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P4 » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 33°C | MIN 19°C YESTERDAY MAX 33°C | MIN 19°C SUNSET WEDNESDAY 6.28 PM SUNRISE THURSDAY 6:36 AM WEDNESDAY | 11 MARCH 2026 | LUDHIANA ‘Go sell some sweaters’: SC junks AI-drafted PIL of city cloth trader New Delhi, March 10 The Supreme Court on Tuesday junked a PIL filed by a Ludhiana-based cloth trader after he admitted to using artificial intelligence (AI) tools to draft the petition and could not explain complex legal terms used in it. “Jaao, Ludhiana mein 23 aur sweater becho, jin logo ka kaam hai aisi petition file karna, woh nuksaan kardengay apka costs lagwa ke” (Go and sell two-three more sweaters in Ludhiana... If you continue filing such petitions through others, they will end up having costs imposed upon you),” Chief Justice Surya Kant said while dismissing the PIL. The Bench, also comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and R Mahadevan, became suspicious when Rajnish Sidhu, a hosiery trader, who studied up to Class XII, stood up to argue his plea regarding the PM CARES Fund. When he started his arguments by reading from the written text, the CJI began questioning his educational and other backgrounds. When the petitioner said he did not file any petition in the past and directly came to the top court to file his first plea, the CJI sarcastically said: “Bada bahaduri ka kaam kiya, seedha Ludhiana se BENCH GETS SUSPICIOUS The Bench, comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and R Mahadevan, became suspicious when Rajnish Sidhu, a hosiery trader, who studied up to Class XII, stood up to argue his plea regarding the PM CARES Fund. chalke aagaye’ (Very brave of you to come straight from Ludhiana to the Supreme Court).” “I will take your English exam right here,” the CJI said, adding, “If you manage to score even 30 per cent, I will believe you drafted the plea.” The moment of truth came when the CJI asked Sidhu Bomb threat to 10 city schools triggers panic among parents Nothing objectionable was found during search, investigation on, say police Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 10 Panic spread in the city on Tuesday as 10 city schools received bomb threat emails. Tensed over the development, parents rushed to the schools to receive their wards. Some of the schools even advanced the departure timings and sent messages to parents to pick up their wards as soon as possible. Though police investigation found that emails turned out to be hoax, the police launched an investigation to check if it was part of some larger conspiracy. The threatening emails also warned about a bomb blast at the railway station. Hence, thorough checking was also done at the city railway station where passengers were frisked, their baggage scanned and trains were also searched. After the threat emails, the Ludhiana police, bomb squads and dog squads Cops during a probe outside Narayana e-Techno School in Ludhiana on Tuesday. ASHWANI DHIMAN reached the schools for antisabotage checking. As a precautionary measure, school premises were evacuated and police teams were searched the institutions and their surroundings. Commissioner of Police Swapan Sharma said taking immediate action and showing quick response to the situation, all police stations were alerted and special teams, led by dog squads and bomb squads, were dispatched to the schools concerned. “No item such as any explosive material was recovered from any school. The cyber cell has been tracking the IP address of the threatening email to identify its sender,” Sharma said. ADCP Sameer Verma said about 10 schools had received bomb threat emails and so far nothing objectionable was found. Still, the police checking was on. Notably, it isn’t the first case of threats against schools. Several schools have received bomb threats en the past also. On February 10, 16 schools in Mohali received threats. The email, sent around 7:30 am, stated that a bomb blast would occur at schools at 1:11 pm. Meanwhile, ADCP (Cyber and Headquarters) Vaibhav Sehgal said an anti-sabotage team of the Police Commissionerate, Ludhiana, along with a dog squad had conducted through checking in schools. Even buses and other vehicles of the staff were also checked but no explosives were found. To track the email sender, the cyber cell had already started investigation and soon the truth behind the bomb threat emails, which seemed hoax, would be known. Jesus Sacred Heart School, South City, KVM School, Hambran road, Army Public School, Dholewal, Ryan International School, Moti Nagar, DAV School, Daad village; BCM School, Basant Avenue; Sacred Heart Convent School, Sarabha Nagar, Narayana e-Techno School, Bhattian, Dashmesh Academy, Bhamian, Jamalpur, and DAV Public School, BRS Nagar received bomb threat emails. to explain ‘Fiduciary Risk of Corporate Donors’, a term used in the PIL. A stumped Sidhu was unable to define the term and tried to read from his notes. “Mr Sidhu, it has been written and given to you by some advocate. You are just reading the script,” the CJI interjected and warned that he would order an investigation by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau. The petitioner then took the name of a typist working on the apex court