22052025-LT-01.qxd 5/22/2025 12:44 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune LOADED TRUCK OVERTURNS, LEADS TO TRAFFIC JAM FOR HRS NEW SRB TECHNIQUE CUTS PADDY WATER USE BY 75% GADIS LEAD WAY TO PROSPERITY WITH INNOVATION Incident occurred when truck driver, in a bid to avoid a collision with a car, lost control of the vehicle. P2 Technique introduced by an alumnus of PAU is believed to offer a sustainable solution to looming water scarcity. P3 “Gadis” have made a business out of trading “turi” (dry fodder made from wheat residue). P3 » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 42°C | MIN 31°C YESTERDAY MAX 41°C | MIN 29°C SUNSET THURSDAY 7.14 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 5:25 AM » THURSDAY | 22 MAY 2025 | LUDHIANA Ludhiana rural police attached properties Bomb hoax triggers panic at Deputy Commissioner’s office worth ~30 cr of 35 smugglers in 3 months Newly created email used to send threat, says CP Shivani Bhakoo & Mahesh Sharma NO OF PEDDLERS WHOSE PROPERTIES FREEZED Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 21 Four kg of heroin, 2,300 kg of poppy husk and properties worth Rs 30 crore of 35 drug smugglers have been attached by the Ludhiana (rural) police in the past three months. But many residents are still worried about the future of the rural youth. Reason, they are scared that if the police adopt a casual approach, contrary to the strictness adopted in the past two-three months, the youth may again get easy accessibility to drugs. SSP Ludhiana (rural) Ankur Gupta told The Tribune that the district had topped in forfeiture of properties under 68 F provision in the state with getting approval for the forfeiture of immovable and moveable properties worth approximately Rs 30 crore of 35 smugglers during the past three months. Claiming that three properties at various places had been razed as part of the Yudha Nashian Virudh drive by following guidelines of the Apex Court, Gupta said a process for taking coercive steps against some more ped- Ludhiana Rural Tarn Taran Pathankot Moga SSP Ludhiana (rural) Ankur Gupta and other cops interact with residents at a village. dlers had also been started. In Moga, properties of seven peddlers were attached. “We do understand that the drugs have really ruined the lives of the youth in all these years but things have been too different in the past two months. Having arrested 10 big fish in two months, we have initiat- ed a process for taking coercive steps against all notorious drug peddlers,” said Gupta, adding that 4 kg of heroin and 2,300 kg of poppy husk were seized during the past two months, besides recovering Rs 2 lakh drug money. The SSP said the district police were also committed towards rehabilitation of drug addicts who showed willingness to join the mainstream. “Besides proceeding against 17 addicts under Section 64A of the NDPS Act, we have facilitated 29 addicts get admission to drug de-addiction centres whereas 180 persons were referred to OOAT centres for counselling and 35 16 5 7 administration of buprenorphine during the past two weeks,” the SSP said. He said the main aim of the police was to bring back the lost trust of the parents towards the police. “We are observing everything minutely and whosoever involved in the drug trade would not be spared. I have been visiting villages and talking to residents to get feedback in this regard. All loopholes would be plugged in the near future,” he said. Meanwhile, Paramjeet Kaur of Mehla Mandal Jodhan said things had really improved in the past two-three months as drugs, which were easily available to youth, were not available now. “We cannot say that the whole situation has changed but there is a fear and threat of law-enforcing agencies, which has given sleepless nights to those dealing in drugs,” she said. Cops along with a bomb squad conduct a search op at the Mini-Secretariat in Ludhiana. ASHWANI DHIMAN Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 21 A threat to blow up the Deputy Commissioner’s (DC) office here was received via email, triggering panic and prompting immediate action from the police. Upon receiving the threat mail, the Ludhiana police sprang into action, launching an investigation in the matter. The police are currently working to trace the IP address of the email to identify the sender. Following the threat, bomb disposal squads and dog units were deployed at the DC’s office to conduct a thorough search. Security around the office and its surrounding areas has been tightened. The investigation is ongoing and the authorities are working to determine the authenticity of the threat. Confirming to The Tribune, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Himanshu Jain said the threat was received on his official email ID and the sender threatened to blow up the DC’s office and claimed to have planted RDX. Afterwards, he alerted the police which started combing the office premises. When asked if any explosive material seized, the DC said nothing of that sort was found. Still, the authorities could not take such threats lightly and the police investigation was on to trace the person who sent the email. He also came to know that the DC’s office in Ferozepur has also received a similar threat on its official email. When asked if working of the DC’s office affected due to the threat, Jain replied that working never stops in the Mini-Secretariat and it went smoothly. Meanwhile, the Ludhiana police have initiated a probe to trace the person who sent the threat through the email. Commissioner of Police (CP) Swapan Sharma said it was an hoax email sent by some miscreant. The entire premises was scanned thoroughly and no explosive was seized. “In the initial investigation, it was found that a threat was sent from a newly created email by some miscreant, which was made on the basis of fake information. Let the investigation completes, the police will identify the suspect,” Sharma said. Cyber fraudsters dupe man of Major fire breaks out at garment washing unit ~32L on investment pretext Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 21 Cyber criminals duped a resident of Jassowal village of Rs 32.15 lakh on the pretext of giving multiple returns by investing money in the stock market. After depositing the money, the victim got to know about the fraud. Following which, he filed a complaint. The complainant, Navdeep Singh, told the police that he works as a manager in a tech data private company. On March 27, he searched information about investing in the stock market on Google, during which he opened and Man dies after consuming liquor Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 21 A 40-year-old man allegedly died after consuming liquor. The deceased was identified as Rinku, a resident of the Noorwala