13122025-LT-01.qxd 12/13/2025 12:37 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune GUV URGES YOUTH TO LEARN FROM SAHIBZADAS’ SACRIFICE » ACTOR GURPREET GHUGGI IS ENJOYING A BUSY CALENDAR Government Smart School, Moti Nagar, has introduced calligraphy classes for its students. P3 The state-level Veer Bal Diwas was observed on Friday at BCM Arya Model Sr Sec School. P2 GOVT SCHOOL STUDENTS SHOW CALLIGRAPHY SKILLS A significant staple in Punjabi cinema, Ghuggi has lived his professional innings on his own terms. P4 » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 22°C | MIN 8°C YESTERDAY MAX 22°C | MIN 6°C SUNSET SATURDAY 5.24 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 7:10 AM SATURDAY | 13 DECEMBER 2025 | LUDHIANA Night shelters find few takers as homeless prefer to spend night in nail-biting cold These remain underutilised, largely due to far-flung locations Manav Mander Tribune News Service Ludhiana, December 12 With the minimum temperature dipping to around 9°C in the city, the poor and homeless are often forced to sleep on the roadside. Despite the nail-biting cold, city-run shelter homes remain underutilised, largely due to their far-flung locations. The homeless are mostly seen sleeping around Clock Tower, Guru Nanak Stadium, Durga Mata Mandir, Mata Rani Chowk, Dandi Swami Road, Bhadaur House, Chaura Bazaar and adjoining areas. The sad part is that the night shelter near Clock Tower, which was the most accessible, is lying closed since the past two years after its building was declared unsafe. At present, night shelters at Vishwakarma Chowk, Haibowal and Moti Nagar are operational. Deepak, who was seen sleeping near Mata Rani Chowk, said he once went to a night shelter at Moti Nagar. “In the evening, the bus took us to the shelter but in the morning there was no arrangement for bringing us back. I had to spend money to return to my place where I spend my daytime,” he said. It is observed that the homeless avoid visiting the shelters as they receive blankets and food from philanthropist by the roadsides. Homeless sleep alongside a road near Mata Rani Chowk amid cold in Ludhiana. PHOTO: INDERJEET VERMA SHELTER LOCATED NEAR CLOCK TOWER SHUT FOR 2 YRS The most accessible night shelter located centrally near the Clock Tower is lying shut since the past two years after the building was declared unsafe. Homeless people staying around Mata Rani Chowk, Railway Station, Jagraon Bridge, Domoria Bridge, Bhadaur House and Guru Nanak Stadium use to spend nights at the shelter as it was easily approachable. Another homeless person, who was seen having his meals near Durga Mata Mandir, said devotees who visit the place give him blankets and food to eat. Hence, he feels comfortable to stay here only. “I have no family or relatives. I have been staying here since years. I am old and it is not possible to go to a night shelter every evening. I don’t feel cold now and it’s convenient staying here,” he said. Geeta Devi, another homeless person near Guru Nanak Stadium, said a couple of times she went to a night shelter but there are no separate ones for women and she feels uncomfortable staying at such places. “Here I have more women around me and feel safe. I do not prefer going to the night shelters,” she adds. The most accessible night shelter located centrally near the Clock Tower is lying shut since the past Hazy view two years after the building was declared unsafe. Homeless people staying around Mata Rani Chowk, Railway Station, Jagraon Bridge, Domoria Bridge, Bhadaur House and Guru Nanak Stadium use to spend nights at the shelter as it was easily approachable. They were able to go and return in the morning on their own due to the accessible location. The shelter was able to accommodate 50 persons. Woman found dead in hotel Ludhiana, December 12 The Salem Tabri police have initiated a probe into an incident in which a woman was found dead in a room of a hotel on the outskirts of the city late on Friday evening. The woman, along with her male friend, had checked in about 12 noon at the hotel and was found lying dead after staff broke open doors in the evening. Preliminary probe revealed that injury marks were found on the deceased’s face and a cutter was lying on her bed. The Salem Tabri SHO said CCTV footage and records pertaining to visitors were being checked to ascertain the identity of the deceased and her companion, who had slipped from the hotel without informing the staff. — OC A thin layer of fog engulfs the city on Friday morning. PHOTO: ASHWANI DHIMAN Life imprisonment till death for murdering city woman Convict was on parole in another murder case Rajneesh Lakhanpal Ludhiana, December 12 A city court has sentenced Mohan Singh, a resident of Mohalla Heaven City, Near Badal Colony, Mundian Kalan, here, to life imprisonment till death for the murder of a 32year-old woman, Megha Malhotra, who was working as a clerk with a city lawyer. The judgment was delivered by Additional Sessions Judge Jagdeep Sood, who ruled that the life sentence awarded “shall neither be remitted nor commuted”. It is further directed that as and when the case of the convict is considered for the grant of parole, the competent authority will be informed that the convict undergoing life imprisonment, while taking advantage of parole has committed another murder in the past. According to the prosecution, on May 10, 2021, Megha Malhotra was found lying injured in the porch of her house. Her husband Karan Malhotra rushed home after receiving a call. She was shifted to the Civil Hospital, where she was declared dead. A medical examination revealed death by strangulation. A case under Section 302 of the IPC was registered against unidentified persons at the Jamalpur police station. During the investigation, CCTV footage from the area showed a clean-shaven man in a blue pant and white shirt exiting the Malhotra residence and heading towards Jain Enclave, Bhamian Kalan. The police circulated the suspect’s photograph. On May 13, 2021, Surinder Verma, a paint contractor, approached the police, stating that Mohan Singh, who had been working with him since July 2020, resembled the suspect. He further said Mohan had admitted to him that he had killed a woman in Jain Colony due to “greed for money”. He said Mohan was earlier convicted for a murder in a Model Town case and had been residing on rent in Bhamian Kalan. After the crime, he fled