21012025-LT-01.qxd 1/21/2025 12:51 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune POLICE UNEARTH ~1 CRORE CYBER FRAUD, THREE HELD SHAH RUKH KHAN PRAISES SINGER CHRIS MARTIN Hanumangarh police have uncovered a major cyber fraud amounting to approximately ~1 crore. P3 After Chris Martin said 'SRK forever' during his performance, the superstar has now come up with a reply. P4 » BIGG BOSS 18 WINNER KARAN VEER IS ECSTATIC PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 23°C | MIN 13°C YESTERDAY MAX 22°C | MIN 13°C SUNSET TUESDAY 5.50 PM Yeh trophy meri hai, aur main is trophy ka Karan Veer Mehra… the Bigg Boss 18 winner said loud. P4 » FORECAST SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 7:18 AM » TUESDAY | 21 JANUARY 2025 | LUDHIANA AAP’s Inderjit Kaur elected first woman Mayor of Ludhiana Rakesh Prashar is Senior Deputy Mayor, Prince Johar Deputy Mayor Manav Mander Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 20 Inderjit Kaur has been elected as the first woman Mayor of Ludhiana. Rakesh Prashar named as the Senior Deputy Mayor while Prince Johar as Deputy Mayor. Finally, after two years, the city today got a House of the Municipal Corporation. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced the names in a tweet on X on Monday. The Ludhiana seat was reserved for woman and since then, the names of Inderjit Kaur, Nidhi Gupta, Amrit Varsha Rampal and Maninder Kaur Ghuman were making rounds. Inderjit Kaur is a first-time councillor and won the elections from Ward 13. She is 37-year-old and has experience of over a decade in teaching. She holds a commerce degree, an MBA and a BEd. Earlier, she was serving as a principal at a private school. She is also the women wing’s president of AAP for Ludhiana district. Her husband is a businessman. “I have been bestowed a great responsibility, hence, I will do my best to live up to the expectations of the people of my city,” she said. She said stalled development works would be completed expeditiously and new plans be implemented to make the city beautiful and clean. She emphasised that keeping the city clean and providing basic amenities to the people were their top priority. Rakesh Prashar is a five- PRINCE JOHAR, DEPUTY MAYOR Newly elected Mayor Inderjit Kaur with her supporters in Ludhiana on Monday. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN time councillor and a former Congress leader. He is the brother of AAP‘s Ludhiana Central MLA Ashok Prashar. Meanwhile, the Congress announced Shyam Sunder Malhotra as the Leader of Opposition in the Ludhiana MC House. Deepika Bhalla as the senior vice leader and Harminder Pal Lally as vice leader. Punjab Aam Aadmi Party president Aman Arora said today marks the beginning of a new chapter in Ludhiana as the AAP has given the city its first woman Mayor. He said in the municipal elections held across the state, the Aam Aadmi Party has secured over 35 Mayor and president positions so far. He also remembered the late Aam Aadmi Party MLA Gurpreet Gogi and said it was his heartfelt wish that the party should have a Mayor in Ludhiana with a full majority in the House. The swearing-in ceremony of the councillors and the mayoral elections were held at Guru Nanak Dev Bhawan here on Monday. Later the Mayor, Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor paid obeisance at Gurdwara Dukhniwaran Sahib. Afterwards, they paid tributes to Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev at the Jagraon bridge and paid obeisance at Durga Mata Mandir as well. Later, they paid tributes to Dr BR Ambedkar at the Jalandhar bypass chowk. They also paid obeisance at Gurdwara Katana Sahib. The elections to the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation were held on December 21. Of the 95 wards in Ludhiana, the ruling AAP had won 41 seats, Congress 30, the BJP 19, Shiromani Akali Dal two and Independents three seats. The mayoral elections were earlier scheduled for January 14 but were postponed after the demise of Ludhiana West MLA Gurpreet Gogi. Congress councillors Jagmeet Noni from Ward 42, Paramjit Kaur from Ward 45 Jagadish Lal from Ward 6 and Mamta Rani from Ward 41, BJP councillor Anita from Ward 21 and Independent candidates Deepa Rani Chaudhary from Ward 11 and Ratanjeet Kaur from Ward 1 joined AAP and with this, its number reached 48 and they were able to prove majority in the House. Earlier, talks were also on between the Congress and the BJP to form the House but the BJP high command RAKESH PRASHAR, SR DY MAYOR outrightly refused alliance with it and the Congress also lost its four councillors to AAP and its number shrunk to 26. 