11022025-LT-01.qxd 2/11/2025 12:59 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune EMINENT FIGURES FETED AS JARKHAR FEST WRAPS UP ARTIST WHO PAINTED RICH LANDSCAPE OF PUNJAB DIES MANJOT HAS OFFICIALLY DROPPED HIS DEBUT SINGLE WATCHOUT Three-day Jarkhar Sports Festival, organised at Jakhar village, concluded on Sunday. P2 Artist Jarnail Singh, who painted cultural landscape of Punjab, breathed his last on Monday in Chandigarh. P4 Rising music sensation Manjot MJ has officially dropped his much-anticipated debut single Watchout. P4 » » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 24°C | MIN 10°C YESTERDAY MAX 24°C | MIN 9°C SUNSET TUESDAY 6.08 PM SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 7:05 AM TUESDAY | 11 FEBRUARY 2025 | LUDHIANA Crackdown on illegal immigration 2 migrants die in road mishap network, DC forms special panel Tribune News Service Committees led by SDMs to raid, check agents working across district Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 10 Tthe district administration has launched a crackdown on the illegal immigration network in Ludhiana in a bid to avert more youth falling in the trap of such agents and check the rising immigration business. Taking cue from the recent horror faced by Punjabi youth who were deported from the US on the charge of illegal migrants as part of the Donald Trump regime’s latest crackdown, Deputy Commissioner Jitendra Jorwal has formed a special panel to conduct raids and check the working of all those involved directly or indirectly in the immigration business across the district. The Sub-Divisional Magistrates (SDMs) concerned will head the five-member committees in their respective sub-divisions, which will comprise the ACP/ DSP District , Industries Centre General Manager, Assistant Labour Commissioner and the tehsildar/naib tehsildar concerned. These panels will conduct checks at all travel agents across Ludhiana, the state’s biggest and largest district, in terms of area and population, and submit fact-finding reports within a week. Jorwal told The Tribune that there were 1,692 registered immigration centres in the district but there were reports that certain unregistered/ illegal firms were also operating as travel agents in Ludhiana. The DC issues travel agent There are 1,692 registered immigration centres in Ludhiana district. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN ZERO TOLERANCE FOR ILLEGAL BUSINESSES “Following the receipt of reports from the SDMs, we will act tough against all those found operating illegally and sans mandatory registrations,” the DC asserted while adding that the district administration has adopted a zero tolerance approach towards the illegal immigration network. licences to consultancy firms, IELTS centres, travel agents, ticketing agents and general sales agents under the provisions of the Punjab Prevention of Human Smuggling Act and the Punjab Travel Professionals Regulation Act, 2012. “We have been receiving complaints regarding illegal immigration network, following which we have launched a crackdown to check and act against all those operating without mandatory registration and legal provisions,” he said. The DC has invoked provisions of the advisory issued by the Secretary, Home Affairs and Justice, on May 14, 2018, which specified that under Section 10 of the Punjab Prevention of Human Smuggling Act and the Punjab Travel Professionals Regulation Act, 2012, any executive magistrate, SDM or gazetted police officer (DSP/ ACP) can carry out searches of premises of travel agents and such inspections should be carried out on a regular basis. Jorwal has directed all SDMs to conduct raids at all establishments involved in the immigration business directly or indirectly and send him action-taken reports within a week. “Following the receipt of the reports from the SDMs, we will act tough against all those found operating illegally and sans mandatory registrations,” the DC asserted while adding that the administration has adopted a zero tolerance approach towards the illegal immigration network. Pertinently, the Punjab Police had on Friday constituted a four-member fact-finding committee/special investigation team (SIT) to investigate illegal human trafficking and migration in the state. Additional Director General of Police (NRI affairs) Praveen Sinha will head the committee with ADGP (internal security) Shive Kumar Verma, IGP (provisioning) Dr S Boopathi and DIG (border Manav Mander Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 10 The city will be rendered without the city bus service completely from February 26 onwards as the agreement with the firm running these buses comes to an end on February 25. The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) funded the purchase of 120 city buses in 2011. Initially, these buses were run by the MC and it earned profit as well but later it was unable to properly run the vehicles and these were handed over to a private firm for operations. The firm was given 83 buses for operating in 2015 while the remaining 37 has got defunct by that time and are still lying at a depot located on Tajpur Road. In 2022, a decision was taken to auction these buses but the process could not be completed till date. The city bus contract, started on January 25, 2015, came to an end on January 25, 2024. Afterwards, the private firm started returning the buses and 15 were still operational as according to one of the conditions of the agreement, it was required that the buses should have covered 5,00,000 