07072025-LT-01.qxd 7/7/2025 12:30 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune GOVT COMMITTED TO MAKING STATE SPORTS HUB: MINISTER ACTOR RICHARD GERE CELEBRATES DALAI LAMA Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond reaffirmed government’s commitment to making state a sports hub. P2 Hollywood actor Richard Gere joined 90th birthday celebrations of the 14th Dalai Lama in Dharamsala. P4 » NASEER’S FACEBOOK POST THAT VANISHED GENERALLY CLOUDY MAX 30°C | MIN 27°C YESTERDAY MAX 32°C | MIN 28°C SUNSET MONDAY 7.28 PM Naseeruddin Shah’s vanished Facebook post sparks debate on art, freedom & censorship. P4 » FORECAST SUNRISE TUESDAY 5:28 AM » MONDAY | 7 JULY 2025 | LUDHIANA 55-year-old woman’s blind murder case cracked, suspect in police net Man killed victim after she humiliated him for failing to return ~18K Tribune News Service Ludhiana, July 6 The Ludhiana police on Sunday arrested a suspect for killing a woman over Rs 18K money dispute. The victim had lent money to the suspect and the latter killed the 55-year-old woman after she humiliated him for failing to return the money. Sonam Jain was found dead at her residence in Punjabi Bagh Chowk, Salem Tabri, on June 21. The woman’s body was found in the bathroom of her house where she was strangled by the suspect. DCP Rupinder Singh, ADCP Sameer Verma, ACP Davinder Chaudhary and Salem Tabri SHO inspector Amritpal Singh addressed a press conference in this regard on Sunday. The ADCP said Sonam used to lend money to people on interest. The suspect, Sanjeev Kumar, alias Kaku (41), of Salem Tabri had borrowed Rs 18,000 from her and had paid some installments but when he was unable to pay The suspect in custody of the Ludhiana police. TRIBUNE PHOTO: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN the latest instalment, Sonam started taunting and mentally harassing him. Angered by the same, the man entered the house and strangled the victim to death. Verma said Sanjeev works as an AC mechanic. He wanted to start his own business, for which he had taken money from the woman on interest. On June 21, when Sonam’s husband Surinder returned home for lunch, he found the door of the house open. There was no response when he called his wife. When he went inside the bathroom, her body was lying on the floor. Surinder raised the alarm, after which people from the vicinity gathered at the place. The police reached the scene and started investigation. They traced the killer with the help of Safe City cameras and intelligence inputs, he said. Sonam’s two children were staying abroad. At the time of the incident, her husband Surinder had gone to work. The ADCP said the suspect had already decided to kill the woman. On that day, he went to her house. He was wearing a cap, gloves, mask and an open shirt over the Tshirt as he did not want to leave any proof of his presence in the house. When the suspect reached her home, he started heated arguments with the woman. After finding her alone in the house, he strangled her to death. “The police checked several CCTV cameras, mobile call details of the deceased and the suspect were also checked to get any clue. It was a blind case but the police investigation succeeded in solving the same within two weeks,” he said. Sources said when the suspect was having heated argument with the woman, she had informed his mother. He had also switched off his mobile when he came to commit the crime. These factors also helped the police in getting clues in the case. Nepalese killed in Giaspura Ludhiana, July 6 A Nepalese man was brutally killed in Giaspura. He was attacked with sharp weapons on Saturday night. People took him to a hospital but he was declared brought dead by doctors. The deceased has been identified as Kishan Thapa. He was staying near Giaspura Park. Thapa was married but he had a dispute with his wife due to which he had been staying with his friend Sameer for a long time. He was going to get his bike from a street near Giaspura with Sameer when several assailants killed him. Sameer said about two hours before the murder, Thapa had a fight with a youth over some issue. He did not Was attacked with sharp weapons by around 20 youths, old enmity suspected know what was the reason behind the fight. When he went to the street with Thapa to take the bike, over 20 youths on around 10 bikes were present there. They also started abusing the victim. “When I tried to stop them, the goons started abusing me too. I saved my life by running away but they caught hold of Thapa and killed him,” he said. After the miscreants left the scene, he called Thapa’s brother and informed him about the incident and with the help of people, the victim