07042026-LT-01.qxd 07-04-2026 00:46 Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune ILLEGAL DRUG DE-ADDICTION CENTRE BUSTED, 22 RESCUED WHEN POP MUSIC MEETS PURPOSE, DETERMINATION Rescued inmates were shifted to de-addiction facility at Civil Hospital, Jagraon, the police said. P2 CHANDIGARH-BASED LABEL IBAI CHAMPIONS FASHION Singer-actor Ipsitaa moves beyond pop hitstotacklegenderinequality,embracing risk, reinvention and purpose. P4 » Fashion label Ibai at House-75, Sec 2, Chandigarh, offers intricate Jamdani to airy Chanderi and bold Ikat. P4 » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 32°C | MIN 16°C YESTERDAY MAX 32°C | MIN 15°C SUNSET TUESDAY 6.44 PM SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 6:04 AM TUESDAY | 7 APRIL 2026 | LUDHIANA Common man feels heat as eateries, tea stalls hike prices due to LPG crisis Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 6 The common man seems to be badly affected due to the ongoing US-Iran-Israel war. Amid the LPG crisis, which the district administration claims to have stabilised to a great extent, dhaba owners and tea vendors have increased prices of various items, putting a dent in the monthly budget of people, especially daily wagers who visit small dhabas or tea stalls. Many dhabas and tea vends in the city have increased the rates of dishes, chapatis and tea due to the shortage of LPG. Raju, who is running a tea stall near AC Market, said he was selling tea at Rs 10 per cup but since LPG was not easily available, he had to shell out double the amount to get his cylinder refilled. Hence, he has increased the rate to Rs 15 per cup. “I am getting a cylinder in black for Migrant daily wagers among worst affected A man makes chapatis at a dhaba in Ludhiana. TRIBUNE PHOTO: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN Rs 2,000, which was not more than Rs 900 in the past. How will I survive if I don’t increase prices,” he asks. As dhaba operators have increased rates of chapatis and dishes, the worst affected are daily wagers, who have to visit dhabas for survival. “Most of the migrant workers visit small dhabas to have food but they have increased Rs 20-30 on an item. Earlier, meals were available for Rs 60-70 but now I am paying Rs 85-90 for the same. For a daily wager like me, having food at such prices is difficult,” said Chandan Kumar, a daily wager. The owner of Rishi Dhaba, Gurpreet Singh, said around 25 per cent of the dhaba owners had increased rates as they were not able to sustain. “We also had been cutting menu items due to the nonavailability of the LPG. But now, there is improvement in demand and supply of commercial cylinders. We are switching over to the previous elaborated menu”, he said. Vishal, another daily wager, said those visiting expensive restaurants and hostels could afford the hike but for people like him who visit dhabas for their survival, increase in rates of chapatis and curries is too much. Man gives free LPG cylinders to needy on son’s birthday Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 6 Amid the ongoing LPG shortage that has left many poor migrant families in the city struggling for the cooking gas and even contemplating return to their native villages, a social worker from Ludhiana came to their rescue. Rakesh Jain, a medicine trader and also founder of Bhagwan Mahavir Sewa Sansthan, has stepped forward with a helping hand. He distributed free LPG cylinders on Tuesday to 11 selected families who are either preparing to leave the city or rendered helpless due to the unavailability of the gas. Jain decided to undertake the initiative on the occasion of his son Divyansh Jain’s birthday. The gesture aims to bring some relief and smiles to faces of these families, who form the backbone of Ludhiana’s industrial workforce. With wood and cow dung cakes now being sold at black-market rates, daily life has become Migrants with free LPG cylinders in Ludhiana. ASHWANI DHIMAN difficult for such families. “These workers are the real strength of our industry. If they start migrating in large numbers due to the crisis, it will severely affect the industrial ecosystem,” he said. Under the initiative, the 11 families received free LPG cylinders at Jain Sthanak, Civil Lines. Renu Devi, a migrant from Bihar, said due to the shortage of LPG, they were forced to cook food on wood-fired stove but with the initiative, at least they could now cook food with LPG. Another migrant woman, Priyanka, said their landlord was not allowing them to use traditional chulah to cook food and they were planning to return to Bihar, but now they got a free cylinder. Now, they are not leaving the city. Arjun Singh, sales manager, Ludhiana Indane Gas company, said anyone could get the 5kg cylinder refilled at the Indane agency and cylinder registration passbook