29102024-LT-01.qxd 10/29/2024 12:37 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune TWO KILLED, ONE INJURED IN SANGRUR ACCIDENT MIRZAPUR FILM ANNOUNCED; PANKAJ, ALI FAZAL REUNITE DIWALI VIBES ARE DIFFERENT IN PRESENT TIMES: BECTOR The duo were killed when car they were travelling in met with a mishap at Nankiana Sahib Chowk. P3 Mirzapur is getting a theatrical movie, based on the award-winning crime thriller franchise. P4 For Rajni, whose company Cremica started from a small kitchen in Ludhiana, Diwali is special affair. P4 » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 32°C | MIN 20°C YESTERDAY MAX 32°C | MIN 20°C SUNSET TUESDAY 5.39 PM » SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 6:33 AM TUESDAY | 29 OCTOBER 2024 | LUDHIANA Who will clear Ludhiana roads? Festive rush adds to chaos as MC drives against encroachments make little impact Manav Mander CHOCK-A-BLOCK AT MARKETS Tribune News Service City’s markets at Chaura Bazaar, Civil Lines, Model Town, BRS Nagar, Daresi Ground, Barewal Road, Haibowal, Jawahar Nagar, Ghumar Mandi, Field Gunj, Karimpura, Brown Road and other spots were chock-a-block these days due to the festive season as vendors selling various items have displayed their stuff by the roadside. . Clockwise from top: A huge rush of people in the old city area and encroachments by shopkeepers upon roads in the Civil Lines and Ghumar Mandi in Ludhiana on Monday. TRIBUNE PHOTOS: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN area, said it was a tough task to pass through city roads and as Diwali was approaching near, it would become all the more difficult. “Besides shopkeepers, who have displayed their items along roads, many makeshift vends selling various items such as diyas, candles and sweets have also emerged in bazaars. People have been facing inconvenience due to the same,” she said. Gurmeet Kaur, a buyer at Ghumar Mandi, was having a difficult time while parking her car due to encroachments. “There is hardly any parking space and shoppers are left to park their vehicles by the roadside but with encroachments on roads, even that space is occupied. To make the situation worse for people, the traffic police personnel on duty are towing away vehicles FIR lodged by ED made startling disclosures about notorious agent Nitish Ghai’s empire He had declared a total income of ~22L only, amassed property worth crores of rupees Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, October 28 The First Information Report (FIR) lodged by the Enforcement Directorate against notorious travel agent Nitish Ghai, a resident of the city, has made startling revelations about his fraudulent practices and assets gathered by the accused by looting the hard-earned money of foreign aspirants. A copy of the FIR is with The Tribune. Ghai was involved in the illegal activity of dealing in ‘work visa’ without any licence issued under the Emigration Act, 1983, through his firms named Blessing Consultancy, Ludhiana, and GND Consultancy, Ludhiana, during 2015 to 2018. During investigation, it was disclosed that around 112 FIRs were registered by the Punjab Police at various police stations of Ludhiana and Jalandhar district against Ghai and his firms, on the basis of various complaints, which alleged that he collected money for providing ‘work visa’ but he failed to do the same, states the FIR lodged on the complaint of Assistant Director, Enforcement Directorate, Jalandhar, Rakesh Janghu. Most of these FIRs were quashed by the court on the basis of the fact that Ghai returned money to complainants and a compromised was reached between them. It proves that Ghai was indeed dealing in ‘work visa’ during 2015 to 2018 through his two firms. “Further, during the course of investigation, Ghai was examined under the provisions of Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, and in his statement recorded in 2021, he categorically stated that his firms were issued licences by the District Magistrate, Ludhiana, under the provisions of the Punjab Prevention of Human Smuggling Rules, 2013, and he was not having any licences issued under the Emigration Act, 1983. The licenses issued by the District Magistrate were not valid to deal in ‘work visa’. Further, the sus- pect gave advertisement, claiming he deals in work permits by advertising himself as a recruitment agent to befool the foreign aspirants. During investigation conducted under the provisions of PMLA, 2002, it was further revealed that bank accounts maintained by Ghai in his name and in the name of his firms were credited with several crores of rupees, which were collected in cash/online payments by him through his illegal dealing in ‘work visa’ during 2016 to 2018, the FIR states. “He has collected funds taken from the victims in guise of providing consultancy and were deposited in his personal accounts, instead of depositing the same into account of his constancy firms. Further, the bank account maintained by Ghai does not show any payments made by him to the complainants for the compromise effected and it is highly likely that these payments were made out of cash generated by him through the illegal activities. It was further disclosed that he had