07032026-LT-01.qxd 3/7/2026 12:44 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune MALERKOTLA COPS INTENSIFY CRACKDOWN ON PEDDLERS ATHLETICS MEET IN CITY TO MARK INT’L WOMEN’S DAY BOLLYWOOD GOES ‘WHATTTAA MATECHH’... Conduct cordon and search operations in Ahmedgarh, zero down on habitual offenders. P2 Officials say participants can register through My Bharat portal by scanning QR code on event poster. P2 Celebrations erupted after Team India registered a win against England in ICC Men’s T20 World Cup semi-final. P4 » » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 33°C | MIN 15°C YESTERDAY MAX 33°C | MIN 15°C SUNSET SATURDAY 6.25 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 6:41 AM SATURDAY | 7 MARCH 2026 | LUDHIANA Three land in police dragnet in City family stuck in Dubai, alleges no help from Centre Sahnewal double murder case Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 6 The Central and state governments might be making tall claims about coming to the rescue of stranded citizens in Dubai but a Ludhiana-based family says it had been over a week since they have been stranded there without any assistance from the Indian Government so far. While a couple from the family is planning to return to India tonight through a chartered plane, other family members remain stuck in Dubai. Raju Sharma, owner, Kuber petrol station, near Aarti Chowk, had gone to Dubai on February 28 and was supposed to return on March 4 but due to the ongoing war, the entire family got stuck there. Talking to The Tribune over phone, Raju Sharma said his entire family, including wife and two sons and daughters-in law-and their children, went to Dubai for a week’s vacation. The family of one of my sons was settled in the US. Two victims were crushed under SUV over parking dispute two days ago Lovleen Bains Sahnewal, March 6 The Sahnewal police claimed to have arrested three suspects involved in a dispute between two families at Purana Bazaar here, which had resulted in the death of two persons, including a 62year-old woman, on Wednesday night. Meanwhile, fear and outrage is writ large on faces of residents who demanded justice for the victims. The suspects, Lakhwinder Singh, alias Vishal, a resident of Balmiki Mohalla, Purana Bazaar, his father Harinder Singh Goldy of Chak Sarai village in Samrala, and Jaspreet Singh, alias Jas, of Sahnewal were nabbed by the police near Kanech village while they were trying to evade the police. The suspects have been sent to a two-day police remand. Meanwhile, the bodies of the victims, Bhupinder Sahota (25) and Balwinder The suspects, nabbed in the double murder case, in police custody at Sahnewal. Kaur were handed over to their kin after a post-mortem examination. Not only the two aggrieved families but also the entire area is in a state of shock. Rohit, the brother of the deceased Bhupinder, while talking to this correspondent said their family was traumatised by the incident. Recalling the horrifying incident, Rohit said on Wednesday night, one of the suspects, Vishal, aged around 19 years, who resides in the locality, parked his SUV in front of their house gate and began to play loud music. “When I objected, he ran towards me to attack. My mother, numbed by the ugly turn of the events, fell unconscious and had to be rushed to a hospital. In my absence, my younger broth- er Bhupinder who, worked as an electrician, came and saw a crowd in front of our house. He dropped his bike midway and ran towards the crowd. That was the time when Vishal, along with his father, uncle and some unidentified assailants ran over the SUV over my brother, leaving him injured in a pool of blood. A woman of the street, Bhupinder Kaur, who tried to obstruct the way of the suspects too was crushed under the tyres of the vehicle. My brother and the woman were rushed to the Civil Hospital in Ludhiana where they were declared brought dead,” Rohit said. Residents of the street complained that Vishal used to flaunt his SUV which he used , to park in front of every house gate in the street. “When the residents objected to the same, he used to play loud music inside the vehicle. Not only this, he used to use objectionable language even in front of young girls, about which the residents complained to his parents many times. On the night of Holi, he crossed all limits and mercilessly mowed down two persons, leaving their families devastated at the same time,” they said. “Investigations are on and more arrests are expected soon in the case,” said SHO, Sahnewal, Varinder Uppal. Raju Sharma and members of his family in Dubai. “Unfortunately, we all got stuck there due to the US-Isreal-Iran war. Me and my wife are returning on Friday but my both sons, along with their wives and my granddaughter, are still there struggling to return. We are paying bills from our own pocket. We all went there for annual vacation but got stuck