premises as the person who initially helped him draft the PIL. “The typist was very helpful. I gifted him four jackets. He was asking for Rs 1,000 per hour,” Sidhu said, adding, “But I have not used his petition and drafted my own.” Eventually, he admitted to using three to four artificial intelligence (AI) tools to draft the petition as he Family travelling to city from Jaipur loses gold jewellery on train Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 10 A family travelling to Ludhiana from Jaipur to attend a wedding was targeted by thieves. They lost gold jewellery worth around Rs 10 lakh. The miscreants stole the jewellery from the third AC coach of the JaipurAmritsar Express. Ankush Jain said he had boarded Ajmer-Amritsar Express from the Jaipur Gandhinagar station to attend a wedding in Ludhiana. He was accompanied by his wife, 70-yearold elderly mother and four-year-old daughter. “We had booked third AC tickets hoping for a safe journey. At night, when the entire family was sleeping, thieves seemed to have targeted their luggage containing jewellery. The incident came to our knowledge when we deboarded the train at the Ludhiana railway station. We were shocked to see jewellery boxes inside bags lying empty,” he said. The complainant revealed that stolen items include a three tola gold chain and a gold ring, precious diamond tops. According to the current market rate, the value of the stolen jewellery was around Rs 10 lakh. “I belong to a middleclass family. The jewellery made by saving every penny was stolen by thieves. We paid the fare for 3rd AC coach so that we could travel safely but we did not see any security inside the coach. The incident has exposed security claims of the Government Railway Police (GRP) and RPF. If luggage isn’t safe even inside reserved AC coaches, what will be the state of general coaches?”questioned the complainant. The railway police registered a case and launched an investigation. could not afford a lawyer. The Bench trashed the PIL with the warning that any such attempt in future will invite penal and financial consequences. On Monday, the CJI-led Bench trashed five “frivolous” PILs filed by a single lawyer, including one seeking a scientific study on whether onion and garlic contained “tamasic” (negative) energy, and asked if he drafted them in the middle of the night. — PTI Man booked for raping friend, making her obscene videos Ludhiana, March 10 A man after developing friendship with a woman sexually exploited her. He also shot her obscene videos and started blackmailing her. The suspect had also uploaded the videos on social media. Later, the woman filed a police complaint and a case was registered by the police on Monday. The complainant told the police that she had been friends with the suspect for over seven years and they had developed a relationship. However, on January 7, the man forcibly entered her house, raped and threatened to kill her. On her complaint, the police registered a case against Harjinder Singh, accusing him of rape, threatening and circulating obscene videos and photos of her. However, the suspect was yet to be arrested. The woman alleged that when she used to meet the suspect, everything was fine. Now, when she refused to meet him, he started blackmailing her with obscene videos. SI Balbir Singh said a case was filed against Harjinder based on the woman’s complaint. It was being probed. — TNS Man held with illegal SAD committed to turning Khanna, City man crushed to weapon, cartridges Jagraon into districts, says Sukhbir death, bid to project Promises Khanna grain market will be equipped with ultramodern facilities it as mishap foiled Ludhiana, March 10 The Ludhiana police claimed to have nabbed a man and recovered illegal weapon and cartridges from him. The operation was conducted under the supervision of inspector Harpreet Singh Dehal, incharge, special cell, Ludhiana, as part of the ongoing drive against illegal weapons. ADCP (Crime) Amandeep Singh Brar states that under the campaign, a team from the special cell, Ludhiana, apprehended a suspect within the jurisdiction of the PAU police station and recovered a Glock 9mm pistol (with a magazine) and two live rounds (9mm) from his possession. He said on March 9, ASI Bhupinder Singh, along with staff, was conducting a routine checking near Maharaja Nagar close to the Circuit House. Based on confidential information about the possession of the weapon with the accused, a case was registered under various sections of the Arms Act against the man, Simran, a resident of Seera village. The ADCP said following the tip-off, the suspect was apprehended from a Mahindra Thar vehicle (PB02-EP-0404) parked along the PAU boundary wall on the road leading from Saggu Chowk towards Rajpura Chowk. During the search, the police recovered an illegal weapon. — TNS The suspect in Ludhiana police custody on Tuesday. Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 10 Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday announced that if the party forms government in the state, it would give district status to Khanna and Jagraon. Disclosing it while addressing a rally here as part of the party’s Punjab Bachao campaign along with Yadwinder Singh Yadu, the SAD president said: “I am committed to honouring the demand of the people of the area who want their towns to be turned into districts to boost their economies as well as ensure easy redressal of grievances.” The SAD president also announced that the Khanna grain market, which was Asia’s largest, would be modernised. “At present both infrastructure as well as facilities available in the market are not up to the mark”, he said. He also announced that the party if forms the government would raise the commission on wheat and paddy. “It is necessary as once the livelihood of arhtiyas is Sukhbir Badal threatened, farmers too will feel the pinch”, Sukhbir said. Speaking about his vision for the State, he said the SAD was committed to bringing the IT industry to the state in a big way. “We have identified Mohali and Amritsar as cities most suitable for inviting investment in the IT sector. Both have required skill set for establishment of the sector on the lines of Bengaluru and Hyderabad, besides modern infrastructure, including airports,” the SAD president said. He also asserted that the SAD stood for development of border districts of Punjab as well as its Kandi belt. “We feel a special industrial package alone can develop both these regions. Besides benefitting economies in these areas, the new industry will c m y b ensure much needed employment to our youth. We will also ensure that at least 75 per cent of jobs in the new industries are reserved for the Punjabi youth”, he said. Sukhbir also condemned Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for passing disparaging comments against women on the occasion of International Women’s Day. He said it was shocking that a chief minister could indulge in character assassination of women in public at an official function. He also condemned Mann for wasting precious resources amounting to Rs 4,400 crore on pasting his picture across the state as well as the country even as farmers still awaited compensation for crop damage and the poor were being denied social welfare benefits such as Shagun and Aata Dal. He said now this failed government had decided to give Rs 1,000 per month to women for a few months by taking a loan of Rs 52,000 crore and selling government properties. “It is an attempt to purchase votes by offering cash.” He also announced that the next SAD government would eradicate gangsters and drug mafia from the state. “We will bring in legislation to deny bail to gangsters and drug lords and seize their complete properties”. Announcing another priority of the next government, Sukhbir said: “I will not let one drop of industrial or sewerage effluent enter the Sutlej and Beas. Violators will be dealt with sternly. It is absolutely essential to tackle the scourge of cancer in the Malwa belt”. The SAD leader also announced that the party would not allow water to flow into the Rajasthan canal once returns to power. He said the Congress was responsible for handing over Punjab’s waters to Rajasthan and that he was committed to correcting this historic injustice. “All water diverted from the Rajasthan canal will be diverted to the fields of Punjab”. Biba Jasdeep Kaur Yadu, Maheshinder Singh Grewal, Hira Singh Gabria, Gurpreet Singh Raju Khanna, Sarabjit Singh Jhinjar, Paramjit Singh Dhillon and Jaspal Singh Bittu Chatha were among others who spoke on the occasion. Abohar, March 10 A Ludhiana man was brutally murdered over a love affair in Hanumangarh. Suspects attempted to portray the incident as a road accident but a swift police investigation found that it was a murder. The police have registered a case and named five individuals. The main suspect has been arrested. Police inspector Hansraj Luna said Jaspal Singh, alias Pala Singh (40), the main suspect in the murder of Shishpal Singh (42), had been arrested. Shishpal’s brother Vinod Singh (50) filed a report at the police station, naming Ratan Singh, Lakhbir Singh, their father Mauj Singh and Veer Singh, in the case, in addition to Jaspal. Probe into the case revealed that the deceased and his brother Vinod were residents of Rajguru Nagar, here. They also owned agricultural land in Chak 5-GGR village in Hanumangarh. Shishpal had reportedly left his wife a long time ago. Meanwhile, Jaspal’s wife had allegedly developed an affair with Shishpal a few months ago. According to the police, Key suspect nabbed in Hanumangarh, 4 at large Shishpal was returning on his motorcycle after dropping off a friend, Mahavir, at a nearby village on Sunday afternoon. The suspects were already waiting near Chak 5 GGR village. They intercepted Shishpal and brutally beat him with sticks and iron rods. Afterwards, they allegedly crushed him under a tractor tyre. On receiving information, the police reached the scene. Shishpal, who was lying under a tractor tyre, was pulled out, but he died on the spot. Police sources said the suspects had attempted to project the incident as an accident by portraying it as a collision between a tractor and a bike. However, injuries on Shishpal’s body and other evidence made it clear that it was a murder. The reason behind the crime was Shishpal’s illicit affair with Jaspal’s wife. The police station in-charge said Shishpal’s body was handed over to his family after autopsy. Jaspal was arrested. The search for the remaining four suspects was on. — OC