was taken to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him dead, Sameer said. The police suspected that so far it had been found out that the miscreants who killed Thapa had some old enmity with him. The real cause of death will be known only after recording statements of his family members. On Saturday, the family members and well wishers of the deceased had gathered outside a police station to lodge a protest where police officials assured that the suspects would be arrested. SHO, Police Division 6, inspector Kulwant Kaur, said the police investigation was on and the case would be cracked soon. A case had been registered. — TNS A policewoman conducts a probe into the murder of a Nepalese man in Giaspura. Close shave for shopkeeper as Minor boy’s face blackened, paraded half-naked at village bike-borne miscreants open fire Victim had allegedly Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Victim's brother-in-law from US sent them to kill him: Cops Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, July 6 A shopkeeper, Jatinder Singh, in Rumi village near Jagraon, Ludhiana, had a miraculous escape on Saturday evening as two motorcycle-borne assailants opened fire at him. The Ludhiana rural police during its probe found the role of victim’s brother-inlaw, staying in the USA, in the incident. The Sadar Jagraon police registered an attempt-to-murder case against three persons, including the victim’s brother-in-law. The latter has been identified as Rupinder Singh of Tarewala, Moga, currently based in the United States. The other two suspects are yet to be identified by the police. It was the second attack on the shop owner, Jatinder Singh of Chajjawal, within the past five months. On January 30, unidentified assailants had fired multiple gunshots at the shutter of his hardware shop in Rumi village while he was away at Hazur Sahib. Around a month after the January incident, the police arrested a suspect, Robin Kumar of Sultanpur Lodhi. They recovered two pistols, a magazine, 10 cartridges, two mobile phones and a car from him. Police sources said Rupinder had allegedly orchestrated a murder bid on Jatinder in 2019, leading to a case being registered against five individuals, including him. They added that he was also suspected of arranging the firing at his brother-in-law’s shop in January, where 11 rounds were fired at the shutter. According to Jatinder, his sister had married Rupinder in 2018 but the couple soon divorced. He said Rupinder suspects him of orchestrating the divorce and had been attempting to kill him through repeated attacks. The complainant told the police that on Saturday evening he was returning home in his Toyota Fortuner car. When he turned towards Chhajjawal from the T-point of Rumi village, two masked persons on a motorcycle without a registration number plate shot at him. He recounted that the assailants opened fire, with a bullet piercing the driver’s side windowpane of his vehicle and exiting through the rear windowpane before the attackers fled towards Jagraon. The police said in connection with Saturday’s firing incident, the police were investigating whether the persons involved in January committed the latest incident. Ludhiana, July 6 A 17-year-old youth who allegedly helped a boy and a girl in solemnising their court marriage faced the wrath of the girl’s family at Seera village. He was paraded half-naked in the village with blackened face. To insult the youth, his head, beard and moustache were also shaved by miscreants. The victim was allowed to go after he apologised to the suspects. It was learnt that the assailants had been asking the boy to give details about the whereabouts of the couple. The girl and boy belong to the SC community and the victim is from a Dalit family. The incident occurred on July 1. Since the victim was a minor, he could not dare to lodge a police complaint soon after the incident. On Saturday, he PAST INCIDENTS ■ In January this year, a woman, her three daughters, including a minor, and her son were paraded with blackened faces and placards stating: “I am a thief and I accept my crime”, hung around their necks. Following the incident, the police had arrested a factory owner, manager and a worker involved in the incident ■ In July 2020, a boy, who eloped with a minor girl of a village near Koom Kalan, was caught by the girl’s family members and was tied to a tree. His face was also blackened and he was made to wear a garland of shoes lodged a police complaint, which led to the registration of an FIR. The video of the incident was also circulated on social media on Saturday. A case was registered against 13 persons, identified as Gurpreet