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P4 » FORECAST SUNRISE SATURDAY 5:46 AM » FRIDAY | 24 APRIL 2026 | LUDHIANA Factory worker beaten to death Man gets life imprisonment for killing father at Lakha village by colleague at Sandhu Nagar Rajneesh Lakhanpal Hailing from same village in UP, victim helped accused get job a month ago Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 23 A worker at a hosiery factory in Sandhu Nagar here was killed by his colleague by hitting him with an iron stool. The police detained the suspect and launched an investigation. The deceased has been identified as Dharmender, who had been working there for the past few years. The factory owner said she received a call from the contractor, Rahul, around 2:30 am. He informed her that a fight had broken out between workers staying at the factory and Dharmender was in a critical condition. Later, the police and ambulance service were called. The victim was taken to the Civil Hospital, where doctors declared him dead. It is being reported that the accused youth was like a family member to the deceased as both were from the same vil- The factory at Sandhu Nagar, Ludhiana, where the worker was murdered. PHOTO: INDERJEET VERMA lage in Uttar Pradesh. Dharmender had brought him to work at the factory about a month ago. The factory owner said the two persons had an argument at night, after which the accused struck Dharmender on the head with a stool. Summer shade Around six persons work there during the day but only the two persons used to stay at the factory at night. Dharmender was survived by his wife and a fouryear-old daughter, who stay in Lucknow. The police checked the footage from CCTV cameras installed outside the factory to ascertain if anyone else was with the accused during the incident. SHO, Haibowal, Krishan Kumar, said the accused and deceased were drunk when they initially had arguments over some issue and in no time, the arguments took a ghastly turn and Dharmender was brutally assaulted. “So far, the accused was not arrested in the case. He is being detained. Family members of the deceased would first record their statements and further action would be taken accordingly,” he said. Ludhiana, April 23 The Court of Additional Sessions Judge Dr Rajneesh has convicted Karam Singh, alias Nikka, a resident of Hathur village, for killing his father and sentenced him to undergo life imprisonment. Delivering the verdict, the court held that the prosecution successfully proved the charges against the accused. A fine of Rs 25,000 was also imposed on the convict. The FIR was lodged on the basis of the statement of the complainant, Davinder Singh, alias Manga, brother of the accused and son of the deceased, on July 12, 2022, at Hathur police station. In his statement recorded on July 12, 2022, the complainant alleged that the accused had a history of violent behaviour in the family. He said Karam had earlier allegedly assaulted their mother, Paramjit Kaur, leading to her death in 2021. Though a criminal case had been registered in the matter, he was later acquitted. The complainant further stated that the accused frequently picked quarrels Accused was earlier booked for causing death of mother but acquitted with him and their father, creating an atmosphere of fear in the house. According to the case, the tragic incident occurred on the night of July 11, 2022, around 9:30 PM, when the complainant was present at the house of the accused and their father, Jagrup Singh, alias Jupa, at Lakha village. At that time, the accused was playing loud music. When his father objected and asked him to stop the music and go to sleep, the accused became enraged. An altercation ensued, during which Karam picked up a heavy wooden pestle, used for grinding spices, and attempted to assault his father. Fearing for his life, Jagrup ran out of the house Five of gang nabbed for seeking ~50L extortion from sarpanch Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service As temperature hovers around 40°C in Ludhiana, girls cover themselves to escape blistering heat. PHOTO: ASHWANI DHIMAN Ludhiana, April 23 The Samrala police claimed to have solved an extortion case with the arrest of five members of a gang that demanded Rs 50 lakh extortion from a village sarpanch. Pritpal Singh, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), sub-division, Samrala, said on April 18, Baljit Singh, a resident of Manjali Kalan village in Samrala, received a threat call on his mobile. The caller threatened him to shoot him and demanded an extortion of Rs 50 lakh. Acting on the complaint, a case was registered and further investigation was launched. The DSP said while carry- ing out the investigation in the case, Nirmal Singh, a resident of Chhota Surtanpur village, Chamkaur Sahib, and Rani, also from the same village, were arrested and booked in the case. After thorough interrogation of the two suspects, it came to light that Nirmal had given a SIM card and mobile phone in his name to Kaku, a resident of Mohalla Harkrishan Vihar, Ludhiana, after which the latter was booked in the case and arrested. Man sets father-in-law’s house on fire 4 schools receive bomb threat emails, turn hoax Ludhiana, April 23 A shocking incident has come to light at Baba Nand Singh Nagar in Ayali Kalan, here, where a family dispute escalated to the point that a man allegedly set his fatherin-law’s house on fire after pouring diesel. The fire resulted in the destruction of valuable household items. On receiving information, the Sarabha Nagar police took swift action and arrested the suspect. The complainant, Rajkumar Shukla, informed the police that his daughter, Aarti, was married to Ashish Tiwari. Shortly after the marriage, he began misbehaving with her and other members of his in-laws’ family. The complainant said they were away from home when the incident occurred on April 22. He was alerted by his wife, Sangeeta, who informed him about the fire incident over the phone. — TNS Ludhiana, April 23 Panic spread in the city on Thursday as four schools received bomb threat emails. As the school management passed on the