02052026-LT-01.qxd 5/1/2026 11:23 PM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune LESS THAN 4,000 COPS KEEP VIGIL IN CITY AS TEMPERATURES SOAR, PEOPLE TURN TO LASSI FOR RESPITE GIPPY GREWAL WINS BEST DIRECTOR FOR AKAAL Less than 4,000 personnel of the rank of inspector and below are maintaining law & order in state’s most populous city. P2 With temperatures hovering around 42°C, locals feel drained amid sweltering heat & are turning to lassi & shikanji for respite. P3 Gippy bagged the Best Director honour at the Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival for Akaal —The Unconquered. P4 » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 37°C | MIN 21°C YESTERDAY MAX 35°C | MIN 20°C SUNSET SATURDAY 7.06 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 5.40 AM » SATURDAY | 2 MAY 2026 | LUDHIANA Khanna, May 1 Two bike-borne assailants, with masked faces fired on shutters of closed Prem Vaishno Dhaba, near Lalheri Chowk, whose owners had earlier received Rs 50 lakh extortion call from a gang, led by elusive Shaganpreet, former manager of Sidhu Moosewala. Though the police are yet to divulge details of the sequence of events leading to today’s firing, a probe has been initiated to identify accused involved in the incident. Scooter mechanic Ashok Kumar informed the police that two bike-borne accused visited Prem Vaishno Dhaba to spread panic by firing on closed shutters of the eatery around 6.30 am on Friday. “While one of the accused stayed on his bike, the other went near dhaba and fired four shots on its closed shutters,” said Ashok, adding that miscreants fled towards Lalheri Road after the incident. Senior police officials under Khanna SSP Dr Darpan Ahluwalia have initiated a probe to identify the accused. — OC identifies 142 low-lying areas, Infra work triggers prolonged MCJune 30 deadline for desilting sets power outages across city Sukhpreet Singh Tribune News Service Manav Mander Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 1 Large parts of Ludhiana reeled under extended electricity cuts today, leaving residents and institutions struggling to cope with power disruption. Areas around BRS Nagar, Sarabha Nagar, Civil Lines and Ferozepur Road remained without power for several hours, first in the morning and then again in the afternoon. The first outage lasted for two hours in the morning, followed by another prolonged cut from 2 pm to 6 pm, severely affecting daily life. Even the district courts were plunged into darkness at 1.15 pm, hampering judicial work and forcing lawyers and staff to wait for restoration of power. “Court proceedings were stalled midway. Important hearings had to be delayed and clients were left waiting. Such interruptions affect Malerkotla man held with seven stolen motorcycles Mandi Ahmedgarh, May 1 The police claimed to have arrested kingpin of a gang which is involved in stealing bikes. Seven motorcycles were recovered from accused identified as Safi Mohammad Saibi of Matoi village in Malerkotla district. Malerkotla Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Gagan Ajit Singh informed that the police received a tip-off about miscreants involved in steal- ing two-wheelers parked outside residential and commercial establishments. The SSP further stated that Ahmedgarh DSP Sukhdev Singh Brar and Sadar SHO Gurpreet Kaur initiated probes resulting in arrest of the accused while he on way to sell a stolen bike. Seven motorcycles were recovered from the accused. The police have yet to identify accomplices of the accused. — OC Diploma (CE, CSE, ME) B.Tech. (ME, CE) B.Tech. (CSE) (with Specialisations) An electricity department employee works on a transformer in Ludhiana. PHOTO: ASHWANI DHIMAN functioning of justice delivery,” said a local lawyer. Residents too bore brunt of the disruption. Mothers with young children found the situation particularly difficult. “Managing a toddler without electricity in the scorching heat is exhausting. As fans and coolers were dead, the child grew restless. It was a very tough day,” shared a mother from the Civil Lines area. Chief Engineer Jagdev Singh Hans explained that outages were necessitated by ongoing infrastructure work. “The work of laying cables is in progress and monopoles have been installed. That is why power cut was imposed in the morning and again in the afternoon. We plan to finish the work today itself so that there is no power cut tomorrow,” he said. Three arrested with weapons Our Correspondent Raikot, May 1 The Ludhiana (Rural) police claimed to have prevented