17072025-LT-01.qxd 7/17/2025 12:36 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune GANGSTER GORU MAKES EXTORTION CALL FROM JAIL PRADA’S TEAM INTERACTS WITH CHAPPAL MAKERS ANUPAM KHER RETURNS TO DIRECTION AFTER 23 YEARS Gangster Goru Bachha has threatened to kill a Dugri resident through a call made from jail’s landline number. P2 A team from Italian fashion house Prada arrived in Kolhapur to learn about craftsmanship behind chappals. P4 His upcoming film Tanvi The Great, with which he turns to direction after 23 years, is ready for release. P4 » » FORECAST GENERALLY CLOUDY MAX 30°C | MIN 27°C YESTERDAY MAX 33°C | MIN 27°C SUNSET THURSDAY 7.25 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 5:33 AM » THURSDAY | 17 JULY 2025 | LUDHIANA vacated Medical college to come up at Congress Bhawanorders following court ESI Hospital in city this year It came into existence in 1967 in a rented accommodation Shivani Bhakoo Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Ludhiana, July 16 The Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Hospital will start a ESI medical college from this session, which is expected to start from August-September. In the first batch, 50 students will be given admission as per guidelines of the National Medical Council (NMC), which also conducts NEET. 50 students to get admission in first batch The hall of the ESIC Hospital where the first batch of students will attend classes. ASHWANI DHIMAN The counselling of the students will start in two-weeks’ time from now. Talking to The Tribune, the Dean, ESIC Hospital, here, Prof Inder Pawar, said it would be the first medical college and hospital by the Central Government in this part of the region. However, in the state, Patiala, Amritsar and Faridkot have government medical colleges. “We will start with the college and a separate building and two floors are designated to hold classes for the first batch. As far as the hostel facilities are concerned, the hospital has tied up with the BSNL in BRS Nagar for accommodating their students, who would be coming from different parts of the country,” said Professor Pawar. The hospital has completed other projects, including setting up of a lab, lecture theatre, classes, etc, for the medical students, who will seek admission in this session. For coming up with permanent space for the college campus and hostel, the ESIC authorities are in touch with the district administration for providing the land and a chunk of land was shown at the Jalandhar Bypass but since the land was disputed, it can not be finalised as it does not fulfil the NMC criteria. The Medical Superintendent of ESI Hospital Aparajita De’souza said the medical college would be of great help to students coming from different backgrounds as they would have to pay nominal government fees for entire studies. The faculty was being arranged by the Central Government and the required recruitment of faculty would be completed before the onset of classes, she said. The ESIC already runs seven hospitals in the state at Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Phagwara, Mandi Gobindgarh and Mohali. It is now working to build new hospitals in Dera Bassi, Rajpura, Malerkotla, Bathinda and Moga. Rural police struggle to solve extortion call cases Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Smoke billows out of the textile unit at Sundar Nagar in Ludhiana on Wednesday. ASHWANI DHIMAN Major fire breaks out in Sundar Nagar textile unit Tribune News Service Ludhiana, July 16 A major fire broke out in a textile unit on the main road in Sundar Nagar on Wednesday evening. Firefighters took over two hours to douse the flames. The fire that started on the second and third floors of the Lucky Textile unit, was intensified due to a large amount of stock stored inside, forcing the fire brigade to exert extra effort. As per information, workers on the ground floor first noticed smoke and flames emanating from the upper floors. Initially, they tried to extinguish the fire with available extinguishers but in vain. Later, they informed the fire brigade. Upon arrival, firefighters began tackling the blaze in a swift manner. The incident caused panic among occupants of a private bank located next to the unit as well as other nearby building owners and their workers. Sub-fire officer Aatish Rai said a call regarding the fire was received around 5:50 pm. At least six fire tenders were deployed. Fire safety arrangements were not adequate in the unit. Ludhiana, July 16 An immigration firm owner from Jagraon city received a death threat from an international mobile number. The caller demanded money from him and warned him of dire consequences, if he did not pay the same. The complainant informed the police about the call, after which the Jagraon police initiated the investigation. The victim (name withheld due to security reasons) in a complaint to the police said the threat was given from a foreign number but the extortion amount was yet to be confirmed. After receiving the complaint, the police had started the investigation by taking the mobile number and other information of the unidentified suspect. Earlier also, some businessmen in the city have received similar threats, some of whom have been provided security by the police. Now, the police are also probing