2 Nihangs held for attacking police officials at village Suspects formed a gang of robbers, committed several crimes Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 20 Two Nihangs who had attacked a police team were arrested by the Ludhiana police. One of the suspects is facing a murder case while the other is facing a case under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) registered against him in the past. The duo were identified as Simarjit Singh (36), a resident of Kamalpura village, and Manjinder Singh, alias Mani (27), a resident of Abbuwal. The police recovered 12 sharp weapons, including four swords, from them, which they had used to attack the police team. The police also recovered three motorcycles, two cars (Hyundai Santro and i10), a mini-truck and a canter from their possession. The vehicles were looted by the suspects in the past from the region. Commissioner of Police (CP), Ludhiana, Kuldeep Singh Chahal, in a statement issued stated that three suspects, including the arrested duo, had looted a Maruti Alto car from a farmer, Manohar Singh, at Sangowal village on January 14. During the investigation, when Sadar police SHO inspector Harshvir Singh, along with a police team, reached Kamalpura village to nab Simarjit, the suspect and his companions attacked inspector Harshvir and SI Tarsem Singh. Both suffered injuries. The CP in a statement stated that despite the attack by the miscreants, the police team did not lose courage and made an attempt to arrest Simarjit but Kamalpura sarpanch Mandeep Singh, alias Gogu Baba, panch Pamma, Harjit Singh Totu and 12 others, including family members of the nihangs, cornered the police officials with a motive to help Simarjit flee the scene. They even damaged the police vehicle. The inspector had to fire shots in the air to save the police team and to prevent the suspects from fleeing the place. Simarjit and Manjinder were arrested by the police. The third suspect, Sukhvir Singh, a resident of Moga, was yet to be arrested by the police. Simarjit has a criminal past as a case under the UAPA and Arms Act was registered against him at the Ramdas police station, Amritsar rural, in 2017. Manjinder is a proclaimed offender in a murder case registered against him in Barnala in 2024, in which he had severed head of a man. ADCP Dev Singh said Simarjit was a notorious criminal as he was reportedly leading the robbers’ gang. ACP South Harjinder Singh said Nihangs had formed a gang to commit vehicle snatching incidents and other crimes. In further probe, their role in other unsolved vehicle robberies or crimes would be verified. Gogi’s wife attends swearing-in Late MLA West Gurpreet Gogi’s wife Dr Sukhchain Kaur was also seen during the swearing-in ceremony. Aman Arora made sure that she was besides him throughout the event. Dr Sukhchain Kaur lost to INC’s Parminder Kaur Indi during the recent MC elections. Now, after the death of Gogi, the Ludhiana West constituency seat has fallen vacant. The by-election for the seat will be conducted by mid-July, within six months. Dr Kaur’s presence at Monday’s function has raised speculations if AAP is considering fielding her for the vacant seat. The suspects in police custody in Ludhiana on Monday. Jagraon man Six booked for attacking man, snatching valuables missing for two days found dead 376 killed, 199 injured in 483 road mishaps in past year Ludhiana, January 20 The Salem Tabri police on Sunday registered a case against six persons on the charges of attacking a man at Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 20 A man who was missing for the past two days found dead under mysterious circumstances in Jagraon. His body was found in the fields near Nanaksar here. The deceased was identified as Taranjit Singh, a resident of Kothe Jeeve in Jagraon. Station House Officer, Jagraon, SI Amarjit Singh said the deceased was into farming. On January 17, the victim left home without informing his family members and did not return. On Monday, a passer-by noticed a body lying in the fields, after which he raised the alarm and informed the police. The SHO said the police reached the scene and found that the victim was lying near a power transformer in the fields and he seemed to have died due to electrocution. Suspecting no foul play, inquest proceedings were initiated in the case. Meanwhile, sources said some stray dogs had mauled the body and eaten its parts. Elderly robbed of ~1.10L Ludhiana, January 20 A elderly man from Jagraon’s Mohalla Ajit Nagar alleged that he was robbed of Rs 1.10 lakh by two unidentified persons outside a bank on Lajpat Rai Road. The victim, Subhash Kumar, claimed that he had been saving the money for nine years to purchase an auto-rickshaw. He said the incident occurred after he withdrew the money from the bank. Two youths approached him, pretending to seek assistance for obtaining a PAN card. Afterwards, they sprayed some liquid on his face, rendering him unconscious. He regained consciousness hours later, finding himself near a truck union on Sidhwan Bet Road. After which, he realised his money was taken away by the miscreants. SI Amarjit Singh, SHO, City Jagraon police station, said the police were investigating the