27042025-LT-01.qxd 4/26/2025 11:10 PM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune POLICE LATHICHARGE PROTESTING VILLAGERS 476 STUDENTS GET DEGREES DURING CONVOCATION 545 KG SPURIOUS PANEER SEIZED, SAMPLE SENT TO LAB The police and Akhara villagers came to a face-off over the protest against the construction of a biogas plant. P2 SCD Government College, Ludhiana, held a convocation ceremony for the graduates of 2022 on Saturday. P2 Health Department’s food safety wing team raided a dairy in Basant Avenue and seized the paneer. P2 » » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 42°C | MIN 19°C YESTERDAY MAX 40°C | MIN 21°C SUNSET SUNDAY 7.02 PM SUNRISE MONDAY 5:45 AM SUNDAY | 27 APRIL 2025 | LUDHIANA Six arrested in early morning police raids on houses of 25 drug peddlers hundreds of drug peddlers who were out on bail and suspected to be involved in drug peddling. They may face similar strike anytime now. Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 26 Police Commissioner, Ludhiana, Swapan Sharma led a special operation, which he termed as ‘surgrical strike’, and raided the places of 25 drug peddlers in Haibowal and Jawahar Camp. Six smugglers were arrested in this operation and drugs were seized from the houses by the police. This is part of a fresh strategy to take on the drug peddlers. This raids started at 4 am and ended at 7 am. Revealing about the strike, Sharma said that in cordon and search operation (CASO) the police used to select an area for which huge force was required for searching houses and random frisking people. But this practice usually cause harassment to genuine people as well. Now, the Ludhiana police has changed its strategy against drug peddlers and named it ‘surgical strike’, under which houses of specific smugglers will only be targeted. Like today, 25 drug peddlers were targeted, whose Police to strike on smugglers once every fortnight Ludhiana Police Commissioner Swapan Sharma holds a press conference on Saturday regarding the raids at the houses of smugglers. TRIBUNE PHOTO: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN places had already been identified and their activities being watched for over a week. After confirming their involvement in drug peddling, raids were conducted at the places of these identified peddlers, added the Comissiner. He revealed Ludhiana district lifts 88% of procured wheat, tops state Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 26 Wheat has started coming in mandis in bulk quantities as harvesting reaches its peak. Ludhiana being the biggest district, it has procured maximum wheat to the tune of over 3.8 lakh metric tonne (MT) as of now. And it also became number one in the lifting of wheat as 88 per cent of the procured wheat has already been lifted in the district. After Ludhiana, Pathankot is the second district in the state where 87.92 per cent wheat has been lifted. Rupnagar is at number 3 in Punjab with 78.03 per cent lifting of wheat. At the same time, minimum wheat lifting has been done at Tarn Taran, with just 32.19 per cent as on April 25. Expressing satisfaction, Himanshu Jain, Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana, told The Tribune that wheat had arrived in total 147 mandis of Ludhiana in both east and west circles and 88 per cent had been lifted from these, which was a good sign. “Our officials are in the fields taking care of all arrangements so that farmers do not face any issue. In case, there are minor issues anywhere, we are getting them resolved at the earliest,” said Jain. “There were initial hiccups like lesser transportation facilities, labour shortage, etc., but everything was sorted out and we are in comfortable position,” informed the DC. Meanwhile, many farmers from Kila Raipur had complained about several issues like delay in checking of moisture, no drinking water facility, no one to address the issues of farmers in mandis, etc. Baldev Singh Latala, state committee member of the All-India Kisan Sabha, said that at Kila Raipur, the farmers were facing several issues. He said that gunny bags were provided late. A few buyers at the grain market near Arora Palace had complained that sheds were not enough for storage and whichever were available, people had started parking their vehicles under these. A special team of the Special Cell has been formed, and an inspector ranked officer will lead the team. This officer will carry out surveillance on drug peddlers who are out on bail in drug peddling cases and will scan their day-to-day activities. An officer will also keep a tab on the clients who get these drugs. After zeroing on the entire information, the police will conduct surgical strike once every fortnight. “This strike will remains secret as only a few officers who were keeping a tab on the activities of smugglers or some senior officers will be aware about strike. Even the police personnel will be told to reach only a few hours before the operation,” asserted Sharma. BJP eyes Hindu candidate for Ludhiana