18012025-LT-01.qxd 1/18/2025 12:29 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune UNDERAGE DRIVING CONTINUES UNABATED IN CITY AREAS Underage riders have been paying scant regard to directions given by the traffic police. INSIDE » STARS CELEBRATE REVIVAL OF YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI SOBHITA IS ECSTATIC… AS MONKEY MAN GETS BAFTA NOD Many hit movies from past are being re-released in theatres. These include Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. INSIDE Actress Sobhita Dhulipala shared on social media that her film Monkey Man has entered race for BAFTAs. INSIDE » » FORECAST DENSE FOG MAX 20°C | MIN 10°C YESTERDAY MAX 20°C | MIN 8°C SUNSET SATURDAY 5.45 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 7:19 AM SATURDAY | 18 JANUARY 2025 | LUDHIANA Illegal axing of trees: Irrigation Dept to submit reply today Forest Dept had recently issued notice to contractor, Irrigation officials Lovleen Bains Doraha, January 17 The Forest Department recently issued a notice to the Irrigation Department against illegal axing of 20 trees and mining along the Sirhind Canal near Doraha, the reply to which is supposed to be submitted by the latter by January 18, failing which legal action will be initiated. The Forest Department sprung into action after the Public Action Committee (PAC) filed a complaint with the Regional Officer, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and District Forest Officer of Ludhiana, recently against the Executive Engineer, SDOs and junior engineer concerned of the Water Resources Department, Punjab, as well as private contractors responsible for illegal axing of trees and mining within the forest area along the Sirhind canal near Doraha. Members of the PAC engineer Kapil Arora, Dr Amandeep Bains, Jaskirat Singh, Kuldeep Khaira, Preet Dhanoa and Swaranjit Kaur, Sahil Sharma, Navneet Bhullar, Gurpreet Singh Palaha, members Guramneet Singh Mangat The spot where axing of trees and mining were done in an illegal manner along the Sirhind canal near Doraha. from the Progressive Farmers Front, Samita Kaur Mangat from ‘We Support Our Farmers’,Shahanu Jain and Col Jasjit Singh along with members of the BKU (Sidhupur) have raised concern against the authorities whose indifferent attitude led to the axing of trees, illegal mining and caused environment degradation. They also alleged burning of wood in the forest and installation of a batching plant in the area. “Two underground water tanks had also been constructed by excavating the forest area,” they said. Founder of ‘We Support Our Farmers’ Samita Kaur said they paid five visits to the banks of the Sirhind Canal in Doraha and found that illegal mining had been conducted, to the ignorance of the authorities. “The majority of the trees have been axed while roots of others have been damaged to the extent that they too can fall any time. Such an inhumane act is intolerable,” she said. “The earth has been excavated between trees at many locations and parts of seven trees were lying at the location. Some of the trees were axed and thrown on the kaccha road. To make matters worse, illegal mining has been conducted in such a way that maximum soil is extracted from inner parts of the forest strip situated under the canal. As the officials confirmed that no such permission was granted, we requested them to register an FIR against culprits within five days of the complaint. The city being an industrial hub, trees play an important role in reducing air pollution. We urgently need to protect trees to protect our future generations,” Samita said. ‘Our team recovered a dead snake from the area, which belongs to the endangered species of the reptile,” said Sahil Sharma, one of the activists and wildlife expert. “We have to pay a heavy price for the ecological imbalance being created by thoughtless acts of the officials concerned, who should be brought to book,” he said. District Forest Range Officer, Ludhiana, Rajesh Gulati, said a notice regarding the illegally axing of 20 trees along the Sirhind canal has been sent to the private contractor concerned, SDO and XEN of the Irrigation Department. “The reply from the other side is expected latest by January 18, failing which legal action will be initiated,” he added. c m y b 25-year-old woman found hanging Our correspondent Doraha, January 17 A 25-year-old woman, an employee of a mobile firm, allegedly died by suicide under mysterious circumstances at her rental accommodation on Thursday night. Her body has been sent for a post-mortem examination by the Doraha police. The victim has been identified as Ritu, a resident of Faridkot, at present staying in Doraha. She was working with a mobile company in Doraha for the past three years. Ritu was the only child of her parents. She was disturbed for the past few days as per the police. Her body was found hanging from the ceiling fan on Friday morning. In her suicide note, she stated that due to depression she was taking the extreme step and nobody should be held responsible for the same. According to Station House Officer (SHO), Doraha, the autopsy would be conducted on Saturday after which the body would be handed over to her parents. Probe under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure(CrPC) has been initiated. Man shoots himself with licensed weapon in moving vehicle Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 17 A man died by suicide by shooting himself with a licensed revolver in his Toyota Fortuner vehicle on Friday at Gaunsgarh village in Machhiwara Sahib. He shot himself in the moving vehicle. Surprisingly, he collected his licensed weapon from a gun house and used the same to end his life. The deceased was identified as Surinder Singh Shinda (35). According to information, after returning from America about a year ago the man was engaged in agriculture and dairy business. On Friday, he came to his dairy in the morning and later, left the place in his SUV. On a road near his village, he shot himself in the vehicle, after which it went out of control and crashed into a roadside pole and then fell into a field. An eyewitness working in the field said when the vehicle hit the pole and fell into the field, he saw that the driver was lying on the seat in a pool of blood. He broke the glass and took out the man but the victim was already dead. He reportedly shot two bullets, one on his legs and Took extreme step after collecting revolver from gun house the other on the chest. After the incident, Khanna SSP Ashwini Gotyal reached the scene along with the police force and started investigation. Police officials said during preliminary investigation, it was suspected to be a case of suicide. However, the police have been exploring different angles. Phone call details of the deceased would be checked to inquire about his last calls. The man was survived by wife and a child. Senior Superintendent of Police, Khanna, Ashwini Gotyal, said no suicide note was recovered from the the vehicle and his family had also not pointed out any reason for taking the extreme step. “On Friday only, the victim had collected his licensed .32 bore revolver from the gun house where he had deposited the same during the recent elections. While returning home, he used the weapon to end his life,” the SSP said. ~4.35-cr fraud case cracked, one nabbed Ludhiana, January 17 The cybercrime police have solved a Rs 4.35 crore investment fraud case with the arrest of Dharminder Kumar, a resident of Rewari, Haryana, on Thursday. The case was registered on June 21, 2024, following a complaint by Rashpal Singh from Model Town. The victim said he was added to a WhatsApp group where the suspect shared investment tips and promised high profits. Dharminder made him invest in certain stocks and initially showed him profits on a small investment. However, when the victim invested a larger amount, the suspect disappeared. The case was registered under Sections 420 and 120-B of the IPC. During the investigation, the police found that Rs 60 lakh of the Rs 4.35 crore were transferred to an account opened in the name of Vikram Consultancy. The account was opened by Vikram Yadav from Haryana’s Mahendergarh and Dharminder. Based on the disclosures made by the suspect during questioning, the cybercrime police also booked his aides, Satish Kumar, Varun, and Abhishek from Haryana, Rajasthan, and Delhi, respectively. The police seized two mobiles from the suspect but no money has been recovered so far. — TNS