matter. — TNS Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 20 The Ludhiana Commissionerate Police (CP) limits witnessed 483 road accidents, which claimed 376 lives and left 199 injured in 2024. The numbers could have been more as several mishaps remain unreported to the police. While the count of casualties and crashes in 2024 dipped from 402 and 504, respectively, reported here in 2023, the figures were higher than 2022, 2020, and 2019. In 2021, as many as 377 persons had died in 478 road mishaps recorded in the state’s business and industrial capital. In the past six years, the number of fatalities and accidents remained lowest in 2020 due to the Covidinduced curfew and lockdown, which had kept roads free of vehicular traffic for several months. The figures compiled by the Ludhiana Commissionerate Police revealed that roads in Ludhiana claimed more than New Ashok Nagar here and snatching valuables from him. They were identified as Luv, Alisha, Karamvir and three unidentified persons. The complainant, Gurmeet Singh, of the Khajur chowk told the police that on January 18, he was going to bring his wife from his in-laws’ house on a motorcycle. When he reached New Ashok Nagar, he was cornered by the suspects. He identified three of them. They attacked him with sharp Casualties, crashes dip from 2023, higher than 2022, 2020, 2019 FOCUS ON ENFORCEMENT OF TRAFFIC RULES: CP The vehicles involved in a fatal accident in Ludhiana. FILE one life and reported more than one fatal accident on a daily basis. Commissioner of Police (CP) Kuldeep Singh Chahal told The Tribune here on Monday that of the total 483 road accidents reported in the past year, 222 were fatal, leaving 376 dead and 199 injured. While the police registered 342 FIRs against errant vehicle drivers, 141 cases of c m y b deaths in blind accidents were dealt through inquest proceedings initiated under Section 174 of the CrPC and Section 194 of the BNS. Comparatively, a total of 504 road mishaps reported to the police in 2023 had claimed 402 deaths and had left 209 persons injured. It was the highest tally of accidents and casualties reported in the Ludhiana CP limits since 2019. “We have been undertaking a sustained campaign with a focus on road safety and enforcement of traffic rules with an aim to make roads safer. Besides spreading awareness and educating vehicle drivers, we are acting tough against violators by way of challans, fines and even impounding vehicles of habitual offenders,” said Kuldeep Singh Chahal, CP. Earlier, 356 persons were killed and 222 injured in 458 road accidents in 2022; 377 died and 216 hurt in 478 mishaps in 2021; 260 casualties and 184 injuries in 418 accidents in 2020; and 359 lives were lost and 573 were left hurt in 428 mishaps here in 2019. Taking serious note of the dubious distinction of killer roads that city’s most of the outer and inner stretches weapons. They had even threatened to kill him but they fled the scene after residents gathered at the place. The complainant said the suspects had also snatched his gold chain, gold ring and a mobile. Personal enmity was said to be the cause behind the attack. — TNS and intersections have assumed, the Commissionerate Police have identified black spots after conducting a thorough survey and investigation of accidents reported and reasons that caused them in the recent past. “We have held meetings with all stakeholders involved after identification of the black spots and measures have been shortlisted to convert them into white spots with liaison and cooperation of the agencies concerned,” the Ludhiana top cop said. Chahal said the measures being taken included structural changes, road safety steps, removing encroachments and other changes as per the specific need of a particular spot. Recently, the Commissionerate Police had launched a special drive to free major roads in Ludhiana of encroachments under a special drive to free all busy and important inner and outer passages and intersections of obstacles for smooth movement of vehicular traffic. It was a part of a slew of measures initiated by the police to ease traffic congestion and improve road safety in Ludhiana, popularly known as the Manchester of India. The development assumes significance as the maximum city of the state has earned a dubious distinction of losing more than one precious life in over one road accident reported to the police daily due to clogged roads and traffic chaos, which at times also lead to road-rage cases. The situation turns grim during morning and evening hours. The Commissionerate Police had also been observing a road safety month under the theme, ‘Sadak suraksha, jeevan raksha’ and holding daily activities involving local residents and motorists to spread the message of road safety. To check violation of traffic rules and catch offenders, traffic police personnel have been deputed at strategic points, which were known for witnessing traffic chaos, in different parts of the city.