byelection Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 26 The BJP is reportedly in the process of shortlisting candidates for the Ludhiana West bypoll, with sources indicating that the party is looking for a Hindu face to represent the constituency, which has a significant number of Hindu voters. Though eight potential candidates have been shortlisted from a pool of over 24, there is a possibility that the party may choose someone from outside the list to put up a strong challenge against contenders who have already made substantial headway in campaigning. An unnamed BJP leader, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, revealed that while local names were being discussed, the party needed a candidate capable of competing fiercely with other prominent figures like Sanjeev Arora from AAP and Bharat Bhushan Ashu from Congress. The leader also mentioned that discussions had taken place between BJP’s Punjab State Affairs incharge Vijay Roopani and former Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu about the potential candidate. According to the source, the party is considering a seasoned politician with a background in Congress. This candidate, who is Hindu, could present a formidable challenge to the others. However, the final decision is still pending, with the party waiting for the candidate’s confirmation before proceeding further. The leader added that this delay in announcing the candidate could be attributed to the ongoing focus on the the Pahalgam attack on April 22. Woman lawyer beaten up, minister assures strict action Ludhiana, April 26 A woman lawyer was injured in a fight between two parties at the Khanna Bar Association office in Ludhiana district on Friday. She alleged that she was attacked after the accused made obscene remarks and later even beat her up. On receiving information about the incident, Khanna MLA and Punjab Cabinet Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sondh reached the Civil Hospital and met the injured woman lawyer and assured her of justice. He promised strict action against the culprits and asked the SHO to register a case. On Friday, she was in Khanna court after returning from a Ludhiana court. When she was in the Bar association office, a dispute took place and the accused not only beat her, but also vandalised the office. In the incident, along with the woman lawyer, another assistant was also injured. The Bar association will hold a meeting on Monday to consider further action. —TNS that these 25 drug peddlers were already facing several cases of drug peddling and were out on bail, but they didn’t shun peddling. During the raids, smugglers were caught from their houses and drugs seized from them. Some of the smugglers, however, managed to escape before the police reached their places. One held for fleeing without paying fuel bill Support SAD, Sukhbir appeals to electorate Raikot, April 26 The Sudhar Police has booked two brothers of Goindwal village in Raikot subdivision for allegedly not paying the bill of petrol and endangering human lives through rash driving a week ago. While the main accused, identified as Sukhdeep Singh, has been arrested by the cops led by SHO Sudhar Jaswinder Singh, his accomplice Arashdeep Singh is still at large. Dakha DSP Varinder Singh Khosa said that the Sudhar police on Thursday had registered an FIR on the statement of Sardeep Singh of Lohara village regarding an incident that occurred at his petrol pump at Sarabha village last Saturday. Two unknown persons had got the fuel tank of their car refilled and drove away rashly without paying the bill totalling Rs 2,590. Having failed to identify the suspects on his own, the complainant lodged a formal complaint at Sudhar police station on Thursday, following which the cops identified the duo and arrested Sukhdeep Singh on Friday afternoon. — OC Ludhiana, April 26 Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Badal today appealed to the electorate of Ludhiana West to support the party in the forthcoming byelection to pave the way for the end of gangster culture, drug menace and terrorism. Addressing the mediapersons at the residence of SAD candidate Parupkar Singh Ghumman, the SAD president said, “The people of the state have experimented with both Congress and AAP Pun. jab has witnessed a steep decline in all parameters and now the situation has become such that even the common man is not safe. The state needs a decisive government like the SAD, which will eradicate gangsters and drug traffickers, besides bringing back peace and ensuring communal harmony.” Sukhbir also attacked the AAP leadership in Delhi for taking over the Punjab government. “Right now, Kejriwal and his team, including Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, have distributed all ministries between themselves. Right from the Chief Minister’s Office to the state secre- List of hundreds of peddlers prepared Commissioner Sharma said the commissionerate had already prepared a list of Tribune News