purchased numerous immovable properties, worth crores of rupees, in his name by using the proceeds generated from the illegal activities. The agent had declared a total income of Rs 22 lakh only for the period of 2015 to 2018,” adds the FIR. Details of properties bought during 2015 to 2018 As per ED, properties purchased by Ghai during 2015 to 2018 include commercial property at Sherpur Kalan, Indra Colony, Ludhiana; residential property at Bhamian village; residential property at Abadi Punjabi Bagh, Mayapuri; 99 Visa Consultancy office, Ghumar Mandi; commercial property at Ayali Khurd village, Abadi South City; commercial property at Karabara, Abadi Krishna Nagar, near Gurdev Nagar; commercial property at Karabara, Abadi Krishna Nagar; and residential property at Victoria Colony, Ayali Khurd village in Ludhiana. c m y b parked on roads. In such case, where do commuters park their vehicles? Why shops are given permission to operate when they have no parking facility and public is made to suffer,” she said. Deepak Sethi, whose office is located on Brown Road, said usually it takes 40 minutes to reach his office from home but these days due to the festive season it takes one hour to reach his workplace. “It is difficult to even drive on roads as a major portion of roads is encroached upon by shopkeepers and vendors,” he said. Jasdev Singh Sekhon, Assistant Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, said the civic body was already carrying out antiencroachment drives and also creating awareness among shopkeepers to not to encroach upon roads. It was also the duty of the sellers to keep in consideration comfort of the people so that they could reach their shops easily for making purchases. MLA Gurpreet Gogi said Diwali was one of the the biggest festivals of north India and many people earn money by making and selling small items such as diyas and other earthen articles during the festive season. “To help such small shopkeepers survive, they are allowed to put up roadside stalls but they should also not encroach upon the entire road. Keeping in view the rush in city bazaars, the people should avoid going in four-wheelers. Instead, they should use public transport. After Diwali, nobody will be spared and strict action will be taken against encroachments,” he said. Tribune News Service Ludhiana, October 28 After the Khanna police claimed to have arrested a person who killed two of his friends, the police today said the suspect had been nursing old enmity with the deceased due to which he might have killed them. Besides probing other angles in the case, an angle of honour killing is also being probed by the police. Notably, Balraj Singh from Bhutta village was arrested by the Khanna police on Sunday for the alleged murder of his two friends, Narinder Singh (25) and Jagjit Singh (28), residents of the village. Khanna SSP Ashwini Gotyal in a press conference conducted on Monday regarding the matter stated that on October 23, Balraj had taken along Narinder and Jagjit on the pretext that they were going to eat something at Rara Sahib. When the duo did not return home, kin of both victims went to the house of Balraj but the latter did not give any satisfactory reply to them. The suspect had claimed that the three were riding a motorcycle when an unidentified passenger pulled his arm, forcing them to hit the canal bridge and fall into the water body in the Siar area. He alleged that he narrowly escaped from the canal water. However, police suspicions grew and further inquiry exposed the fabricated accident story. The SSP said when Balraj was questioned, he admitted that on October 23 when they reached a petrol pump at Jhamat, the suspect dropped one of the victims on the road and took the other along to the canal. After pushing him into the canal, the suspect again returned and took the other victim near the canal. Afterwards, the latter was also pushed into the canal by Balraj. When asked if honour killing angle was being probed behind the murder, the SSP said it was also being probed. Markets flooded with illegal cracker vends Ludhiana, October 28 In blatant disregard for the norms, vendors in the industrial hub have set up cracker vends in various markets across the city. According to the police administration orders, crackers can only be sold at designated areas. However, ahead of Diwali, local shopkeepers without licences have put up makeshift stalls on roads or set up vends in their shops. Designated cracker sale areas include Grain Market near Jalandhar Bypass, Cremation Ground road in Model Town Extension, Dugri Phase 2, GLADA ground on Chandigarh Road, Hambran road in Haibowal and Lodhi Club road. A survey in the city revealed that illegal cracker shops have been set up in Shimlapuri, Haibowal, Dugri, Gill Road, Jassian road, Chandar Nagar, Chandi- garh road, Hambran Road, Field Ganj, Daresi, Civil Lines, Jassian Road, Ladhowal, Hargobind Nagar, Dr Gujjarmal road, CMC road, Salem Tabri, Upkar Nagar, etc. These vends are located in densely populated residential areas or markets, in violation of the safety and fire norms. If an untoward incident occurs, it could result in significant loss of property and human life. Despite