was also not required for the same. Malerkotla Judicial Complex gets bomb threat Speeding car crashes into poles, Mahesh Sharma Malerkotla, April 6 The Malerkotla Judicial Complex received a bomb threat email on Monday afternoon. Though the official work was disrupted for the day, the district police, led by SSP Gagan Ajit Singh, and personnel at the court, cordoned-off the complex and held an intensive screening of almost all parts of premises. Malerkotla DSP Manavjit Singh Sidhu said an email threatening a bomb blast at the judicial complex was received, following which alert was sounded. damages vehicle in Model Town “Having received information about the threat we reached the complex and got it vacated in a systematic manner,” said Sidhu, claiming that no objectionable item was received during the operation. Anti-sabotage teams, bomb squad and dog squad were deployed during the operation, he said. The DSP appreciated lawyers for facilitating the eviction process launched by the police. Two-wheeler rider killed, two injured in another accident in Sherpur Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Police personnel during a search operation at the Judicial Complex in Malerkotla on Monday. >> Woman found hanging in Jagraon Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 6 The body of a woman was found hanging near the FCI godown in Jagraon here on Monday. A case was registered against her alleged live-in partner on the charge of abetment to suicide. The deceased was identi- fied as 45-year-old Phoolwanti. Station House Officer ( SHO), Jagraon city police station, inspector Parminder Singh, said the deceased was allegedly staying with her live-in partner for the past five years while her husband was staying separately. The woman ended her life after she had a fight with her live-in partner. The suspect is at large in the case. Investigation is on to trace the live-in partner of the victim. Ludhiana, April 6 A speeding Nissan Sunny car caused significant damages in the Pritam Nagar area of Model Town late on Sunday night after it crashed into multiple electricity poles and a parked Mercedes Benz. According to eyewitnesses, the incident occurred when the car, driven by a young woman, entered the locality at a high speed. The driver initially lost control over the vehicle and rammed it into an electricity pole supporting a transformer. Instead of stopping, the driver sped up in an attempt to flee the scene. However, about 100 metres ahead, the car again went out of control, crashing into two other electricity poles before finally coming to a halt after colliding with a Mercedes Benz car parked outside a house. The impact of the collision was so severe that it damaged electricity poles, causing a power outage in the entire area. Local The car that rammed into the poles at Model Town. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN residents reportedly heard a loud bang and saw sparks coming from the damaged poles. The owner of the Mercedes Benz, Arshdeep, said his family was inside the house when they heard the loud sound. Upon rushing outside, they saw Sunny car that hit the electricity poles and their vehicle, which was badly damaged. He claimed that two girls and a young man were travelling in the car and one of the girls was driving. They managed to flee the scene as crowd started gathering. Teams from the Electricity Department and the Model Town police station reached the scene shortly after receiving information. The police have impounded Sunny vehicle and recovered two mobile phones and a purse from it. A probe into the matter is underway. In another mishap, a road accident occurred near Oswal Cancer Hospital, Sherpur, claiming the life of a 43-yearold two-wheeler rider and leaving two others seriously injured. The deceased has been identified as Vijay Masih, a resident of Ghati Mohalla. The accident occurred when the two-wheeler rider lost control over the vehicle and it rammed into a truck. The police shifted the injured to a nearby hospital with the help of passers-by. The body of the deceased was sent to the Civil Hospital for an autopsy. Kush, a relative of the deceased, said Vijay was his aunt’s son and the father of two sons. He supported his family by selling bedsheets in streets. ASI Subhash said the accident was caused when the two-wheeler went out of control and rammed into the truck, resulting in Vijay’s death and inflicting critical injuries on his two friends, who are undergoing treatment at a private hospital. Meanwhile, the truck driver has been taken into custody. Exporters anxious as orders being cancelled due to war Woman, father booked on ~44L fraud charge Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 6 The impact of the Israel-Iran conflict has started affecting all countries and India is