Singh Gopa, Simranjit Singh Sima, Sandeep Singh, alias Sam, Rajvir Singh, Ramandeep Kaka, Harman, Jaggi, Lakhi, Deep, Nanna, Kala, Bhupinder, alias Foji, and Jaggi, all residents of Seera village. The case was registered under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), SC/ST Act and IT Act. Bhupinder Singh is the father of the girl who solemnised court marriage with a boy from the village. Simranjit Singh, who is a cousin of the girl, was arrested by the police in the case. The victim, who also belongs to the same village, told the police that he was getting his beard trimmed at a village salon on July 1 when Gurpreet, Simranjit, Sandeep, Rajveer, Ramandeep and others reached the place and beat him up, blackened his face and cut his hair, beard and mous- helped youth solemnise court marriage with girl tache. They also used casteist remarks against him and made a video of the entire incident. According to victim’s relatives, the case is related to a court marriage that took place on June 19. Harjot’s friend Gurpreet had a court marriage with a girl from the village. The attackers suspected that Harjot had helped Gurpreet and knew his whereabouts. Station House Officer of the Meharban police station, inspector Paramdeep Singh said the assailants were the family members of the girl, including her father. The other suspects were cousins and other relatives of the girl. One person was arrested in the case so far. The SHO said raids were on to nab the remaining suspects in the case. In January this year, a woman, her three daughters, including a minor, and her son were paraded with blackened faces and placards stating: “I am a thief and I accept my crime”, hung around their necks. Following the incident, the police had arrested a factory owner, manager and a worker involved in the incident. In July 2020, a boy, who eloped with a minor girl of a village near Koom Kalan, was caught by the girl’s family members and was tied to a tree. His face was also blackened and he was made to wear a garland of shoes. Efforts being made to Six colonisers booked strengthen civic body’s for duping customers financial condition Miraculous escape Our Correspondent A truck overturned on the Jalandhar bypass in Ludhiana on Sunday. The driver did not suffer any injury. Commuters faced inconvenience for a few hours till the vehicle was removed from the road. ASHWANI DHIMAN c m y b Ludhiana, July 6 Mayor Inderjit Kaur and Municipal Corporation (MC) Commissioner Aaditya Dachalwal stated that rigorous and continuous efforts were being made to strengthen the financial condition of the civic body. The efforts have also started bearing fruits with entire salaries for June have been released within the first four days of this month. The Mayor said not only salaries but pension of beneficiaries had also been released by the civic body, which in itself was a landmark. The Mayor and MC Commissioner said strict direc- tions had been issued to staff to expedite the recovery of dues from residents. Further, the staff concerned dealing with the salaries of employees had also been directed to complete the paper work by the end of every month, so that there was no delay in releasing the salaries. The Mayor said continuous efforts were being made to maintain the good financial condition of civic body. The residents should also do their bit and pay their pending taxes on time as amounts collected from them were used for providing basic amenities to people and taking up development works in the city. — TNS Sahnewal, July 6 The Sahnewal police booked six more colonisers for developing colonies illegally for sale and duping buyers. The colonisers have been booked under two cases under Sections 2(i), 6, 21, 3(1), 5(1), 9, 14(1) 14(2) 15, 18, 36 of the PR Act, 1995. Baljit Singh of Jaspal Bangar village has been illegally developing a colony under the name of GL Enclave at Sahnewal. Darshan Kumar, Gurjot Singh and Santosh Kumar, all residents of Sahnewal, are developing a colony in the New Model Town of Sahnewal. Another coloniser, Nirbhai Sandhu, has been developing an ille- gal colony under the name of Goodwill Enclave and Ramprakash under the name of Sandhu Colony. All six persons have been booked by the police. Sahnewal SHO Jagdev Singh said these colonisers had duped their buyers and tried to sell the land illegally for which they had been booked. They would be in police custody soon. He warned the public not to enter into any such agreement unless and until credentials and the background of the ones selling the land are properly verified by them. “They might fall into the trap of such unscrupulous elements if they fail to see through,” the SHO said.