06042024-LT-01.qxd 4/6/2024 1:04 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune MC WASTING FUNDS ON PARK RENOVATION, SAY RESIDENTS ROW OVER TELECAST OF THE KERALA STORY ON DD ALFIA JAFRY OPENS UP ON HER DEBUT ROLE A few residents have raised concerns regardingwastage of funds in renovation project at Kidwai Nagar park. P2 Congress approached ECI against the decision of Doordarshan to telecast movie The Kerala Story. P4 Alfia Jafry is all set for her debut role in The Tribe, which will soon premiere on Amazon Prime Video. P4 » » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 33°C | MIN 18°C YESTERDAY MAX 34°C | MIN 17°C SUNSET SATURDAY 6.49 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 6:07 AM SATURDAY | 6 APRIL 2024 | LUDHIANA Khanna police crack whip on election code violators 149 nabbed with huge cache of drugs, illicit liquor, weapons, cash DISTRICT PROFILE INDIA VOTES ■ Assembly constituencies: 2024 (Khanna, Samrala, Payal) ■ Lok Sabha constituency: Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Khanna (Ludhiana), April 5 The Khanna police have cracked the whip against violators of the model code of conduct (MCC), which had been in force since the announcement of the 2024 General Election on March 16, across three Assembly segments falling under the Fatehgarh Sahib Lok Sabha constituency. The police have arrested 149 criminals under various offences punishable under relevant provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, Excise Act and the Arms Act, from whom a huge cache of drugs, illicit liquor, drug money and weapons have been seized. Besides identifying 48 troublemakers, the police have so far taken 158 history-sheeters and other anti-social elements under preventive custody. Also, 114 proclaimed offenders (POs) and absconders have been arrested while 553 of the total 564 non-bailable warrants (NBWs) have been executed in the police district, which is part of Ludhiana administrative district. However, almost 38 per cent of the total 6,445 arms licence owners have not yet deposited with the police their 2,894 3 Khanna SSP Amneet Kondal (centre) shows illegal arms and ammunition seized during a special checking in Khanna. licensed weapons, which was mandatory as per the prohibitory order issued by District Magistrate (DM) Sakshi Sawhney till March 31. Leading the special drive launched by the district police against the poll code violations, Khanna Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Amneet Kondal has directed the police force to ensure strict implementation of the MCC and allow no violation of the guidelines issued by the Election Commission for the conduct of free, fair and peaceful General Election. Sharing the action-taken report, Amneet told The Tribune here on Friday that 10 inter-district nakas (checkposts) had been set up across the limits of three police subdivisions and eight police stations falling under the Khanna police district to maintain strict vigil on the movement of anti-social elements and check any illegal activity that might affect the smooth con- duct of the elections. Two of the 10 special nakas have been made hi-tech and put under the round-the-clock CCTV supervision. She said regular coordination meetings at the district, sub-division and police station levels were being held with counterparts and a special control and a separate WhatsApp number had been activated to receive, share and transmit the real-time information. “As of now, two platoons of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) have been received by us, which are being used as part of the flying squad teams (FSTs) as well as other condition-based maintenance (CBM) purposes,” the SSP revealed while informing that of the total 383 polling station locations across Khanna police district, eight have been identified as vulnerable and five critical. Amneet said 149 criminals had so far been arrested in 100 FIRs registered under 1 Fatehgarh Sahib ■ Police sub-divisions: 3 ■ Police stations: 8 ■ Polling station locations: 383 ■ Vulnerable: 8 ■ Critical: 5 ■ Inter-district nakas: 10 ■ Hi-tech nakas: 2 ■ CAPF: 2 platoons the NDPS Act, Excise Act and Arms Act, from whom huge cache of drugs, illicit liquor, weapons and drug money had been recovered. The recovery included 670 litres of illicit liquor, 7.39 quintals of poppy husk, 321 gm of heroin, 9.2 kg of opium, 1.5 kg of ganja, 15 gm of smack, 43 gm of drug powder, 45 gm of charas, 12 kg of poppy plants, 46,280 intoxicant pills and capsules, 20 bottles of intoxicant syrups, Rs 25 lakh unaccounted cash, Rs 40,000 drug money, 24 .32 bore pistols, 29 magazines and 19 cartridges. “In a major operation, we had intercepted Rs 25 lakh unaccounted cash at a hi-tech naka on March 30 and the case had been handed over to the Income Tax Department for further proceedings in the matter,” she said. The district police chief further stated that 48 troublemakers have been identified so far while preventive action continued on page 2 100 fire incidents in three months, still max city buildings sans safety measures 16 killed in factory blaze near Suffian chowk in 2017, stringent measures needed needed at every unit and to FIRE SAFETY enforce the same, the MC will PART - II Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 5 The industrial hub of the state tops the list when it comes to the occurrence of the number of fire incidents. Last year, Ludhiana recorded over 350 fire incidents while the current year had already witnessed over 100 fire incidents. Interestingly, in most of the incidents, owners of establishments were found to be at fault for not complying with the fire safety norms. Despite the city is sitting on a powder keg and fire incidents have cost the lives of many industrial workers, the administration and residents have not learnt any lesson from the past tragedies. Whenever any fire incident occurs, fire personnel reach the spot and douse the flames. Despite most units in the city sans fire safety arrangements, no concrete action was taken against the erring units. Political interference is also one of the reasons behind the fire officials remaining on the back foot. Interestingly, such lethargic approach of the administration has been going on for years now. The most tragic fire and building collapse incident occurred on November 20, 2017, in which a total of 16 persons, including nine firefighters, had lost their A major fire breaks out in a building in Ludhiana. FILE lives at the plastic manufacturing factory near Suffian Chowk. A highly flammable chemical was stored at the factory without any permission. Days after the tragedy, the then MC officials had announced to conduct a survey to check fire safety arrangements at factories, godowns, commercial