km before being returned, which led to the delay in returning of the last batch. At present, 15 buses were running on two routes, from the bus stand to Kohara and from Clock Tower to Sahnewal. The MC also held a discussion with the PRTC to operate these buses on city ASHWANI DHIMAN Last batch of 15 buses to go off road from Feb 26 At present, buses are running on two routes, from bus stand to Kohara and from Clock Tower to Sahnewal. PROPOSAL TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON: MAYOR Mayor Inderjit Kaur said the city bus service was the lifeline of the city residents and they won’t let it discontinue. “We are working on a proposal regarding the service which is in the finalising stage and it will be announced soon,” she said. routes but it could not be materialised. In such a situation, rickshaws, e-rickshaws, auto-rickshaws and cabs will be the only option left with residents to commute within the city. Factory workers and students were primary users of the city bus service and with the last few buses also going off the road soon, concerns have been raised and the MC has been urged to come up with an alternative option for commuting. Parkash Kumar, who works at a factory in Kohara, commutes through a city bus and spends Rs 25 daily. He is worried that the city bus service in this route was soon going to end. “Currently my factory is giving me the travel expenses but with the bus fare going up, I don’t think they will increase my allowance. It seems I will have to shell out from my own pocket for the same,” he said. Anu, who works at a hospital in Sahnewal and commutes through a city bus, is now worried as to how she will reach her workplace in the absence of the bus service. Mayor Inderjit Kaur said the city bus service was the lifeline of the city residents and they won’t let it discontinue. “We are working on a proposal regarding the service which is in the finalising stage and it will be announced soon,” she said. 8 routes of city bus service Bus stand to Kohara (running till Feb 25), Clock Tower to Sahnewal (running till Feb 25), bus stand to Ferozepur road octroi post (discontinued) railway station to Meharbaan (discontinued) Clock Tower to Haibowal (discontinued) Clock Tower to Shimlapuri (discontinued), Clock Tower to Malakpur (discontinued) and Dugri to Metro (discontinued). c m y b range) Satinder Singh as its members. “The SIT will focus on identifying individuals involved in such illegal activities and ensuring they are held accountable for their actions,” Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav had said while directing the SIT to take appropriate action as per law and facts. “The committee has been empowered to co-opt any other police officer in the inquiry/investigation. They will maintain coordination with the senior superintendents of police/commissioners of police concerned, who have been directed to provide all required assistance and infrastructural facilities to the committee,” the DGP had stated while adding that this collaborative effort was aimed at ensuring a comprehensive and effective investigation into illegal migration. Among 30 Punjab deportees, only one young girl hailed from Jagraon in Ludhiana, who had crossed over to the US through Mexico while having a valid UK visa while a maximum of 14 hailed from the Doaba region. “Following the receipt of reports from the SDMs, we will act tough against all those found operating illegally and sans mandatory registrations,” the DC asserted while adding that the district administration has adopted a zero tolerance approach towards the illegal immigration network. Head constable booked for taking ~17K bribe Ludhiana, February 10 The Vigilance Bureau (VB) Ludhiana, registered a corruption case against Ranjit Singh, head constable (HC), posted at the Kanganwal police post in the district for receiving a bribe of Rs 17,800 through google pay and cash. Disclosing this here today an official spokesperson for the state VB said the case was registered against the policeman following an inquiry of an online complaint filed by Indra Parsad, a resident of New Satguru Nagar, Sahnewal road, here, on the Chief Ministers’ anti Corruption Action Line. He said the complainant had a dispute with someone regarding the sale of a shop and the moharrair head constable (MHC), Ram Murti, had called him to the police post but afterwards Ranjit Singh put him in the lock-up. According to the complaint, the suspect had took Rs 800 from his pocket and set him free. Afterwards, he took Rs 10,000 in cash and Rs 7,000 as bribe through Google Pay. The spokesperson said during verification of the complaint, the allegations levelled by the complainant were found correct as the same were supported by oral, audio and documentary evidence. Subsequently, a case was registered against the suspect under Prevention of Corruption Act. During further probe, the role of ASI Mewa Singh, ASI Ram Murti and the SHO concerned would be probed, he said. — TNS Ludhiana, February 10 A road accident occurred near Shiva Marriage Palace in Machhiwara claimed the lives of two men and injured two others. The incident occurred on Sunday night when a car collided with a motorcycle killing Govinda (29) and Mithan Kumar (32), both residents of Guru Colony, Machhiwara. The deceased were returning home from work at a nearby cold store in Garhi Bridge when they met with the tragedy. The impact of the collision was so high that the victims fell on the road and a pedestrian, Ram Bharose Sahni, who was passing through the