being aware of the issue, the police and district administration are not taking action to curb the violations. A police official said the police were reluctant to act against small sellers or vendors as they only set up vends for a few days ahead of Diwali, and it is part of their business. It is learnt that traders had not only opened shops but also stored crackers illegally in residential areas. — TNS Rules violation alleged as new makeshift cracker shop comes up at grain market Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, October 28 In gross violation of rules, some unidentified persons have set up a shop, reportedly illegally, at the grain market near Jalandhar bypass. The shop has been running for over three days now and the matter has reached senior police officials but the Police Department has not been able to take action against the offender, allegedly due to the involvement of a ruling party politician. It is pertinent to mention here that the draw for allotting wholesale cracker shops was conducted by the Police Department in which as many as 40 shops were allotted after following the due procedure. Hundreds of people had applied for the allotment but it was the 40 lucky ones who got the shops allotted in their names. As per the norms laid down by the department, no extra shop can be opened in the grain market, besides these 40 shops but people reportedly close to ruling party lead- ASHWANI DHIMAN Ludhiana, October 28 Diwali is only a few days away and encroachments and long queues of vehicles have become a regular feature these days. The festive season is the time when city’s markets and bazaars are jampacked and traffic moves at a snail’s pace as shopkeepers put up their stalls outside their shops, encroaching major portion of roads. The question that remains unanswered is who will clear Ludhiana roads? Will roads be cleared of encroachments so that people have a pleasant shopping experience or they will have to continue jostling with each other while reaching out to different places for making their purchases. Is it the Municipal Corporation that fails to act or the alleged political influence that deters officials to take any action or is it traders who fail to understand their moral responsibility to remain within limits of their establishments and not encroach upon roads? City’s markets at Chaura Bazaar, Civil Lines, Model Town, BRS Nagar, Daresi Ground, Barewal Road, Haibowal, Jawahar Nagar, Ghumar Mandi, Field Gunj, Karimpura, Brown Road and others are facing a chock-oblock situation these days as vendors selling various items have displayed their stuff by the roadside. Shopkeepers at Jawahar Nagar Camp have moved a step further and installed tents along the roadside for selling their stuff. The tehbazari wing of the MC carries out regular antiencroachment drives but these fail to serve the purpose as the sellers return to such spots after a few days. Manjeet Kaur, a resident who stays in the College Road Double murder: Man killed friends over old enmity The illegal cracker shop (right) at the grain market in Ludhiana. ILLEGAL SHOP WILL NOT BE ALLOWED IN MARKET: DCP DCP (City & Investigation) Shubham Aggarwal said he had instructed the ACP concerned to take action and ensure that illegal shop doesn’t open. He said he would again check the status and unauthorised cracker shop would not be allowed in the grain market. ers and some police officials opened a makeshift shop in violation of the rules. Interestingly, the shop, ‘Aradhya Fireworks’, has been set up illegally at a prominent location in a row (adjacent to shop number 40) near the entrance gate of the grain market, indicating that the owner has been given special exemption. When visitors enter the cracker market, they will first come across the illegal shop. The most shocking development is that it has no number while all other 40 shops in the market are duly numbered and the names of their owners have also been mentioned. Mysterious opening If the police take action, the entire stock of the shop can be confiscated and legal action initiated against the owner as well. Other traders who got the shops allotted by following the due process, after paying the allotment fee and other charges to the Mandi Board, said: “The shop was opened by some unidentified persons about three days ago secretly at night. Huge stocks of fireworks have been kept in the shop. We could not stop this as we have been told that ruling party politicians and senior police officials have allowed it to run. We are not filing complaints, else the police and the politicians concerned may harass us.” Entire cracker market sitting on a powder keg The wholesale market for crackers poses a fire hazard with massive open stocks. Despite warnings, shopkeepers keep huge stocks in the open, risking disaster. A shopkeeper said they could stock only 1,000-1,200 kg of crackers, but shopkeepers have kept 2,000-3,000 kg in the open. They park cars among shops and crackers, risking major trouble. The shopkeeper claimed that they have sand buckets, water drums and a few fire extinguishers but no CCTV cameras. Therefore, security concerns persist. Fire officials emphasised basic safety measures.