there,” Sharma said. Sharma and his wife are returning through a chartered plane by paying Rs 1 Class XI girl from Bihar dies Petrol dealers report ‘panic buying’ as speeding truck hits scooter Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Was on way to catch train for native place after celebrating Holi Ludhiana, March 6 A road accident occurred near Mata Rani Chowk in Ludhiana on Friday in which a girl, a student of Class XI, riding a scooter was killed after being hit by a speeding truck. The truck driver fled the scene after the accident. The girl was going on a scooter with her father to the railway station to catch a train. The student was supposed to appear in Class XII exams in Bihar. Her stomach was severely ruptured in the accident. Seeing the girl lying on the road in a pool of blood, an erickshaw driver took her and her father to the hospital in his vehicle. But she died on the way. The deceased has been identified as 17year-old Rashmi, a resident of Rashmi, the Masiha vildeceased lage, Nalanda district, Bihar. Her father, Mithilesh, works in Ludhiana. She had come to her father’s place for the Holi celebrations. Mithilesh said his daughter was going on a scooter with him to the railway station. Rashmi had a train scheduled for around 8:30 am on Friday. Around 7:30 am, when they reached Mata Rani Chowk, a speeding truck coming from the rear hit the scooter. The girl was seriously injured. The driver fled the scene after leaving the truck behind. A man driving an e-rickshaw took the injured victim to a hospital but she died on the way. ASI Balraj from the Kotwali police station said the police were trying to trace the truck’s owner and driver. Mithilesh was staying in Ludhiana for the past 15 years and working with a factory. Her father said she was a student of a college in Nalanda and had to appear for exams. He said he had no idea that he would lose his daughter forever on the way to the railway station. — TNS Ludhiana, March 6 Though the Iran–Israel war has not directly affected India so far, the ongoing conflict has triggered fears among people about a possible fuel shortage in coming weeks. Anticipating higher demand during the harvesting season and the upcoming paddy sowing period, farmers in several rural areas of the state have reportedly begun panic buying of fuel. Confirming the development, Chairman of the Petrol Dealers’ Association, Punjab, Ashok Sachdeva, said panic buying had particularly picked up in rural areas. “The harvesting season is approaching and soon farmers will begin sowing paddy. With the war between Iran and Israel continuing, farmers fear there Fuel sales have increased upto 40% in rural areas. INDERJEET VERMA may be a shortage of fuel in coming weeks. To avoid inconvenience, many farmers have started purchasing fuel in bulk for storing,” Sachdeva said. He said petrol pumps in rural areas had witnessed a 30–40 per cent rise in fuel sales in recent days. Farmer leader Tarsem Jodhan from the Samyukt Kisan Morcha also acknowledged the trend, saying that panic buying often increases during uncertain situations. “I have received feedback from Jodhan and nearby areas where petrol dealers have confirmed that people are purchasing fuel in bulk to remain on the safer side. It is human psychology — no one wants to take risks. If the war continues for a month or longer, people believe there could be a shortage of fuel even in our country. To avoid that situation, some farmers have started stocking fuel,” Jodhan said. The surge in demand has come despite repeated assurances from oil marketing companies (OMCs) that there has been no disruption in fuel supply and that adequate stocks are available at present. At the same time, residents fear that if fuel supplies become thin, dealers or oil companies may increase prices. Sachdeva, however, reiterated that oil companies had assured dealers that there was no shortage of fuel. “Despite these assurances, we are witnessing a noticeable rise in fuel sales. In urban areas, sales have increased by around 25 per cent while in rural areas the increase is nearly 40 per cent. We appeal to people not to panic or store fuel unnecessarily as it is unsafe. However, if there is an imbalance between demand and supply, prices may eventually rise,” he said. lakh per person. “The plane would travel from the Ras Al Khaimah airport to Delhi. On Thursday night we were in panic as there was a drone/missile attack in the evening in the Marina area. Otherwise, everything is normal here except the air travel restrictions. One of my known, Sachin Sharma, IOCL business head of Middle East, helped me to get charter plane tickets. I am thankful to him,” he said. FIR filed against Cong councillor for ~70L ‘fraud’ Ludhiana, March 6 The Ludhiana police have registered an FIR regarding an alleged fraud against a Congress councillor following allegations of non-payment of funds worth