road area. He was a dholi by profession. As per information, when Rinku, along with his two friends, was consuming liquor on the Fambran road, he fainted. His friends raised the alarm, after which he, with the help of other people, was taken to the Civil Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. The police have launched an investigation to ascertain whether the victim died by consuming spurious liquor or due to any other reason. The reason of death would be known only after medical examination of the deceased. checked many links. While clicking on the links, he mistakenly sent a WhatsApp message to an unknown mobile number after which an unidentified person through the number asked him to invest money in ‘value share stocks’. The suspect started showing dreams of good profits and eventually took the victim into confidence by introducing himself as ‘Bharat Mala’, CIO of Ventura Securities. “I kept fulfilling all conditions asked by the person. Believing on the suspect and hoping for huge returns, I transferred Rs 32.15 lakh to two bank accounts given by him. Later, I realised that I was cheated as the person was a fraudster. Afterwards, I lodged a police complaint and after investigation, the police registered a case against the miscreant on Tuesday,” the complainant said. Investigating officer ASI Jagroop Singh said after registering a case, further probe was launched by the police. Similar incidents have occurred in the district in the past. Though the cyber wing has also been spreading awareness about such online frauds, people are falling prey to fraudsters. Ludhiana, May 21 A major fire broke out at a garment washing unit in Mahavir Colony on Tajpur Road here. Since the fire was major, firefighters struggled for over three hours to douse the flames. A huge stock of goods and machinery gutted in the fire. Fire officials claimed that there were inadequate fire safety arrangements due to which the blaze could not be controlled at the initial stage. Though the exact cause of fire was unclear, a short-circuit is being suspected as the cause. Before the employees could douse the flames, the fire spread in the entire unit. Shed of the unit also col- The fire that broke out at a garment washing unit in Mahavir Colony on Tajpur Road. lapsed due to the intense fire. As per information, the fire call was received by the control room around 8.05 am and the caller informed about a major fire in RK Washing unit on Tajpur Road. Initially, six fire tenders were sent to the scene. When fire personnel reached the place, flames had already spread to the entire unit. Sub-fire officer Aatish Rai said the fire was controlled around 11.30 am. Fortunately there was no casualty in the incident. An investigation would be conducted to find out the exact cause of the fire. It is learnt that the Tajpur road has many washing units that are not having adequate fire safety arrangements. The authorities need to take adequate steps to prevent any major tragedies that may takes place in the future. Project to renovate corporation’s EC yet to announce date Zone B office building inaugurated for Ludhiana West bypoll Ludhiana, May 21 In a bid to upgrade infrastructure and facilitate residents visiting civic body offices, Ludhiana Central MLA Ashok Prashar Pappi, Mayor Inderjit Kaur and Senior Deputy Mayor Rakesh Prashar inaugurated the project to renovate Zone B office of the Municipal Corporation (MC) near Shingar Cinema here on Wednesday. Also, the project has been kick-started to establish a box cricket ground in the park adjoining the Zone B office building. The park falls under the Ranjit Park area. The aim of the project is to develop sports culture among the youth. The project to renovate the Zone B office building is being taken up at an estimated cost of around Rs 1.23 crore. Under it, the civic body will refurbish Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service MLA Ashok Prashar Pappi and Mayor Inderjit Kaur kick-start project to renovate the MC Zone B office. toilets, flooring, wall paint, suvidha kendra, etc. The officials said the office building was in dire need of renovation as no major renovation work was taken up in the past around 25 years. The box cricket ground project is being taken up at a cost of around Rs 13 lakh. The MLA, Mayor and Senior Deputy Mayor said Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann-led state government was committed to facilitating the public at large. Besides c m y b taking up renovation works, steps were also being taken up to streamline the working of the civic body, wherever required, so that residents should not face any trouble in getting their works done at MC offices. — TNS Ludhiana, May 21 While all eyes are on the announcement of the date for the Ludhiana West constituency bypoll. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has still not given any indication about the same. However, it is expected that the date can be announced anytime soon as the six months’ time period will be over on July 11 and before that about one month is required to conduct the elections. Talking to The Tribune, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Punjab, Sibin C, said he could not comment on the announcement of the date for the Ludhiana West bypoll. “The decision will be taken by the CEC as the bypolls have to be conducted at many CEO says he can't comment on issue other places in Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat, West Bengal, Kerala and Punjab. But another thing is that the six months’ time will lapse on July 11, hence, before that, the elections are to be conducted,” the official said. At the same time, the election scene in Ludhiana is already heated up with bigwigs visiting the city in routine. Two days ago, Union Minister of State for Railways and Food Processing Industries Ravneet Singh Bittu was in the city and had reportedly met senior BJP leaders over the bypoll. On Tuesday, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal visited the city to address a press conference and talked about ‘AAP’s false propaganda’. Meanwhile, the three candidates for the bypoll — Sanjeev Arora from AAP ParopkarS, ingh Ghuman from SAD and Bharat Bhushan Ashu from the Congress are regularly holding meetings with voters of the constituency. All candidates had been eagerly waiting for the election date to be announced as “hectic” campaigning in the sultry weather was certainly not an easy task. Supporters and party workers too feel that even if they want to rest, it is not possible now. “So much money is involved and untiring efforts are being done. This is the time when we can reach to maximum voters. Though temperatures are touching 41-42°C but it is no deterrent,” said one of the supporters and close aides of a candidate in the fray.