21022026-LT-01.qxd 21-02-2026 00:57 Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune ATHLETICS MEET KICKS OFF AT GOVT COLLEGE FOR GIRLS Ajinder Pal Kaur, member, Punjab State Commission for Women, inaugurates two-day event. P2 » WOH AFSANA— A SOULFUL EPIC ROMANCE THEATRICAL Play by Rabtaa presents love story between Amrita Pritam and Sahir Ludhianvi. P3 » CINEMA BETS ON STORIES INSPIRED BY REAL-LIFE EVENTS From war heroes to sports icons, Bollywood doubles down on real-life dramas with high stakes, heartfelt storytelling. P4 » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 27°C | MIN 13°C YESTERDAY MAX 27°C | MIN 13°C SUNSET SATURDAY 6.15 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 6:56 AM SATURDAY | 21 FEBRUARY 2026 | LUDHIANA 9 nabbed suspects facing 200 cyber fraud College student among cases involving ~78 cr across country: Probe two dead in road mishap They also opened 53 mule accounts in Khanna, having ~43.54 lakh She said the suspects had also used 31 mule accounts opened in various states and over Rs 78 crore was lying frozen in the same. The huge amount was stolen from bank accounts of people from across the country through cyber frauds, including investment scam, online shopping scam, stealing details of financial apps and forex trading. However, the amount was frozen by the authorities concerned after the victims raised complaints. Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 20 Investigation into the arrest of nine suspects involved in opening and operating mule accounts to route cyber fraud money have led to startling disclosures that they have also been facing 200 cyber fraud complaints across country involving a sum of over Rs 78 crore. The sum lying frozen in 31 mule bank accounts either opened in their names or being operated by the gang members. Besides, the suspects also opened 53 mule accounts in various banks falling in the jurisdiction of the Khanna police where Rs 43.54 lakh, the amount received in the accounts, was lying frozen now. The entire network was busted after the registration of a cyber fraud case by the Khanna police in September last year and all suspects were gradually arrested in the case in the past few months. The network involved in aggregating and selling mule accounts for cyber crimes. Senior Superintendent of Delhi resident running gang Police personnel address mediapersons in Ludhiana on Friday. Police, Khanna, Darpan Ahluwalia, who is personally investigating the fraud case told The Tribune that the nabbed suspects were identified as Sonu of Ludhiana, Surinderpal Singh, alias Deputy of Khanna, Vicky Prasad of Mandi Gobindgarh, Rajan of Ludhiana, Gopal of Jodhpur, Rajasthan, Alia Ahmed of Delhi, Sumit Kumar Jha of West Bengal, Malan Rai Sonu of Khanna and Ramdhan of Mandi Gob- indgarh. The police conducted raids in different states to nab the suspects. “The Khanna police have recieved details of 53 mule accounts, opened in banks at Khanna, involved in cyber fraud cases in which Rs 43.54 lakh was frozen from the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. From the 53 accounts, when seven accounts were checked initially, the role of nine suspects came to the fore as the accounts were either opened in their name or were being operated by them to route cyber money. A special team is scanning the record of remaining accounts to further bust the network,” the SSP said. During questioning of the nine suspects during their arrests, they confessed to having their involvement in the cyber fraud network being run across the country with their connivance, Dr Ahluwalia said. SSP Darpan Ahluwalia said Alia Ahmed, a resident of Delhi, is the kingpin of the racket, who has been operating the gang from across the country. Mandi Gobindgarh man too used mule accounts to open fake firms to claim ITC The SSP said meticulous police investigation also found that Vicky Prasad of Mandi Gobindgarh also used mule accounts to open fake firms with a motive to claim Input Tax Credit (ITC). A probe was on to inquire about the firms opened by him. Speeding car jumps divider, hits biker; 2 others seriously hurt Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 20 A major accident occurred on the Elevated Road near Verka Milk Plant in which a Maruti Swift Dzire car crashed into a divider and then hit a biker on the other side of the road. Two persons were killed in the mishap while two others suffered serious injuries. The injured are undergoing treatment at the DMCH here. The deceased include a PCTE Baddowal student. One student is critical. The police said the cause of the accident was seemed to be overspeeding which rendered the vehicle out of control. The injured were taken to the hospital after the accident where the two persons — a biker and a car driver — declared brought dead by doctors. As per the police, three youths were going to college in a car while a motorcyclist was returning home after dropping his children at school. The car went out of control, hit a divider and then struck the motorcycle on the other side of the road. The accident killed 42-year-old Jagdish Kumar, the motorcycle rider, and A cop inspects the car involved in the mishap. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN Gauransh, a journalism student of the PCTE, who was driving the car. Both were declared dead upon arrival at the hospital. Two injured students were undergoing treatment at the DMCH. As per information, the bike rider, Jagdish, was working with a courier company. He was survived by his wife and two children. He was the family’s breadwinner. Gauransh’s father runs a factory and his mother is a housewife. According to eyewitnesses, the car was travelling at a high speed from Bharat Nagar Chowk towards Tharike. It lost control on the elevated road (Moga-Fer- ozepur highway) near the Verka Milk Plant chowk and hit the divider. The impact was so severe that the car jumped the divider and collided with a motorcycle. The motorcyclist after struck by the car fell onto the road, suffering serious injuries. People tried to lift him, but he breathed his last. Meanwhile, they also tried to pull the youths out of the car. Charanjot was sitting in the front. After the mishap, the Rotary Club of Ludhiana has taken an initiative under the presidentship of Dinesh Gogna to arrange a educative lecture of ACP (traffic( Gurdev Singh on road safety. BJP councillor’s Mayor conducts inspection at civic Three get life term in spouse attacked body’s Zone C office on Gill Road double murder case Ludhiana, February 20 Jatinder Gorian, husband of Ruby Gorian, BJP councillor from Ward 17 here, was attacked by a few persons dressed as Nihangs on Thursday night at Jamalpur Chowk. The assailants also reportedly tried to held him hostage in a car. After noticing the incident, local residents tried to save the victim but the suspects did not budge. Meanwhile, a convoy of a politician was passing from the area during the incident. Seeing his gunmen, the assailants fled the scene. Later, Jatinder called his supporters and went to the Focal Point police station. When the police refused to listen to his complaint, he and his supporters held a protest for some time. Following the protest, police officials assured Jatinder of action in the matter. He told mediapersons that he Suspects dressed as Nihangs also tried to hold him hostage in car was returning home after an event late on Thursday night. When he reached the shrine of Peer Baba in Jamalpur, some men dressed in the attire of Nihangs attacked him. They also tried to held him hostage inside their car. Jatinder alleged that when he went to the police station, the police refused to listen to his complaint, forcing him to stage a protest. Later, police officials assured him of action. ACP Inderjit Singh said based on Jatinder’s complaint, an FIR was registered and a probe initiated into the matter. He said the suspects were being identified through CCTV footage. — TNS Issue directions to officials to ensure hassle-free services for residents Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 20 Mayor Inderjit Kaur conducted a surprise inspection at the Zone C office of the Municipal Corporation (MC) on Gill Road here on Friday. During the inspection at the suvidha kendra, the Mayor also took feedback from residents and issued directions to staff to streamline and expedite the work at the kendra. She directed officials and staff to ensure that the public should not be forced to make rounds of MC offices and their works should be done in one go. She said working under the guidance of Chief Minister CM Bhagwant Singh Mann and Local Bodies Minister Sanjeev Arora, various steps Mayor Inderjit Kaur during an inspection at the MC’s Zone C office in Ludhiana. were being taken to streamline the working of civic body offices, including implementation of e-office. The staff have been directed that the public should not face any harassment at the civic body offices, otherwise strict departmental action would be taken against them, the Mayor added. Ludhiana, February 20 The Court of Additional Sessions Judge Dr Rajneesh has sentenced three persons to life imprisonment in a double murder case involving a woman and her son. The convicts have been identified as Gopichand, alias Gopi, a resident of Satjot Nagar, and Ahmad Ansari, a resident of Jagdishpur in Bettiah district (Bihar), along with his wife Kiran Devi. The court awarded life imprisonment after holding them guilty of murdering Ravi Shah and his mother Noorjahan. According to the prosecution, the case was registered on September 20, 2022, at Sadar police station on the statement of Rubina, wife of deceased Ravi Shah. The complainant told the court that she has five children and was staying with her family in a rented house. The three suspects were also residing