04042026-TTB-01.qxd 04-04-2026 00:21 Page 1 c m y b 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 146 NO. 92 | 22 PAGES | ~7.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881  DELHI TN POLL: ANNAMALAI’S NAME NOT IN LIST OF 27 BJP CANDIDATES NATION /thetribunechd ARTEMIS II ASTRONAUTS ROCKET TOWARDS MOON DAY AFTER LIFTOFF WORLD NICHOLAS’ MAA KA SUM: RUSSIA OFFERS TO SCALE MISCALCULATED SERIES UP CRUDE OIL SUPPLIES OF ERRORS REVIEW TO INDIA BACK PAGE saturday | 4 april 2026 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Trump says big destructionyet to start as Iran shoots down US jet One of two pilots rescued| Opening Hormuz no big deal, claims Washington Tribune News Service INS Aridhaman, the indigenous nuclear-powered submarine that was commissioned on Friday. PTI India inducts 3rd indigenous nuclear sub, joins elite group Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 3 India on Friday commissioned its third indigenous nuclear-powered and ballistic missile-carrying submarine, INS Aridhaman. In naval parlance, such submarines are called ‘ship submersible ballistic nuclear’ (SSNB). India has already inducted two such submarines — INS Arihant and INS Arighaat — in 2016 and 2024, respectively. The series of these vessels is called the ‘Arihant class’. NOW, SUFFICIENT VESSELS FOR CRITICAL POSTURE ■ With the induction of INS Arid- haman, India now has the requisite number of submarines to maintain a “continuous atsea deterrent” posture ■ This positions India as the only country apart from China, France, Russia, the UK and the US to have this ability INS Aridhaman and its sister submarines — INS Arihant and INS Arighaat — are nuclear-powered and can remain submerged under water for weeks at a stretch. India’s nuclear doctrine rules out a ‘first strike’; however, to carry out a retaliatory strike, an SSBN submerged under water is considered the best option. Analysts say India now has the requisite number of submarines to maintain a “continuous at-sea deterrent” posture with at least one SSBN on armed patrol at all times. This will position India as the only country apart from China, France, Russia, the UK and the US — the five permanent members continued on page 6 New Delhi, April 3 A US fighter jet was shot down over Iran even as US President Donald Trump said the US “hasn’t even started destroying what’s left in Iran”. One of the two pilots of the downed jet had been rescued by the US forces, CBS News reported on Friday, citing two US officials. Trump’s comments came hours after an under-construction civilian road bridge was damaged near Tehran, killing eight. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, responding to Trump’s threat to send Iran “back to the Stone Age,” called it an admission of intent to commit a “massive war crime”. “This was the question I asked my Finnish counterpart, who is a jurist,” he said, referring to Alexander Stubb. “History is full of those who paid a heavy price for their silence in the face of criminals,” he said. An Iranian capture of a US pilot could be a turning point in the war and bad optics for Trump. Iranian media said the downed jet was an F-35. continued on page 6 L-G orders probe into encounter of ‘terrorist’ in Valley SRINAGAR: With the Ganderbal encounter snowballing into a major controversy after the family of the deceased denied his alleged terror links, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday ordered a “thorough and impartial” magisterial probe into the incident. INSIDE CBI to approach SC against relief to Hooda in AJL case CHANDIGARH: The CBI will file a special leave petition in the Supreme Court, challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s order discharging former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Associated Journals Limited (AJL) in a plot re-allotment case. INSIDE A bridge damaged by a strike in Iran’s Karaj amid the Arab nation’s conflict with the US and Israel. REUTERS Iranian oil ship drops India, heads to China Ujwal Jalali Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 3 An Iranian crude-carrying tanker that had been en route to India for the past three days has abruptly dropped its Indian destination near arrival and 3 Indian LPG vessels move through Hormuz is now signalling China, raising fresh uncertainty over a potential resumption of oil trade between New Delhi and Tehran. Ship-tracking data showed that tanker “Ping Shun”, which had earlier indicated Vadinar port in Gujarat as its destination, is now signalling Dongying in China’s Shandong continued on page 6 UN vote on Hormuz resolution today; Indiaforfreetransit NEW DELHI: The United Nations Security Council is set to vote on Saturday on a Bahrain-led draft resolution aimed at ensuring uninterrupted navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, with India reiterating support for free sea movement. INSIDE CBI books firm directors, Silenced,notdefeated:ChadhaslamsAAP Raghav Chadha episode private doctors in Chd, Party terms move against Rajya Sabha MP routine disciplinary action signals beginning of AAP’s He’s compromised, doesn’t end in Punjab, says Jakhar Mohali for ECHS fraud Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Chandigarh, April 3 In a massive crackdown on organised healthcare corruption, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has unearthed a multi-crore fraud targeting the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS). The agency has booked directors of a healthcare firm and doctors of several leading private super-specialty hospitals for allegedly siphoning off government funds through fabricated medical claims. The CBI has conducted searches across Chandigarh and Mohali, unearthing crucial evidence pointing to an organised network. According to a senior CBI official privy to the ongoing investigation, who spoke exclusively to The Tribune on Friday, the case has been registered at Chandigarh for large-scale irregularities in ECHS claims. Those named in the FIR include Dr Vikas Sharma and Dr Rimple Gupta, both directors of Manthan Health Care, Sector 38, Chandigarh; Manthan Health Care; Dharam Hospital Pvt Ltd, Sector 15, Chandigarh; Kare Partner Heart Centre, Sector 19, Chandigarh; Manjeet Singh and Parveen Kumar, both bill clerks at Kare Partner Heart Centre and Manthan Health Care; and unknown officials of ECHS polyclinics and regional centre. The FIR, a copy of which is with The Tribune, also notes that the role of other leading hospitals — Amar Hospital, Shalby Hospital, 1H Plus Med Park Hospital in Mohali and Eden Critical Care Hospital in Chandigarh — besides several public servants will be examined during the course of the FAKE RECORDS, INFLATED BILLS ■ Raids by CBI officials have exposed a well-organised medical billing fraud network in several leading private super-specialty hospitals to siphon off government funds ■ Accused allegedly misused emergency admission provisions, manipulated referral systems, fabricated medical records and inflated treatment and pharmacy bills investigation. The FIR has been registered under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating) and 471 (using forged documents) of the IPC, read with relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with Sections 13(2) read with 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The case stems from credible source information received by the CBI on February 23, 2026, indicating systematic manipulation of ECHS reimbursement processes between 2018 and 2026. Acting on this, the agency conducted a joint surprise check on February 24 at Manthan Health Care and Dharam Hospital in the presence of ECHS vigilance officials. The complaint details reveal that the accused allegedly operated a well-organised fraud mechanism by misusing emergency admission provisions, manipulating referral systems, fabricating medical and diagnostic records and inflating treatment and pharmacy bills to siphon off government funds. Investigations so far indicate that Manthan Health Care despite not being empanelled under ECHS was allegedly operating in collusion with empanelled hospitals. The ECHS desk of Dharam Hospital continued on page 6 NewDelhi, April 3 A day after he was removed as deputy leader of the Aam Aadmi Party in the Rajya Sabha, Raghav Chadha issued a video statement saying he could be silenced but not defeated. The video was closely followed by statements from AAP leaders — from Punjab CM Bhagwant Singh Mann to Saurabh Bhardwaj, who accused Chadha of practising “politics of fear, and not questioning the ruling BJP and PM Narendra Modi on key issues, including the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls. Chadha earlier today asked why AAP wanted to silence him and if it was a sin to raise people’s issues such as expensive food at airports, problems of gig workers and food adulteration. “What harm has these issues done to AAP asked Chadha, ,” saying his silence shouldn’t be THE TRIBUNE INTERVIEW toeparty line, says CMMann Aditi Tandon Ruchika M Khanna Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Raghav Chadha seen as a defeat. “I am a river that can unleash fury when time comes,” he said. Bhardwaj countered Chadha, saying parties had limited time in Parliament where burning issues of the day were more important than raising issues of “samosas”. “Your soft issues do not bother the BJP . The ruling party has been supporting you on social media since yesterday,” Bhardwaj, AAP’s Delhi incharge, said a continued on page 6 edit: aap infighting Chandigarh, April 3 After being removed as the deputy leader of AAP in the Rajya Sabha and accusing his own party of trying to muzzle his voice, Raghav Chadha received a sharp rebuke from Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who said Chadha was “compromised”. Once