06032026-LT-01.qxd 3/6/2026 12:01 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune HPV VACCINATION DRIVE KICKS OFF ACROSS DIST UNUSED OLD ASTROTURF AT PAU RAISES EYEBROWS The Health Department launched a 90-day Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination campaign in district. P2 MONA SINGH IS ON A CREATIVE RAMPAGE The AstroTurf at Olympian Prithipal Singh Hockey Stadium has been lying unused since it was replaced in July last year. P3 » Mona might just be in her busiest phase, workwise, with Ba**ds of Bollywood, Munjya, Border 2 and Kohrra 2. P4 » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 30°C | MIN 15°C YESTERDAY MAX 31°C | MIN 15°C SUNSET FRIDAY 6.28 PM SUNRISE SATURDAY 6.46 AM FRIDAY | 6 MARCH 2026 | LUDHIANA Speeding BMW kills 24-yr-old gardener, Couplearrestedfor~42L migrants lay siege to Phullanwal chowk fraud from Vrindavan Mahesh Sharma Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 5 A 24-year-old migrant was killed by a speeding BMW car (bearing registration number 1PB10HX0011) near Phullanwal Chowk on Tuesday night. Due to serious head injuries, the victim could not survive. The deceased, identified as Laal Ji Morya, a native of Uttar Pradesh, was currently living in Dev Colony, near Phullanwal. After the incident, alleging police inaction in the case, migrants in large numbers laid siege to the Phullanwal chowk and raised slogans against the government and the police. Protesters said the accident occurred around 11.30 pm on Tuesday when the victim, who was a gardener, was heading home. When he reached near the Phullanwal chowk, a speeding BMW car hit his motorcycle. Since the car was at high speed, the victim suffered serious injuries and died on the spot. Safety air bags of the car were deployed after the collision. “Last night, the police shifted the BMW car to a petrol pump. Instead of taking action against the car driver, who is suspected to be an influential person having links in the political circle, the deceased’s kin were forced to reach a com- Protesters drag car to the accident spot to express anger promise with him. Initially, the police were not telling us about the car involved in the accident, but later we traced the vehicle to a petrol pump, near the accident spot, and brought it at the Phullanwal chowk and blocked all roads. The protest was lifted after two hours when the car driver was arrested,” the protesters said. Investigating officer ASI Jatinder Kumar said a case was registered against car driver identified as Rupinder Singh, a resident of the Pakhowal road. Scorpio jumps divider, crashes into car The BMW car which killed a migrant near the Phullanwal chowk; and (below) vehicles involved in an accident at the Saggu chowk in Ludhiana on Wednesday. TRIBUNE PHOTOS: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN Another accident was reported near the Saggu chowk on the PAU road on Wednesday when a speeding Scorpio N jumped over the roadside divider and crashed into a Kia car. Three of a family members, who were travelling in the car, had a miraculous escape. The collision was so intense that air bags of Kia car were deployed and among its three occupants, one suffered injuries though not critical. The youth, who was driving Scorpio N, didn’t suffer any injury. Ghumar Mandi police post incharge ASI Subash Chand said so far no case was registered as talks for reaching a compromise between both the parties were in progress. Malerkotla, March 5 The police claim to have arrested a couple, who along with their third accomplice, were booked under Sections 318 (4), 316 (2) and 61 (2) of the BNS Act and Section 13 of the Punjab Travel Professions Regulation Act at the city 1 police station in the first week of January this year. The accused, identified as Saurav Gupta and his wife Pragati Gupta of Patiala, were arrested in Vrindavan where they were living under the guise of spiritually inclined usually attired in traditional religious clothes. The third accused Sachin Gupta is still at large. The police is presently investigating the immigration fraud case in which the accused had duped a complainant of Rs 42 lakh. More victims have started contacting the police for seeking action in their cases too. SSP Gagan Ajit Singh informed that an investigation team led by Malerkotla DSP Manavjit Singh Sidhu arrested the duo from Vrindavan during a raid conducted on Tuesday morning on the basis of human and digital investigations. The duo was presented in a court in Malerkotla on Wednesday after seeking a transit remand from a UP court. Though the police have yet to announce the outcome of investigations in the case, preliminary probe revealed that the duo had allegedly been operating a “Kabootarbaazi” racket duping people on the pretext of sending them abroad on the basis of the forged documents. The accused used to charge amount upto Rs 50 lakh per person for various