lakhs of rupees. Based on a complaint filed by Abhishek Gupta, a resident of Sector 39, Chandigarh Road, the Sarabha Nagar police booked Sukhdev Bawa, a resident of Main Kakowal Pink City, under various sections pertaining to fraud. Bawa is the sitting Congress councilor from Ward 4. ASI Umesh Kumar said Bawa was a Congress councillor and also a property dealer. According to the complaint submitted by continued on page 3 Cops probe 119 cases after court orders action in 2021 fraud Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 6 The Ludhiana police have intensified action against a gang involved in a largescale fraud through technical tampering of ATM machines during 2021. Unidentified suspects targeted approximately 119 ATMs installed in various areas of the city, defrauding victims of lakhs of rupees. As per the police, miscreants had defrauded the State Bank of India (SBI) by stealing over Rs 1 crore from the 119 ATMs. Following the orders from the Sessions Court in a high-tech fraud, the Cyber Crime police registered a case against unidentified persons and accelerated their investigation. According to the application submitted by the complainant in the court, Avinash Kumar, Exploiting tech loophole, miscreants stole over ~1 cr, mule account angle also being probed manager of the treasury branch of the State Bank of India, the fraudulent scheme was executed throughout 2021. The clever fraudsters, showing a complete disregard for Ludhiana’s law enforcement, targeted 119 ATMs one after another. By technically manipulating the machines, they carried out fraudulent transactions that resulted in massive financial losses for both banks and account holders to the tune of Rs 1 crore. While the matter remained unresolved at that time, the police have now registered the FIR and reopened the probe following the intervention of the Ludhiana Sessions Court and orders from the Judge. Bank officials believe it could be the work of a major interstate gang that siphoned off money by exploiting technical vulnerabilities in the ATMs. Following the court’s mandate, the police are now scrutinising old records and CCTV footage to unmask unidentified faces behind the crime. The fact that 119 ATMs were targeted simultaneously has raised serious questions regarding security arrangements. At present, the police have registered the case and initiated raids to track down the suspects. Genuine account holders also under scanner The miscreants suspected to have exploited technical vulnerabilities of ATMs. Genuine account holders can come also under scanner. When bank realised that money was stolen from the 119 ATMs, over Rs 1 crore was already stolen. The bank raised the alarm and lodged a police complaint. Could be mule accounts, every angle being probed, say police ADCP Vaibhav Sehgal said the police were not ruling out any angle. Money could have been stolen through the ‘Transaction Reversal Fraud’ (TRF), also known as a ‘Partial Cash Withdrawal’ scam, in which criminals manipulate physical and digital synchronisation of the ATM to illicitly obtain cash while ensuring the bank’s core system registers the transaction as a ‘failure’. He said even mule accounts could have been c m y b used to deposit cyber fraud money and then fraudsters withdraw the same. The police were not ruling out any angle and the investigation will unearth the scam. How transaction reversal fraud works Suppose a perpetrator initiates Rs 10,000 withdrawal. As the shutter opens and currency notes come out, miscreant collects around Rs 9,000 but deliberately leaves a few notes in the dispenser slot. The ATM detects that the dispenser is not empty and assumes that the user has not collected the money. Hence, the bank’s server will receive a failed transaction message and entry of Rs 10,000 will be reversed back to the fraudster’s account. Hence, despite withdrawing Rs 9,000, user’s bank balance remains untouched and cause financial loss to the bank. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN ATM SCAM Firemen douse the flames at a garment showroom in Ghumar Mandi on Friday night in Ludhiana. Garment showroom gutted in fire Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 6 Panic gripped Ghumar Mandi here on Friday night when a massive fire broke out in a garment showroom. The fire, which began around 10 pm, quickly spread and engulfed both floors of the showroom. Initial information suggests the cause of the fire was a short-circuit. Eyewitnesses say the fire brigade was alerted after seeing smoke coming from the showroom. Fortunately, since it was night, the market was sparsely populated, so no casualties were reported. However, clothing worth lakhs is estimated to have been destroyed. On receiving information, two fire brigade vehicles rushed to the spot to douse the flames. At the time of writing the report, firemen were still trying to control the the blaze.