Service Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal being greeted by party workers before a meeting held in Ludhiana on Saturday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN tariat, all files are routed through them. They are not only seeing the files, but also taking decisions on these, which is illegal and is a violation of the Officials Secret Act. Due action should be taken against them,” Sukhbir said. Asserting that the SAD alone could safeguard the rights of Punjabis, he said, “We are the true heirs of the state, unlike the fly-by-night operators in other parties. If Punjab goes down, the loss is ours. I appeal to you to strengthen the party in the forthcoming byelection to lay the foundation for the next SAD government in 2027.” He said in the forthcoming byelection the party would focus on its past record of speedy development, catering to each and every section of society, including farmers, labourers, youth, women and trade and industry. “The SAD is known for introducing unique social welfare schemes to help the underprivileged, besides creating world-class facilities, which resulted in the advent of investment in the state”. When questioned about the suspension of Punjab Vigilance Chief SPS Parmar and two other senior officers recently on alleged corruption charges, he said, “The AAP government has made it a habit to register cases against officers, besides going in for arbitrary postings and transfers in case the officers refused to toe their line. This has happened earlier also and we have witnessed rapid changes at the top level because the officers concerned did not obey illegal orders of the AAP establishment. This is why a number of officers have chosen to take transfers out of Punjab.” Talking about corruption, the SAD president said the real corruption was being done by Delhi AAP leaders, including Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, who were virtually looting Punjab to fill the party’s coffers in Delhi. He said the SAD and its candidate Parupkar Ghumman would take all these issues to the people in the forthcoming byelection. In answer to another query as to whether the rebel Akalis would be taken back into the SAD fold, Sukhbir said, “If they want to come back with a clear heart and work to strengthen the party and follow its principles, they will be welcomed back into the party.” Meanwhile, Neelam Kohli, president, women wing, Waris Punjab De, along with her supporters, AAP youth wing district joint secretary, Sachin Arora, along with his workers, and Kamaljit Singh Sethi, circle president, BJP , along with his team also joined the SAD today, besides many Akali workers. City temp reaches 41.4°C, heatwave alert sounded, Health Dept issues advisory Manav Mander Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 26 The maximum temperature in the city has started surpassing 40 degree Celsius. For the third day today, the maximum temperature in the district was recorded at 41.4 degree Celsius and the minimum temperature recorded was 19.6 degree Celsius. On Friday, the maximum temperature recorded was 40.4 degree Celsius, while on Thursday it was 40.1 degree Celsius. According to the weather experts, similar conditions are going to continue till April 30 and a heatwave alert has been sounded by the Meteorological Department, Chandigarh. The weather will remain clear in the coming days. With rising temperatures and the increasing risk of heatwave, the Health Department has intensified efforts to ensure public safety and prevent heat-related illnesses. Civil Surgeon, Ludhiana, Ramandeep Kaur said that high temperatures pose significant health risks, particularly to children, elderly, pregnant women and those with chronic illnesses. Timely intervention and proper care are essential to avoid serious conditions such as heat exhaustion, heat cramps and heat stroke. Government hospitals, primary health centres and emergency units have been directed to stay on high alert for heatrelated cases. Cooling spaces and drinking water stations have been set up in vulnerable areas. Ambulance services are being strengthened to handle emergencies efficiently and doctors have been instructed to prioritise heat stroke cases. In addition, the local authorities and NGOs have been encouraged to provide shaded shelters and water stations in busy areas like markets, bus stands and railway stations. Employers and labour unions have been advised to reschedule work shifts to avoid outdoor activities during peak heat hours. The municipal corporation is working to ensure an uninterrupted water supply and to implement urban cooling measures. “To stay safe during the heat wave, citizens are advised to drink plenty of water regularly even if not thirsty, stay indoors during peak hours (12 noon to 4 pm), wear light-colour, loose-fitting clothes and use hats or umbrellas when going outdoors,” said Civil Surgeon. c m y b With the mercury soaring, roads wear a deserted look in Ludhiana on Saturday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN