14012025-LT-01.qxd 1/14/2025 12:39 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune FARMERS BURN COPIES OF DRAFT AGRI POLICY Copies of draft agri policy were burnt across state on a call given by the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha. P2 » EXTENDING A HELPING HAND FOR WILDFIRE VICTIMS FIGHTING CHILD MARRIAGE WITH FOOTBALL Celebrities donate generously to families and workers impacted by the Los Angeles fires. P4 DENSE FOG MAX 15°C | MIN 8°C YESTERDAY MAX 16°C | MIN 9°C SUNSET TUESDAY 5.42 PM Kicking Balls adjudged Best Documentary Short at the New York International Film Festival. P4 » FORECAST SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 7:20 AM » TUESDAY | 14 JANUARY 2025 | LUDHIANA Structural work done, city rly station’s revamp inching towards completion ~529-crore upgrade of British era’s biggest junction by August Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 13 With structural and other work on several components almost complete and the finishing job in progress, the redevelopment and upgrade of the Ludhiana railway station at the cost of Rs 528.95 crore is inching fast towards completion, the Northern Railway (NR) has said. The work on the big ticket central project is progressing fast to meet the August deadline with structural work on multi-level car parking, rest house and hospital building already completed while the work on east and west side main station buildings, elevated approach road, concourse, foot over bridges, through roof, cover over platforms and construction of multi-storied quarters in full swing. The architectural design for the new-look junction had already been approved while the geotechnical investigation, survey and relocation of existing structures had also been completed. The project, which was awarded on the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode to a local firm on December 19, 2022, has been targeted to be completed by August 2. Being undertaken through the EPC mode, the redevelopment work entails a host of new facilities and upgrade of existing services to give a new and modern look to the British era’s biggest junction in the Ferozepur Division, officials have revealed. Work in progress to upgrade the railway station in Ludhiana on Monday. ASHWANI DHIMAN The total project cost of Rs 528.95 crore included the contract value of Rs 472.94 crore, project management consultant (PMC) cost of Rs 4.56 crore and other allied expenditures. Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had approved the redevelopment and upgrade of the Ludhiana railway station in December 2022 following the demand raised by Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora. He had met Vaishnaw to demand major infrastructure uplift and revamp of the junction while highlighting its poor state. The development assumes significance as it was the first major revamp of the railway station established here, way back in 1860. A visit to the site on Monday revealed that the struc- PROJECT REPORT Project cost: ~528.95 crore Contract value: ~472.94 crore PMC cost: ~4.56 crore Project awarded: Dec 19, 2022 Completion date: Aug 2, 2025 tural work of the multi-level car parking had been completed and its finishing job was in full swing. The east side main station building superstructure erection was also completed with first floor slab and the ACC block work, and launching of structure columns and beams in progress. The foundation work of the west side building was almost completed with first floor slab work in progress. The construction of the elevated approach road was also in the advanced stage of completion with 186 of the total 193 piling works, 36 of the 52 pile caps, 31 of the 52 piers, and five of the 17 pier caps already finished. The superstructure work was under fabrication. The east side underground tank structure work has been done while the foundation work of concourse and foot over bridges on platform 1, 2, and 3 has also been completed while the same on platform 4, 5, 6, and 7 was in progress. Foundations of the through roof, covers over platform 1, 2, and 3 have been done while the same for platform 4, 5, 6, and 7 was in progress. The structural work for the construction of multi-storied quarters Type-II and Type-III (A and B blocks) with 31 of the total 38 slab castings have been completed before initiating the finishing job. The other jobs already completed included terrace floor of Type-II C block quarters, fourth floor slab of Type-II D block quarters, structural work and AAC block work of rest house and hospital building. With finishing work of all structures completed in full swing, the construction of Type-III E and F blocks and Type-IV multi-storied quarters was also in progress. All RCC slabs up to terrace level for Type-IV quarters have been casted with AAC block and finishing work on them is in progress. It followed after the architectural design for the redevelopment and upgrade of the railway station was approved. The construction and allied works have been expedited on the ground after the geotechnical investigation, survey work and the work involving relocation of existing facilities had been completed. Besides, 90 per cent of the approvals for the structural and 80 per cent of the MEP designs have also been granted so far. The railway station development work involved relocation of 130 existing quarters, rest house, hospital, main station building and railway offices for clearance of the site for construction of main and secondary entry of the new station building. Minor girl suffers gunshot injury in celebratory firing on Lohri .32 bore ‘licensed pistol’ used to fire bullet, claims ACP Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 13 In a shocking incident, an eight-year-old girl child suffered a gunshot injury while watching kite flying with her mother on the rooftop during the Lohri celebrations at New Madhopuri here on Monday afternoon. The bullet got stuck in the girl’s head. She was rushed to a nearest hospital where doctors removed the bullet and saved the child. The girl has been identified as Aashiyana, a resident of New Madhopuri. After getting information, the police team reached the scene. The police are checking footage of CCTV cameras installed around the victim’s house. Initial investigation revealed that someone had fired a celebratory shot in the air during the Lohri celebra- tions and the bullet hit the girl’s head. When blood started oozing out, her family was shocked to see the bullet stuck in the head. The girl’s father, Nasir Alam, said: “Our family used to do embroidery work. On Monday, after having lunch, when the girl, along with her mother, was watching kite flying on the rooftop, something sharp hit her head. Aashiyana came running to her mother and said something had hit her head. Seeing the blood oozing out, she took the child to the nearest clinic. Doctors told the woman that she had been shot in the head. They removed the bullet and sent the girl to the Civil Hospital. The doctors at the Civil Hospital after treatment informed the police. ACP (North) Davinder Chaudhary said someone Police personnel conduct a probe in the New Madhopuri area on Monday. Case registered 20 days after major robbery incident Lohri warmth Tribune News Service Residents gather around a bonfire to celebrate Lohri in Ludhiana on Monday. PHOTO: ASHWANI DHIMAN P2 Ludhiana, January 13 A major robbery incident has come to light in Ludhiana in which miscreants after holding a truck driver captive took away the vehicle carrying steel goods worth Rs 20 lakh and fled the scene. The truck was parked outside the Hero Steel factory. Though the incident occurred on December 23, 2024, the police registered a case on Sunday, after 20 days of the incident. The owner of the truck, Hargun Kumar, said his driver Mangal Singh was sleeping in the vehicle on the night of December 23. The next day, steel was to be unloaded at Focal Point, Phase 4. At night, a seemed to have resorted to celebratory firing during the Lohri celebrations and the bullet hit the girl’s head. “After the incident, we launched extensive checking in the area to inquire about the celebratory firing. The police also frisked some men in the area to check if they possess weapons. Now, we will gather information about weapon licence holders and suspicious arms would be sent for forensic examination and action would be taken in the case. The shot was fired from a .32 bore pistol as per the analysis of recovered bullet. It is a serious matter and the suspect would not be spared. If licensed weapon is used, its licence would be cancelled and name of the the suspect would be added in the FIR registered under the Arms Act and other sections of the BNS,” he said. POLICE FAILED TO ACT TIMELY: TRUCK OWNER The truck owner alleged that the incident occurred on the night of December 23, 2024, and then he informed the police but they failed to take any timely action. Truck loaded with steel goods worth ~20L was taken away after holding driver captive person knocked the door of the vehicle and asked for tobacco. When Mangal was giving him tobacco, two more miscreants came to them. They beaten up the driver and tied his hands and legs. The miscreants left Mangal near Alamgir gurdwara on the Malerkotla road and fled with the truck and steel. The faces of the suspects were captured in CCTV camera of the petrol pump located near the scene. The police collected the footage and are searching for them. Hargun alleged that the incident occurred on the night of December 23, 2024, and then he informed the police but they failed to take any timely action. He kept visiting the police station again and again but the police registered the case only after 20 days. He demanded that the culprits should be arrested and his looted goods be recovered. Intruder caught smuggling tobacco, mobile into jail Ludhiana, January 13 A man was caught by jail staff while attempting to smuggle tobacco and a mobile phone into the Ludhiana Central Jail. The intruder, identified as Mandeep Singh, was trying to throw a package over the wall of the jail when he was apprehended. As per jail officials, the package contained 15 packets of tobacco and a mobile phone, which were intended for inmate Jatinder Kumar. Mandeep confessed that he was trying to deliver the contraband to Jatinder. The police on Sunday registered a case against Mandeep and Jatinder under the Prisons Act. It was not an isolated case, earlier also, jail staff had nabbed suspects who tried to smuggle drugs into the jail. — TNS Shot fired at car of AAP councillor’s Man steals laptop from tent house, held husband in Kidwai Nagar, probe on Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 13 A suspicious incident occurred in the Kidwai Nagar area here, where somebody fired a gunshot on the vehicle belonging to the husband of a councillor. The AAP councillor’s husband, Raju Baba, whose wife is the elected representative of Ward 75, reported that his Honda City car was parked outside his house when a neighbour told him that something had hit its rear windshield. Upon inspection, Baba found a gunshot hole in the glass and a bullet lodged inside the car. Initially, Baba thought that someone might have thrown a stone at the car, but upon further investigation, he discovered the bullet. He said he and his family were in shock and fear for their safety, adding that they might had been targeted. The police initiated investigation in the matter. A case was registered at the Division 2 police station. They have been reviewing the CCTV footage to identify the culprit. Station House officer (SHO) inspector Gurjit Singh said investigation was launched in the matter and the police would soon arrest the culprit(s). c m y b Ludhiana, January 13 A man entered a tent house on Sabzi Mandi Road in Jagraon and escaped after committing a theft. The suspect was captured in the CCTV camera installed at the shop. Later, the police arrested him on the complaint of the shop owner. According to information, Harpreet Singh, alias Nan- nu, broke the lock of the shop in its rear on the intervening night of December 30 and 31 and stole a laptop and a charger. The police identified the suspect on the basis of the CCTV footage. There was panic among residents in the city due to the rising incidents of theft. They have demanded increased police patrolling to curb the menace. The Investigating officer, ASI Kuldeep, of the City Jagraon police station said shopkeeper Jaikishan Goyal complained to the police that he had closed the shop around 8 pm as usual on the night of December 30 and went home. When he reached the shop the next morning, he found that the lock of the store in the rear was broken and the laptop and charger were missing. The footage of the CCTV camera installed in the rear of the shop showed that a man entered it by jumping over the wall and committed the theft. The suspect, a resident of Kothe Khajuran, Jagraon, has a criminal past as three cases were already registered against him. The police arrested him and further questioning was on to inquire about his role in other theft incidents.