 10-gm heroin from Samrala on March 13. Gautam had confessed that he used to bring heroin from Gursahib. During investigation Gursahib revealed that he, along with his accomplice, had fired at Pehaljit Singh, who is the nephew of a former MLA, for extorting money for handlers staying in foreign countries. Pehaljit was injured in the incident. The Khanna police consider Gursahib’s arrest as an achievement of the investi- gating team which foiled potential attempts of Gurdaspur criminals to commit crime in the local area. “Had our cops dealt the recovery of heroin from Gautam as a routine matter, Gursahib could have succeeded in committing more crimes related with drug smuggling and extortion,” said Ahluwalia, maintaining that the team was trying to extract more information regarding links of Gautam and Gursahib. Efforts were on to identify the extortion gang handlers. Over speeding, underage driving, drunken driving and poor road infrastructure are some of the major causes for accidents in the city. Meanwhile, in the past 24 hours, two persons died in a head-on collision between two cars on the LudhianaFerozepur highway. Ludhiana, March 26 Minister for Local Government, Industries and Commerce, Investment Promotion and Power Sanjeev Arora opened several road projects worth over Rs 8.59 crore in the city on Thursday. The projects have been launched for the reconstruction of the old GT road stretch from Jalandhar bypass till the Buddha Dariya; elevated road from Chand Cinema till the Jagraon bridge and the road from Saggu Chowk till the Hambran road. The old GT Road and elevated road projects are being taken up at a cost of Rs 7.07 crore while the project to reconstruct the road from Saggu Chowk till the Hambran road is being taken up at a cost of over Rs 1.52 crore. While launching the projects, Arora said the road infrastructure across the state was undergoing a massive overhaul with road projects worth Rs 1,000 crore to be completed by the end of April. Stating that more projects worth crores would be launched across the city in coming days, he directed the civic body officials to ensure high quality development works and blacklist contractors, if any discrepancies are found in works. For ensuring long life of roads, the contractors would be responsible for the maintenance of roads for up to 5 years. The minister said in addition to the Rs 1,000 crore projects being taken up in cities for upgrading road infrastructure, departments such as PWD and Rural development were also taking up major road projects in the state. He said people-centric projects were being taken up by the state government to facilitate the public at large. Two Bihar men arrestedwith 1 kg of opium Ludhiana, March 26 The police claimed to have arrested two residents of Bihar who had been involved in supply of drugs and narcotics by travelling in a train. The suspects arrested jointly by officials of the Government Railway Police (GRP) and CIA wing, Ludhiana, were identified as Rahul Kumar and Sanjay Kumar of Muzaffarpur district in Bihar. One kg of opium was recovered from their possession, the police said. Preliminary probe by officials, led by in-charge, CIA, Palwinder Singh, revealed that the suspects had received the consignment from some unidentified drug peddler on the way while coming from the Muzaffarpur railway junction. They had changed trains twice and were supposed to deliver the contraband to the target person. Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspects had agreed to carry the consignment on the promise of a payment of Rs 20,000. They were told that someone would contact them to collect the consignment at the Amritsar railway junction. — OC c m y b Minister Sanjeev Arora launches a road project in Ludhiana. restriction on their entry, the town was always in a state of mess. The board, banning the entry, was pushed aside long ago. Rather than imposing stringent checks at the entry point, the traffic police remained busy in clearing the rush at the chowk. “It’s good that the administration woke up from its deep slumber. Now, as the order has been passed, I hope that it is implemented in letter and in spirit,” said a resident. Youth, kin attacked by miscreants Ludhiana, March 28 The Division Number 4 police have initiated a probe into an incident in which some arms miscreants had allegedly attacked a youth of Disco Colony, Ludhiana, when he was coming out from an ice-cream shop late on Wednesday night. His father and younger brother, who came to rescue him, were injured in the incident. Bittu Sharma informed the police that some armed miscreants had attacked his son Sahil Sharma when he was coming out of an ice-cream shop late on Wednesday night. “They hit him with the butt of a weapon and baseball bat leaving the youth bleeding profusely,” Sharma alleged, adding that he, along with his younger son Mohit, were also injured while trying to rescue the victim. Though the victims have named a resident of the area for leading the attack, SHO, Division Number 4, Gurjit Singh, said further action would be taken after recording the statement of Sahil and verifying allegations levelled by him.—OC Financier held for sexually harassing woman Mahesh Sharma Raikot, March 26 A financier of Sudhar town near here in Ludhiana district has been arrested for sexually harassing a woman of Budhel village. He offered her that her loan will be partially settled if she agrees to spend a night with him every week. The financier, identified as Brahamdeep Sidhu of Sudhar, promised the complainant to adjust Rs 5,000 per week and pay her another amount of around Rs 6 lakh after a year for the same. Perusal of records revealed that the suspect Suspect demanded sexual favours from victim in lieu of partially settling her loan was booked under Sections 75 (sexual harassment), 78 (stalking, repeated physical following, digital monitoring and unwanted electronic messages) and 79 (insult modesty of a woman) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) vide an FIR registered at the Sudhar police station on Wednesday. Preliminary investigations conducted by cops led by investigating Officer Manohar Lal revealed that the complainant had visited the suspect’s office in Sudhar on January 5 and availed a loan amounting to Rs 35,000 on the condition of repayment in instalment of Rs 10,000 per month. On March 7, the woman received a call from the financiar regarding her failure to pay the instalment, following which she visited his office on the same day. “When I visited his office, he told me that I need not repay the loan if I spend one night with him every week. He offered to adjust Rs 5,000 in my loan every time and provide around Rs 6 lakh after a year,” the complainant told the police. Investigating official Manohar Lal said the suspect had been arrested late on Wednesday. “Like any other suspect, he denied charges levelled against him, but we will initiate further action after verifying the sequence of events and evidence provided by the complainant to substantiate her allegations,” Manohar Lal said.