establishments and other buildings in the city but to no avail. Even the then Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh had also visited the spot and ordered strict action against the erring units but nothing happened on the ground. As per information, the MC had reportedly begun a fire safety audit to check fire safety arrangements at city hospitals in 2018 but the same was also not completed due to unknown reasons. The MC had also prepared a report around five years ago and according to it, less than 2 per cent of industries, commercial establishments, educational and other institutes operating in the city had obtained fire safety certifi- cates. Despite the report, no concrete measures were taken. Sources said there were over 4.25 lakh properties in the city, of which at least 2 lakh properties were either commercial and industrial. Officials blamed the shortage of manpower for not being able to conduct any audit and also shift the blame on residents who were not complying with the fire safety norms. A fire official said they were waiting eagerly for the implementation of the Punjab Fire and Emergency Service Act, 2022, which was lying in limbo for years. The draft of the Act was already ready and once it gets final approval from the Cabinet and the state Assembly, fire officials would get some powers to take action against the erring owners and officials can also seal buildings for violations. At present, there is some ambiguity about the powers of the fire officials in the state. What MC chief says “Fire safety arrangements are initially issue advisory for residents, asking them to follow fire safety norms. Afterwards, random checking would be conducted and erring building owners will face action. To save precious lives and loss of properties, I also urged the residents to come forward and ensure implementation of the fire norms,” MC Commissioner Sandeep Rishi said. Only Ludhiana has got turntable ladder in state Notably, whenever a fire breaks out in a high-rise building, firemen have to enter the structure either by climbing from adjoining buildings or they endanger their lives by entering from the main door of the building on fire and due to the practice, they also suffer injuries. Last year, the fire authorities got the turn table ladder (TTL), which costs the state Rs 13 crore and only Ludhiana is having the advanced ladder in the state. The TTL helps in controlling fire incidents in high- rise buildings as it’s height is 56 m. “With the availability of the advanced ladder, we are fully prepared to tackle any kind of emergency. It not only helps in dousing the flames in high-rise buildings but can also be used to rescue trapped persons in the structures,” fire officials said. c m y b Two killed after being hit by train Ludhiana, April 5 Two persons died after being run over by a train near the Lalheri road railway bridge in Khanna on Thursday night. Three other persons saved their lives by running away from the railway tracks. They were reportedly drinking alcohol while sitting on the tracks. The deceased were identified as Satpal (58) and Praveen (38), residents of Azad Nagar, Khanna. Satpal was a mason and Praveen was working as a labourer. Eyewitnesses told the police that the five persons were consuming alcohol on the railway line and two of them were run over by a goods train. The railway police have initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPc in the matter. — TNS Infant, 2 women die as car hits trio Tribune Reporters Ludhiana, April 5 Two women and a one-yearold child died in a road accident near the Chehla flyover in Samrala on Friday evening after being hit by a car. The driver of the vehicle was arrested by the police. The deceased were identified as Sona (55), her daughter-in-law Pooja (23) and the latter’s one-year-old son Janu, all residents of Ludhiana. As per information, the trio were going from Chandigarh to Ludhiana along with their neighbour on a motorcycle. After reaching Chehla, the man stopped his motorcycle. He dropped them and went to buy a water bottle. The two women, along with the child, were crossing the flyover when a Honda car hit them The vehicle dragged them on the road and killed all of them. A case was registered against the suspect. Ludhiana man dies as car falls into Sidhwan canal Doraha: A car fell into the Sidhwan canal near Rampur village near here this evening. The passers-by pulled out the driver from the vehicle and took him to the Civil Hospital, Samrala, where he was declared brought dead. Jagroop Singh from Baini Sahib, a commuter, who was passing from the canal road, told this correspondent that as he saw a crowd gathered on the road, he stopped there and found that a man was drown- ing in the canal. He stopped bikers on the road and asked them to help the victim. “They pulled out the man from the vehicle. He was taken to the Civil Hospital, Samrala, where he was declared brought dead,” he said. The onlookers said the victim was going in his car towards Rampur village but he took the narrow lane along the canal. Doraha SHO Rohit Sharma said he could not share any information as of now. Payal DSP Nikhil Garg, however, said the body had been identified. “The deceased has been identified as Namit Sharma, a resident of Model Town Extension, Ludhiana, who was driving his Honda city car. Proceedings are being initiated under Section 174 of the CrPC in the case,” he added. Man fraudulently withdraws ~5.5 cr from father’s account, booked Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 5 The Model Town police yesterday registered a case against a man who fraudulently withdrew Rs 5.50 crore from the bank account of his deceased father. After other family members came to know about the matter, they lodged a police complaint and after investigation, a case Case registered months after deceased victim's daughter complained to police was registered. The suspect has been identified as Vishal Singhania, a resident of Model Town here. The complainant, Anisha Gupta, a resident of GK Enclave, Dugri, who is the sister of the suspect, told the police that after the death of their father, her brother prepared fake nomination papers, which he further used to withdraw Rs 5.50 crore from the bank account of the deceased. He had forged the signature of his father and also some other documents to commit the fraud. The complainant said after she got to know about the withdrawal, she lodged a police complaint in May last year and after months of investigation, a case was registered. The investigating officer, ASI Balwinder Singh, said after registering a case against the man, further probe was launched in the matter by the police.
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