in the same house in separate rooms. Rubina said on the night of September 16, 2022, she and her husband were sleeping outside their room after dinner. Late at night, when her husband went to bathroom, she heard sounds of abuse and quarrelling. She rushed to the spot and saw the three accused arguing with her husband. She somehow pacified the situation and brought her husband back, after which they went to sleep again. Around 12:30 am, the three suspects allegedly returned with hammers and repeatedly attacked her husband on the head, leaving him critically injured. On hearing the commotion, the complainant’s mother, Noorjahan, came to intervene. The accused also attacked her with a hammer, causing grievous injuries. Both victims were taken to Civil Hospital, Ludhiana, where they succumbed to their injuries during treatment.— OC Centre’s laxity at border to blame for drug smuggling: Minister Woman dies by suicide Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 20 At a review meeting held at Bachat Bhawan here, Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh assessed the progress of government health and welfare schemes and directed officials to intensify outreach so that benefits reach every citizen. After the meeting, the minister briefed about the state’s ambitious health insurance drive, voicing strong concerns over the drug menace in Punjab. Dr Singh said the government was determined to enrol every Punjabi under the Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojna (MMSY) within the next three months. The scheme provides cashless health Health Minister Balbir Singh addresses a meeting at Bachat Bhawan in Ludhiana. ASHWANI DHIMAN insurance coverage of up to Rs 10 lakh per family annually, removing income barriers and ensuring universal access to treatment at empanelled government and private hospitals. Currently, around 60,000 health cards are being issued daily and the government is scaling up efforts to achieve 3 lakh enrolments per day. So far, nearly 9 lakh health cards have already been distributed. The Jagraon constituency has emerged as the state leader in enrolments. To accelerate the drive, additional manpower, machinery and registration camps are being deployed. The minister confirmed that the state had already released Rs 500 crore to its c m y b insurance partner, with strict instructions to clear hospital dues within 21 days. “There is no pendency of payments up to January 31,” he assured, adding that the scheme covers hospitalisation, surgeries, diagnostics, medicines and pre- and post-hospitalisation expenses on a completely cashless basis. Earlier in the day, Dr Singh visited the Civil Hospital, inspecting the ICU, stroke ward and emergency departments and personally interacted with patients to collect feedback on the scheme’s implementation. Turning to the issue of drugs, he launched a scathing attack on the Centre, alleging that laxity at the border was allowing narcotics to flood the state. “The Centre does not want drugs to be completely eliminated from Punjab. Nearly 2,000 kg of narcotics are entering the state through the border,” he claimed. He alleged that gangsters, terrorists and smugglers are working in collusion, with drugs and illegal weapons being supplied from Pakistan. “Rajasthan and Gujarat share larger borders with Pakistan, yet such volumes of drugs and weapons are not smuggled there,” he said. The minister also revealed that 550 drones had been seized so far but some continue to cross over. He warned that forces both across the border and within the country were conspiring to destabilise Punjab’s atmosphere. over harassment Ludhiana, February 20 A woman, distressed by harassment and threats, reportedly consumed some poisonous substance at Kanian Hussaini village in Sidhwan Bet here on Friday. She was declared brought dead at a hospital. The police registered a case against a man. The suspect has been identified as Arshdeep Singh, alias Arsh, also a resident of the village. The police are conducting raids to arrest him. They said the woman’s husband in a complaint to the police alleged that the suspect had been harassing her daughter for the past few days, causing her mental stress. On Friday around 8 am, the suspect called and said he had a call recording of her daughter. He threatened to make the recording viral if she did not marry him. Later, the man also called the victim and threatened her. The deceased’s mother alleged that her daughter had also told the suspect that if he did not stop harassing her, she would consume poison. The man reportedly responded nonchalantly, saying it did not matter to him. Later, her daughter swallowed the poisonous substance. After getting information, the girl was rushed to a clinic in the village. Doctors referred her to a hospital due to her serious condition. While the family was taking her to a hospital in Moga district, she died on the way. `— TNS