no exception. The biggest impact is on exporters who are fearful and anxious about the future of their shipments worth crores. Goods they have sent are not reaching their destinations and orders from the other side have come to a halt, causing trouble to them. In the industrial city, where various industries are located, the businessmen are saying that their exports have been severely affected by the ongoing conflict. Talking to The Tribune, Vikas Jain, who exports garments to countries such as the UAE, Oman and Qatar, Situation grim as goods not reaching destinations said it was a grim situation as everything was halted for the time being. “The freight which was 400 US dollars per container had risen to 5,000 US dollars. We are under constant fear as the war has started showing its impact”, he said. Pankaj Sharma, president, Association of Trade and Industrial Undertakings (ATIU), convened a meeting of the exporters wing of the ATIU and said the exporters, particularly those dealing in engineering goods, hosiery and garments, highlighted multiple challenges affecting their operations. He said: “They have reported widespread can- cellation of export orders due to weakening global demand, along with delays and suspension of payments from overseas buyers. Adding to their distress, a sharp increase in raw material prices within the country has made production increasingly unviable”. Vijay Sharma, MD, FAS International, and head of the export unit of the ATIU, said: “The lack of remittances from customers and absence of support from financial institutions have made it difficult for exporters to sustain and plan operations.” He further elaborated that shipments routed through the Strait of Hormuz—covering key destinations such as Dubai, Dammam, Riyadh, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Iraq — have been severely disrupted. Cargo is being diverted to smaller ports such as Sohar, Fujairah and Khor Al Fakkan, leading to heavy congestion. In several cases, shipping lines have arbitrarily offloaded cargo at ports such as Chennai and Hong Kong, issuing ‘End of Voyage’ notices, leaving exporters stranded without logistical clarity. The exporters from the city also raised serious concerns over arbitrary and excessive charges imposed by shipping lines, ranging between USD 2,000 to USD 6,000 per container, further escalating their financial burden. Rakesh Kapoor, MD, Paramount Impex, said: “We are left with no alternative but to bear these unjustified costs as buyers are already looking c m y b for reasons to cancel orders due to restrictions imposed by shipping lines.” The former CII chairman, Rahul Ahuja, said shipments to Iran, Egypt and UAE were held up. Orders are not coming from Europe and West Asia and the input costs have gone high. Another leading garment exporters, Madhur Gupta of Madhur Impex and Rajesh Gupta of National Yarns, pointed out that the current disruption has created a preCovid-like situation, which could derail business momentum. They cautioned that such instability is likely to shake the confidence of foreign buyers, leading to long-term adverse effects on export relationships. Pranav Chadha, MD, BAUM Tools and a recog- nised star exporter, emphasised the urgent need for government support, stating that the situation demands immediate relief measures to safeguard the export sector. Many units may not survive: Bizman Indermohan Singh, director, Turbo Tools, a leading exporter of engineering goods to the UAE, warned that if the current situation persists for a few more weeks, many units might not survive. Pankaj Sharma said ATIU had formally written to the Ministry of Commerce, urging immediate intervention and relief measures for exporters, keeping in view the prolonged uncertainty and severity of the crisis. Ludhiana, April 6 The Sadar Jagraon police registered a case against a woman and her father on the charges of committing a fraud of Rs 44 lakh with a man on the pretext of taking the complainant to Canada after marriage. The victim borne the entire expenses of sending the woman to Canada and she had assured that she would call him to Canada after reaching there but the suspect failed to fulfil her promise. The suspects were identified as Jashanpreet Kaur and her father Sohan Singh of Hissowal. Ramandeep Singh of Sidhwan Khurd in a complaint to the police stated that to send Jashanpreet Kaur to Canada, he spent Rs 44 lakh from his own pocket. After reaching Canada, the woman did not pursue the case to arrange visa for him. Instead she and her father started issuing threats to him. Feeling cheated, he lodged a police complaint. He said a DSP rank official conducted a probe into the matter and even sought approval from the DA (Legal). Later, the SSP Ludhiana (rural), ordered registration of a case against them. — TNS