information to the Ludhiana police, anti-sabotage checking was started. Taking precautionary measures, school managements had informed the parents to pick wards from schools immediately without mentioning any reason to the latter. The schools which recieved threatening emails are Spring Dale Public School, Sherpur Chowk, DAV Public School, BRS Nagar, Manav Rachna School, Dugri, and Podar International School, Ishar Nagar. The threatening emails also mentioned about the proposed blackout on April 24. “Do not send your children to schools on April 24 as there will be blasts in schools of Ludhiana, Amritsar, Bathinda and Ferozepur. Also avoid Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Parents wait outside a school to receive their wards in Ludhiana. ASHWANI DHIMAN travelling in trains as IED blasts would blow away trains as well,” the threatening email stated. On March 10, as many as 10 schools in Ludhiana had received similar bomb threatening emails. Even on February 10, 16 schools in Mohali had received such threats. Commissioner of Police Swapan Sharma said police c m y b teams were conducting necessary checkings at all schools and so far nothing such as explosives recovered. Meanwhile, the police investigation was launched to check the source of the email. ASI Ajmer Singh from the Moti Nagar police station said: “We received information at 10 am. Bomb squads were conducting a search at Spring Dale School. There is also a railway track near the school, which is also being searched.” Anil Sharma, principal of Spring Dale Public School, said the school received an email threat around 9:15 am. The email threatened to blow up the school. Later, the school management informed parents of all students. He said it was the first time that the school had received such a threat, creating an atmosphere of fear among staff and parents. The school management handed over the ID of the threatening email to the police for investigation. Emails were received after which the police team has checked the schools and no issues had been reported, said DC Himanshu Jain. He said during interrogation of Kaku, it came to light that he had given the phone and SIM card to Sharif Ali, a resident of Bandewala village, Ropar district, and Hardeep Singh, alias Azad Baba, a resident of Manjali Kalan village, Samrala, after which Sharif and Hardeep had called Baljit Singh and threatened him to extort Rs 50 lakh and shoot him. They were named in the case and arrested. The DSP claimed that Sharif and Hardeep were also involved in the firing at the commission agent’s shop in the Payal’s grain market on April 14. Indepth interrogation of the suspects was underway and more important revelations were expected. Auto dealer gets ~1-crore extortion call Ludhiana, April 23 A city-based automobile dealer received a death threat and an extortion demand of Rs 1 crore from an international phone number. The victim, Rakesh Kumar of Guru Angad Dev Colony, Janta Nagar, runs a luxury car sale-and-purchase business on Gill Road. As per the complainant, he received a call from a foreign number (+351-927361380) on his mobile. The caller, identifying himself as a member of a notorious criminal gang, allegedly threatened to eliminate him if he failed to pay Rs 1 crore as “protection money”. Panicked by the threat, the businessman approached the police to report the matter. The Shimlapuri police have registered a case. “We are taking the matter seriously. Our cyber cell and technical experts are tracing call details to identify the caller,” a senior police official said. — TNS into the street. However, the accused chased him and caught him outside. Thereafter, he repeatedly struck his father on the head with the pestle with the intention of killing him. The forceful blows caused severe head injuries, resulting in profuse bleeding. Jagrup collapsed on the spot and succumbed to his injuries. During the course of investigation, the police collected substantial evidence, including eyewitness accounts, medical evidence and other circumstantial material linking the accused to the crime. The weapon of offence was also recovered. The prosecution examined several witnesses to establish the chain of events and prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt. The court observed that the nature of injuries and the manner of assault clearly established the intention of the convict to cause death. Consequently, the accused was held guilty of committing the murder of his father. BJP leader, kin booked for assaulting man Ludhiana, April 23 In Ludhiana, BJP councillor Mukesh Khatri and his brother Bunty Khatri were accused of entering a house and attacking the owner. The complainant alleged that the BJP leader was under the influence of alcohol. The victim had filed a complaint with the Police Division 2. After investigating the matter, the police registered a case and started further investigation. The complainant, Laxman Singh, a resident of Prem Nagar, told the police that the wife of his cousin Surinder Singh had left for her parents’ home in anger. They were planning to go to bring her back on Wednesday. On the morning of April 21, he was at the cousin’s house discussing the matter. Meanwhile, his neighbour, Mukesh Khatri, came and said the woman would not return, make any number of attempts. Mukesh was allegedly drunk, which led to an altercation. The victim alleged that Mukesh then assaulted him. Meanwhile, his brother, Bunty Khatri, also came and began assaulting him. The suspects also removed his turban and pulled his hair. They threatened to kill him before fleeing the scene. — TNS Three-yr-old gets burn injuries Ludhiana, April 23 A three-year-old girl suffered burn injuries after she accidentally set herself ablaze. She was said to be playing with a match box at her house in Chandar Nagar when the incident occurred. Sources said the child was wearing a nylon frock which caught fire when she was playing with the match box. Her father Satpal said when he was dousing the flames, his hands got burns. The girl suffered 60 per cent burn injuries and was undergoing treatment at the Civil Hospital. — TNS