categories and nations including Canada, the United States, Australia and England. Having learnt about registration of multiple cases against them in Punjab, the couple left their native city Patiala and started living at some unknown place. Complainant Rohit Kumar of Ajit Nagar, Malerkotla, had blamed the accused, who were running — Canada PR Advisory Patiala — of duping him of over Rs 42 lakh, which was paid through various modes from July 2022 to July 2024. Senior functionaries of Malerkotla, Sangrur and Patiala district police had handled the case during investigation. Intervention of the Punjab and Haryana High Court was also sought by stakeholders. During investigation the police received information that the couple were living in a flat at Hare Krishna Orchid Society in the Sunrakh area of Vrindavan from where they were arrested on Tuesday morning. They were residing there with their two children and maintained a low profile posing as humble disciples to avoid attention of residents of the locality. The police suspect that they had continued their illegal activities in Vrindavan too. The accused were running a hospitality business allegedly by hiring around one dozen flats in Vrindavan. DSP Manavjit Singh Sidhu said the police were presently focusing on the case related with forgery worth Rs 42 lakh, but efforts would be made to ascertain their involvement in other cases too. “Though it is too early to arrive at any conclusion, we suspect that the accused might have duped many of amount running into crores,” said Sidhu. Complete road re-carpeting work Truck hijacked from city recovered from Haryana's Sonepat on priority, demand residents Ex-owner, driver among three held | Wanted to use vehicle for smuggling drugs from Rajasthan ing registration number HR10 AM 2386) used by the accused in the incident. While addressing a press conference, Additional DCP Sameer Verma stated that on March 2 at around 3.30 pm the police received information that a truck was hijacked from Guru Vihar Basti, Jodhewal, Ludhiana. After verifying information, a police party was immediately dispatched to nab the accused. After verifying the exit route of the truck through the footage of the CCTV cameras of toll barriers and private establishments, the police party managed to arrest the accused from Sonepat. “The key accused Lovedeep confessed that he was first owner of the truck and had sold it in 2016. Complainant Harchand Singh of Panjeta village, Ludhiana, was third owner of this truck. Lovedeep hatched a conspiracy to snatch truck along with his former driver Gurtej. It was Gurtej, who did recce of the present location of the truck, and passed on information to the key accused,” Verma said. ADCP said Lovedeep, who came out on bail in January this year in a drug smuggling case, decided to continue his illegal activities through his links with Rajasthan-based smugglers. After hijacking truck, the accused wanted to use it to smuggle narcotics from Rajasthan to Punjab. The other two accused involved in the incident were still at large, Verman said, while adding that raids were on to nab them. Legal notice served on officials for illegal axing of trees on Rani Jhansi road Woman held for impersonating as inspector Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 5 The Municipal Corporation (MC) authorities have started re-carpeting of two major roads in the city. These include the road near Domoria Bridge and the stretch opposite the Municipal Corporation Zone B office. The peeling of upper surface of these busy roads, used daily by hundreds of commuters, is causing significant hardships them. Residents, shopkeepers and passersby have urged the MC authorities to expedite the re-carpeting work so that no untoward incident occurs, as both stretches are cur- Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 5 Taking serious note of illegal cutting of five fully grown green trees on the Rani Jhansi road, Civil Lines, the Public Action Committee (PAC) Mattewara-SutlejBuddha Darya has issued a legal notice to senior officials of the Punjab Government, Ludhiana Municipal Corporation and the Punjab Police, demanding immediate registration of an FIR and strict action against those responsible for the act. The trees were allegedly axed on the intervening night of March 2 and 3, in blatant violation of the Punjab and Haryana High Court interim order dated February 3, 2026, which had imposed a statewide ban on the cutting of trees without prior permission of the court. rently in a poor condition. The road heading from Deepak Cinema to Domoria Bridge has been dug up for fresh re-carpeting. Large slabs of damaged road have been dumped along the roadside. The road level has gone down considerably, with potholes visible throughout the stretch. Gurdeep, a nearby shopkeeper, said the damaged road was creating a lot of nuisance for the public. “Thousands