the blue-eyed boy of AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal, Chadha today found himself abandoned by his party and its leaders, who questioned his unwillingness to toe the party line in Parliament and his “growing proximity” to the BJP . Mann, when asked about Chadha’s claims that he had done no wrong, said his political affiliations “were under a EXODUS OF KEY LEADERS ■ Chadha joins the ranks of another Rajya Sabha MP Swati , Maliwal, who had rebelled against the leadership ■ Prominent AAP exits over the years are founding members Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan and Shanti Bhushan (now deceased), Kumar Vishwas, and journalists Ashutosh, Ashish Khetan and Shazia Ilmi ■ Punjab leaders who have quit AAP are Sumail Singh Sidhu, Sucha S Chottepur, Gurpreet Singh Ghuggi, Dr Dharamvira Gandhi and HS Phoolka cloud”. “He did not raise important issues in Parliament where the party had taken a certain political line. Instead, he was speaking about overpriced samosas at continued on page 6 New Delhi, April 3 Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar on Friday said the Raghav Chadha episode signalled the beginning of the end for the ruling Aam Aadmi Party in the state and the countdown for AAP’s extinction as a recognised party had begun. In an exclusive interview with The Tribune today, Jakhar said Punjab had made up its mind for “swaraj” (selfrule) in 2027 and would no longer be ruled by Arvind Kejriwal and his people. “In 2027, Punjab will choose a leader who is its own,” Jakhar said, framing AAP as a party led by outsiders. Asked to comment on conjectures that Raghav, whom AAP has replaced as the Rajya Sabha deputy leader, was LPG shortage fuels crisis as migrants head back home Deepkamal Kaur,Shivani Bhakoo & Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service Jalandhar/Ludhiana/ Amritsar, April 3 Neither elections back home nor any pandemic, this time it is the unavailability of LPG cylinders that is forcing migrant labourers to pack their belongings and return to their native places in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The problem of cooking gas availability, which is worsening with each passing day, is being felt by the migrant labour population across Punjab cities, including Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar. A majority of these workers are employed in construction companies, small factories, eateries and as domestic help. Narinder S Sagoo, presi- Migrants rely on small LPG cylinders, which were earlier available in the open market. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN dent of the Focal Point Association, Jalandhar, said, “Most of our workers have pointed out that they have regular gas connections back home in their respective states. Here, they have been relying on small cylinders that were earlier available in the open market. Now, they say things are Today’s issue is of 22 pages, including four-page Delhi Tribune. c m y b becoming more difficult with each passing day.” Sagoo said they could not convince at least 20 per cent of their workforce to stay back despite assuring them of all possible help. A cross-section of migrant workers said they were not being allowed to use firewood either at their workplace or at their residences, making cooking difficult. Kuldeep Kumar, a migrant from Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh working at a crockery store in Ludhiana, said, “I am unable to get a refill for a small cylinder in the open market. I am now cooking on firewood collected from under trees. At the same time, I know many people from my hometown who are not allowed to use firewood in their compounds.” World MSME Forum president Badish Jindal, however, said a large number of labourers returned home continued on page 6 MANAS RANJAN BHUI Nitin Jain Sunil Jakhar, Punjab BJP president headed for the BJP Jakhar , quipped, “This is a case of jaane naa jaane gul hi na jaane baag toh saara jaane hai...this was quite clear from the time Raghav flew off to London for a so-called eye surgery and took a while to return.” The Punjab BJP chief added that the Raghav episode merely signalled the beginning of the end of AAP . continued on page 6 Earthquakeshakes Delhi-NCR, several parts of North India NEW DELHI: Earthquake tremors were felt in several parts of North India on Friday night, including Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Haryana, officials said. The tremors, which lasted a few seconds, occurred around 9.45 pm. There were no immediate reports of any damage. The epicentre of the 5.9-magnitude earthquake was in Afghanistan at a depth of 175 km. Delhi is located in the high-risk zone IV, which has fairly high seismicity where the general occurrence of earthquakes is of 5-6 magnitude, a few of magnitude 6-7 and occasionally of 7-8 magnitude. Last month, there was a mild earthquake in Leh. — TNS