whether any gang is behind the threat or whether some known person is trying to scare him to extort money. A senior police official said taking the matter seriously, the police had launched a probe to identify the person and an Jagraon man receives extortion threat from international number unidentified person was booked in the case. Sometimes, some apps were used to make such calls through which the caller’s number was displayed as of some foreign country. The official also suspected that some fraudsters might be making extortion calls to instil fear and extort money. On July 5, hardware store owner Jatinder Singh of Rumi village, Chajjawal, got a second lease of life. When he was going home from the shop, two bike-borne persons fired at him but a bullet whizzed past and he had a narrow escape. After the attack, he got an extortion call from an international number two days later. On July 6, the Ludhiana rural police had registered a case against US-based Rupinder Singh of Tarewala in Moga and two others. On July 7, Jatinder received a WhatsApp call from a foreign number (with a US country code) and the caller said next time he would be killed if Rs 50 lakh extortion money is not paid. In the case, the two-bike borne assailants are yet to be identified by the rural police. Tribune News Service Ludhiana, July 16 The Congress Bhawan, where prominent personalities, including Dr BR Ambedkar, Indira Gandhi, Beant Singh, Joginder Pandey, Sat Pal Mittal and many more attended meetings since 1967, got vacated on Wednesday following the court orders. Much to the embarrassment of local Congress leadership, the entire incident became the talk of the town after the development. The Congress Bhawan came into existence way back in 1967 and it was a rented accommodation. The building belonged to a local family, which had a Cinema Hall there. One of the Congress leaders said none of the party leaders took the issue seriously as the case was in a court for over two decades. The bhawan was a prestige for all Congress leaders as prominent names in the party visited the office frequently. “The landlord had sold the property to someone as its rent was meagre and the former knew that it would not be easy to get back the possession of the property from Congress leaders. The person to whom the building was sold for a few lakhs pursued the case in the court. Several meetings were held with Congress leaders on the issue as the building was located in the heart of the city. The estimated cost of the property, if evaluated, would not be less than Rs 50 crore. But none paid heed to arrange for any prominent lawyers to fight the case as the building was with the Congress for over five decades. And today, the party which one the case in court, The Congress Bhawan building in Ludhiana. ASHWANI DHIMAN NOBODY TOOK MATTER SERIOUSLY: PARTY LEADER One of the Congress leaders said none of the party leaders took the issue seriously as the case was in court for over two decades. The Congress Bhawan was a prestige for all leaders and workers as prominent names in the party visited the office frequently accompanied with the bailiff, took out belongings of the Congress from the bhawan and put a lock on the door. It has been embarrassing for the entire party,” the leader said. ADCP-I Samir Verma, however, said the city police had nothing to to do in the matter as the action was taken as per court orders and a bailiff, accompanied with labourers, came to get it vacated and put a lock on the door. “The Congress leaders approached us. They thought we were aware about the matter, but we got to know about everything after party leaders told us about the entire incident,” he said. Amarjit Singh Tikka, former Congress leader, who was now with the BJP said , it was unfortunate that nobody took the matter seriously and the prestigious Congress Bhawan was not with party anymore. “The party leaders claim to fight for the cause of farmers over the land pooling scheme. How would they justify when they themselves could not save their premises,” he said. Sanjay Talwar, president, DCC, here, said they were not even aware of any court case. “We would have arranged for a lawyer but we never came to know about the same as none got any summons by the court,” said Talwar. Meanwhile, Pritpal Singh Baliawal, spokesperson, Punjab BJP tweeted that It , was shocking and shameful that the Congress’ office in Ludhiana had been vacated with utensils and furniture thrown out and locks put up — all under the watch of Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, who is not only the Ludhiana MP but also the president of the state Congress. “If the Congress president cannot even safeguard his own party’s office, how could he claim to protect lands and rights of people, he asked. Two booked for raping minor Sahnewal, July 16 A minor girl of Jaspal Bangar village was allegedly raped by two youths, one of them a resident of Lohara village. A case against the suspects has been registered at the Sahnewal police station on the complaint of the mother of the girl under various sections of the BNS and POCSO Act. The medical examination report of the victim is awaited. The mother of the 14-yearold girl had complained to the Sahnewal police that on July 7, her daughter was returning after school when she was waylaid by