of commuters, including twowheeler and bicycle riders and four-wheeler drivers, pass through this stretch every day. The uneven surface poses a serious threat to commuters. Work on According to the legal notice, the trees were reportedly cut after illegally barricading the road using barriers, and without obtaining any permission from the competent authority or the court. The notice further states that the trees were axed with the suspected connivance of certain officials of the Municipal Corporation. The PAC also questioned the controversial declaration of the trees as “dangerous” by the Horticulture Department, stating that the mature trees were healthy and had been standing for decades. The committee alleged that the trees were axed under the false pretext of pruning, causing irreversible environmental damage. The notice further pointed out that as per the Tree Preservation Policy, 2024, such busy stretches, which remain abuzz with activity throughout the day, should be completed on priority,” he said. Similarly, the road opposite the main MC Zone B office has also been dug up for re-carpeting. This causes inconvenience to people visiting the MC office daily. An employee of MC Zone B office said due to narrowed space, vehicles often bump into each other, leading to minor damages. “The contractor should be given a strict deadline to complete the re-carpeting work as everyone is facing difficulties while driving on the road,” he rued. Ludhiana, March 5 The Ludhiana police claimed to have cracked the truck hijack case within 12 hours of the incident. Three accused, including former truck owner and driver, both residents of Sonepat, Haryana, were among the three arrested by the police. The key accused, who is former truck owner, already has a drug smuggling case registered against him in the Khanna police district. He wanted to use the hijacked truck for smuggling narcotics. The former truck driver, who was earlier employed by the key accused, was also arrested for giving information about location of the vehicle at the time of incident. The police also recovered the hijacked truck from ADCP Sameer Verma addresses press conference regarding arrest of the accused in the truck hijack case in Ludhiana on Thursday. Sonepat in Haryana. The arrested accused were identified as Lovedeep Singh (34), a resident of Sector 27, Sonepat, Ranjit Singh (66), a resident of Sonepat, and Gurtej Singh (40), a resi- FIR sought against those involved in the act Trees felled on the Rani Jhansi road in Ludhiana. c m y b dent of Sahnewal. Gurtej is former truck driver employed by Lovedeep. Apart from recovering truck (bearing registration number RJ 09GC 8757), the police also seized Brezza car (bear- approval of the competent committee chaired by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) and technical clearance from the District Forest Officer (DFO) were mandatory before axing any tree. However, it appears that no such approvals were obtained in the present case, the notice stated. The PAC also expressed apprehension that the trees may have been removed to facilitate a proposed commercial development at the site, raising serious concerns about misuse of administrative powers and violation of the environmental safeguards. Through the legal notice, the PAC demanded immediate registration of an FIR against the accused and responsible officials while seeking a time-bound inquiry into the illegal felling of trees. The panel also sought fixing accountability of officials who failed to prevent the illegal act and criminal as well as departmental action against all those involved in the case. Compensatory plantation of trees at the same location in accordance with the environmental norms was also sought by the panel. The PAC warned that if appropriate action was not taken within three days, it would be constrained to initiate contempt proceedings before the court. The committee stated that issue concerns the protection of urban green cover and enforcement of judicial orders, and emphasised that environmental laws cannot be sacrificed at the altar of private commercial interests. It may be mentioned that the story was carried in these columns of the Ludhiana Tribune on March 4, 2026. Ludhiana, March 5 The Khanna police claimed to have arrested a woman on the charge of impersonating as a inspector. The accused was identified as Priya of the Anand Nagar area. As per information, the accused used to threaten people and roam around in the area while wearing a police uniform. The police claimed that accused had heated arguments with the area people on several occasions and threatened to implicate them in false cases. The residents lodged a police complaint against accused. During an investigation, it came to the fore that the accused used to impersonate as a police inspector. The police recovered a uniform bearing rank of an inspector from accused. — TNS