place, was also injured. Govinda and Mithan succumbed to their injuries on the spot due to serious injuries while Sahni is undergoing treatment at a hospital. Investigating officer ASI Karnail Singh said the car The car that collided with the victims’ bike in Machhiwara. The migrants killed in mishap. was impounded and a case was filed against its driver, Satish Kumar, a resident of Una. He also sustained injuries and received first aid before being referred for fur- ther treatment. The bodies of the deceased were sent for post-mortem examination. The incident had devastated two families as both victims were from impoverished backgrounds. Govinda was survived by wife and three children while Mithan was survived by wife and two children. After registering a case against the car driver, the Machhiwara police launched investigation in the matter. Driver killed as trucks ram into each other in Khanna Scooterist hit by speeding car dies in another accident Ludhiana February 10 A truck driver died in a road accident on the national highway in Khanna on Monday. In the incident, he was trapped in the cabin of the vehicle. He was pulled out with the help of a crane and a tractor. The body was sent to a government hospital for post-mortem examination. As per information, Balwinder Singh of Gurdaspur, was going to Khanna from Ludhiana with a truck laden with liquor. When he reached near Bija Chowk, his vehicle rammed into another truck going ahead. The front cabin of his truck was completely damaged. Balwinder could not get out and died due to being trapped inside the cabin. After getting information, sub-inspector Sukhdev Singh of the Road Safety Force reached the scene with his team. The help of crane and tractor was taken to remove the body of the driver trapped in the cabin of the truck. Investigation revealed that the truck going in front of the victim’s vehicle was within the prescribed speed limit while Balwinder’s truck was speeding. Traffic on the national highway was affected throughout the night due to the accident. The Road Security Force team was engaged in rescue operations in the night and the road was opened for traffic at 3 am. Both damaged vehicles were handed over to the Sadar police station. Meanwhile, a speeding and rashly driven Mercedes car rammed into a scooter at Kothe Baggu village late on Saturday night killing the victim while injuring another. A case of causing death by negligence was registered against the unidentified car driver and the police launched a probe to identify the suspect. The complainant, Ram Singh, a resident of Kothe Baggu, Jagraon, said he owns a nursery on the GT Road in Kothe Baggu. Gopi (56), a native of Uttar Pradesh, was working for the past over five Students injured as car overturns on national highway Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 10 Five students from a private school in Jhanna were injured on Monday when the car they were traveling in overturned near Bija Chowk on the Ludhiana-Khanna national highway. Two of the students were admitted to the Civil Hospital, Khanna, while the Sadak Suraksha Force (SSF) provided on-site first aid to the other three persons. The students were reportedly returning home from a farewell party in their car when the accident occurred. According to ASI Sukhwinder Singh of the SSF, the control room alerted them about the mishap occurred near Bija Chowk. He and his team arrived at the scene and reccued the five students from the vehicle, noting that two had sustained significant injuries. Eyewitnesses reported that the car jumped the footpath before rolling into adjacent fields. Passers-by, who witnessed the accident, alerted the Sadak Suraksha Force about the mishap, following which the police reached the scene. years at the nursery. On February 8, he, along with Anil Kumar, on a motorcycle and Gopi, along with Ram Shankar, on a TVS scooter were commuting on the GT Road. When they were about to reach the nursery, a speeding black Mercedes (DL 8 CAK 0513) car crossed their motorcycle and then rammed into the scooter of Gopi and Ram Shankar. The collision was so intense that both of them fell on the road and suffered serious injuries while their scooter was damaged. A passer-by called the 108 ambulance and the injured were rushed to a hospital. The unidentified car driver fled the acene after the mishap. The injured were taken to the Civil Hospital, Jagraon, where doctors declared Gopi brought dead. Ram Shankar was referred to Medical Hospital, Faridkot, for further treatment, he said. ASI Balraj Singh said on the basis of the registration number of the car, a probe was on to identify its driver. — TNS Factory owner held for wrongful confinement Ludhiana, February 10 The Haibowal police on Sunday registered a case against a factory owner on the charge of keeping a worker under wrongful confinement. The suspect was identified as Ashraf Ali of Sandhu Nagar, Haibowal. The complainant, Mohd Asgar Ansari, told the police that he had been working at the factory of the suspect for the past over one year as an embroidery worker. Another worker, Mustafa, who was close to him, was also working in the factory. A few days ago, Mustafa left the factory and went to his native place in Bihar. Angry over the disappearance of Mustafa, their employer kept him under wrongful confinement at the factory. On Sunday, he managed to escape from the factory and lodged a police complaint in this regard. ASI Makhan Singh said the factory owner was arrested in the case and further probe was launched. — TNS