Ludhiana. Karan later gave a supple- mentary statement, stating that the almirah in their house was forced open and his wife’s ATM card and Aadhaar card were missing. During interrogation, Mohan confessed that he had demanded ?10,000 from Megha Malhotra. When she refused and slapped him, he snatched the almirah key, but she grabbed it back and ran. He chased her. While running, she fell on the stairs. Afterwards, he strangled her with a mobile phone charging cable. At his instance, the police recovered ?5,000, the stolen ATM card and Aadhaar card. The defence argued false implication and claimed that the extra-judicial confession was fabricated. However, the court held the prosecution evidence credible. Rejecting the prosecution’s plea for a death penalty, the court ruled that though the convict had committed another murder while on parole, the case did not meet the stringent standards laid down by the Supreme Court for capital punishment. SAD candidate alleges attack on house, threat; probe on Mahesh Sharma Jagraon, December 12 The Ludhiana (rural) police have launched a probe into an incident in which some unidentified miscreants had allegedly attacked the residence of a zila parishad candidate of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Wednesday night. Accompanied by senior functionaries of SAD, Paramjit Kaur of Roomi village, near here, had alleged that some miscreants, wielding sharp weapons had tried to damage the main gate of her house late on Wednesday night and threatened the family before fleeing the scene. Regretting that the police had failed to identify and arrest the suspects even after two days of the incident, halqa in-charge Jaskaran Singh Deol threatened to hold a protest in case the suspects were not arrested soon. “Though SSP Ankur Gupta had assured our leader and former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal of prompt action in the matter, nothing concrete has been done so far,” he said while accusing the police of working under political pressure of AAP leaders. Denying allegations levelled by the complainants, the SSP said a probe had been initiated after registering an FIR on the statement of members of Paramjit Kaur’s family. “Having registered an FIR in the matter, we have deployed police teams to ascertain the sequence of events on the basis of footage of CCTV cameras installed in the locality,” said Gupta, adding that nobody would be allowed to take law into his or her hands. SAD leaders show marks of weapons on the gate of ZP candidate Paramjit Kaur's house at Roomi village. Member of ‘Amrit Dalam’ Sekhowal panchayat passes resolution to get back land gang lands in police net Was acquired for industrial project; CM Mann had ordered to return it in July 2022 Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Mahesh Sharma Ludhiana, December 12 The police claimed to have solved a case in which an alleged member of the Amrit Dalam gang had demanded Rs 1 crore extortion from a local jeweller by threatening him of dire consequences. It was during investigation on Friday that the victim’s family invited the caller to accept the first instalment of Rs 10 lakh. When the two suspects reached the scene to collect the money, one of them was overpowered and arrested by police officials, who had been deployed with the jeweller by the police. Though the police are yet to divulge details of the action taken on Friday, it is suspected that the miscreant who escaped from the scene had received a gunshot during the scuffle. Investigating officer Randhir Singh said one assailant had been nabbed by police officials posted at the Division Number 7 police station but his identity was yet to be ascertained. The police had registered an FIR against the unidentified members of the Amrit Dalam gang, who had threatened victim Sachin Verma of the Tazpur Road area to seek extortion of Rs 1 crore on December 4. Besides launching a probe, the police provided two gunmen to the victim’s family. The miscreants were shocked to face unexpected resistance and one of them was held captive by the police when to came to collect the money. Ludhiana, December 12 Residents of Sekhowal village, near Mattewara, are up in arms against the state government and the GLADA authorities for “forcefully” acquiring the panchayat land in 2020. The gram panchayat of the village gathered recently and passed a resolution, demanding that the land be returned to the villagers as it was made clear to the state government and GLADA that the panchayat will not allow to c m y b acquire its land for any “industrial-hub” in the area, as was proposed and after much opposition, the same was withdrawn in the past. At the same time, the residents said GLADA was still putting its hoardings in the village and the villagers have demanded to remove the same and provide around 415 acres of land to the panchayat, to which it belongs. Kashmir Singh, the panch, presented a resolution that was accepted by all gram sabha members. He briefed that on July 21, 2020, the sabha unanimously banned the sale of the village panchayat land and the construction of any project on it under the name of any industrial project. However on September 21, 2020, going against the resolution of the sabha, the registration of the panchayat land was illegally done by the GLADA authorities. The consent for the land was allegedly forcibly taken by the authorities from villagers for the Mattewara industrial park in the evening, after office hours. Against which in July 2022, hundreds of residents gathered at Sekhowal village and held a protest. Afterwards, Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann had ordered the return of the acquired land to the panchayat on July 11, 2022, while rejecting the industrial project. “The gram sabha demanded that all constitutional institutions should take responsibility and accountability for protecting the rights of the sabha as enshrined in the Constitution and order that the process of land return should be initiated after the cancellation of the industrial project. The land should be registered under the ownership of the Sekhowal panchayat as soon as possible,” the panchayat members said. One of the villagers said most of the families in the village were Dalits, who were not educated and government had forcefully taken over the land from them. There are about 500 residents belonging to the Dalit families in Sekhowal.