Manoj Kumar of Jaspal Bangar village and Shubam. Manoj forcibly took her to his house and asked her to change her uniform and wear his pant and shirt. “Then he took the victim to Shubam’s house where they both raped her. As my daughter tried to shout for help, they tortured her physically and threatened her. Later, the suspects took her to Amritsar by train where they again took turns to violate her. My daughter somehow escaped from the place on July 9 and returned home in a shocking state,” she said. Balvir Singh said the medical examination of the minor had been conducted and the report was pending. “The suspects are on the run but they would be in police net soon,” he said. — TNS Youngster dies in road mishap Probe woman’s missing kidney after death at city hospital, CP told Tribune News Service Ludhiana, July 16 A 25-year-old youth died in a road accident on a road in Koom Kalan. The deceased was identified as Sunil Kumar, who was working at a local dyeing factory for the past five years. The brother of the youth, who was riding pillion, also suffered minor injuries. Sunil was returning from Shri Mukteshwar Mahadev Shiv Mandir Chehlan, Samrala, on the evening of July 14 on his bike with his brother Mannu. When they reached near Pagalia village, in front of Kitty Bread outlet, a speeding tractor-trailer WAS WORKING AT DYEING FACTORY The deceased was identified as Sunil Kumar, who was working at a local dyeing factory for the past five years. The brother of the youth, who was riding pillion, also suffered minor injuries. Sunil is survived by his mother, a brother and sister. applied brakes. Following which, Sunil lost control over his motorcycle, which was behind the tractor, and the bike collided with the vehicle. Sunil suffered severe head and facial injuries in the accident, which led to excessive bleeding. Passers-by gave first-aid to them but Sunil died on the spot due to severe head injuries. His brother suffered minor injuries and was rushed to a local hospital. Sunil Kumar is survived by his mother, a brother and sister. The family has demanded the arrest of the tractor driver who fled the scene after the mishap. The police have registered a case against the unidentified driver and were checking closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras of surrounding areas to trace the suspect. Saurabh Malik Tribune News Service Chandigarh, July 16 The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the Commissioner of Police (CP) to forthwith investigate allegations surrounding the disappearance of a 22-year-old woman’s kidney after her death at a Ludhiana hospital. “The truth behind the missing kidney is yet a mystery, which has never been inquired or probed into,” Justice Kuldeep Tiwari asserted while calling for a compliance report by September 30 – the next date of hearing in the case. “Prima facie, this court is of the view that the medical report is totally silent on one of the vital issues c m y b TRUTH BEHIND INCIDENT NEVER PROBED: HC JUSTICE “The truth behind the missing kidney is yet a mystery, which has never been inquired or probed into,” Justice Kuldeep Tiwari asserted while calling for a compliance report by September 30 – the next date of hearing in the case. appertaining to deceased’s missing kidney. Moreover, this court does not find any document indicating that, the issue was ever referred to any expert for analysis. It is not under dispute, rather it is clearly voiced in the post-mortem report that, the left kidney of the deceased was not traceable,” the court observed. The Bench observed that petitioner Mangat Ram Sharma’s daughter was admitted to a Ludhiana hospital on June 1, 2021, for surgery. The first surgery was performed on June 2, 2021 by a spine brain surgeon, along with other doctors. A second surgery followed on June 7, 2021. However, her condition continued to worsen and she passed away on June 16, 2021, at the hospital. As per the medical record, the cause of death was cardiac arrest due to Covid-19 positivity, based on a Covid test conducted on June 15, 2021. The medical record raised doubts in the peti- tioner’s mind, prompting him to lodge a police complaint, leading to an autopsy. The post-mortem report revealed that the deceased’s left kidney was missing, a fact which “fortified the suspicion of the petitioner regarding medical negligence and criminal act on the part of the treating doctors.” Following the complaint, the Civil Surgeon, Civil Hospital, Ludhiana, constituted a medical board of six specialists on September 7, 2021, to express opinion on whether the death was due to medical negligence or sudden illness. The court noted that the medical board’s report explained the possible cause of death but remained silent on the missing kidney and offered no clear conclusion regarding medical negligence. Justice Tiwari aserted: “Though the medical board has explained the possible reason of deceased’s death, however, there is no clear observation as to whether the treating doctor(s) conducted any medical negligence. Moreover, there is no inquiry conducted by the medical board with regard to the deceased’s missing kidney. This medical report is the only document with the respondent(s). State for not proceeding further in the matter and to unearth the truth behind deceased’s missing kidney.”