crime incidents by arresting three miscreants when they were preparing to strike at two different targets in Jagraon and Raikot on Thursday. Three .32 bore pistols, thee live rounds, one empty magazine and one motorcycle which was to be used in the crime were recovered from the accused identified as Sat- nam Singh of Bajwa Colony, Jagraon, Jaspreet Singh of Takhanwadh village in Moga district and Lakhvir Singh Lakhi of Lohatbaddi village in Ludhiana district. SSP Dr Ankur Gupta informed that the police led by Balwinder Singh arrested Satnam and Jaspreet when they were conspiring to strike at a target near the Sugar Mill Colony area on Thursday. Jaspreet was attired in Nihang dress at the time of arrest. Two weapons and two M.Tech. (CE, ME, CSE) BCA (with Specialisations) MCA (with Specialisations) BCA+MCA (5 years Integrated Program) c m y b live cartridges, besides a magazine were recovered from the accused. In another incident at Raikot Sadar, the police led by investigating officer Harpreet Singh arrested Lakhvir when he was waiting with his bike on the Lohatbaddi -Johlan road to strike at a target on Thursday afternoon. The police recovered one .32 bore pistol, an empty magazine, two live cartridges and bike from his possession. Ludhiana, May 1 In a recent survey conducted by officials of the Municipal Corporation (MC), as many as 142 low-lying areas have been identified across the city where water accumulation remains a major concern during the monsoon. The civic body has started preparations to tackle the problem, with a focus on cleaning road gullies (jalis) and strengthening drainage systems to prevent waterlogging. According to officials, the identification of these vulnerable points is part of a larger monsoon preparedness plan reviewed at a meeting with the Local Bodies Minister Sanjeev Arora. The MC has been directed to ensure that all such areas are attended to on priority so that residents do not face inconvenience during heavy rains. Areas which are majorly affected by waterlogging during monsoon include Chaura Bazar, Damoria Bridge, Dhoka Mohalla, Saban Bazar, Main Bharti Colony, Bahdhaur ke Road, Kakowal Road, Shivpuri Road, Karabara Road, Transport Nagar, RK Road and New Shivaji Nagar among others. Officials informed that desilting of sewer lines was already underway. From January 1 to April 25, around 16.30 km of main sewer lines and 49.55 km of branch sewer lines had been cleaned, they said. Work orders had also been issued for priority desilting of remaining hotspots, with a deadline set before June 30, they added. To deal with waterlogging, the MC has arranged adequate pumping infrastructure. At present, 29 fixed dis- PHOTO: INDERJEET VERMA Masked gunmen open fire at dhaba in Khanna Damoria Bridge in Ludhiana faces waterlogging every year. posal points equipped with pumps are functional across the city, while one more is under construction. In addition, 32 moveable diesel sludge pumps have been kept ready to remove rainwater from the affected areas. Officials claimed that all pumps were functional and regularly monitored. The civic body has also strengthened its sanitation and water treatment arrangements. A total of 329 chlorinators have been installed and are working to ensure safe water supply during the rainy season. The MC confirmed that sufficient chlorine stock for at least seven days was available. Power backup arrangements are also being enhanced. At present, 17 generator sets are available at disposal points, while 10 more will procured by May 15. A proposal for five additional generator sets has been sent for approval, with procurement likely by mid-June. Officials further stated that nearly 98,000 manholes fall within MC limits and all of them had been covered to prevent accidents during rains. However, residents in several areas had earlier raised concerns over damaged or uneven manhole covers, which posed safety risks. The meeting also reviewed sewer cleaning around hospitals. The authorities said sewer systems near district and sub-divisional hospitals were functional and would be thoroughly cleaned before May 30. Garbage is collected from hospitals every day by private agencies, while biomedical waste is handled separately. Another issue discussed at the meeting was the stray dog menace around hospitals. Officials admitted that despite efforts, stray dogs had re-entered hospital premises after being removed earlier. They said a stricter action plan was being prepared to deal with the menace. Superintending Engineer Ekjot Singh said, “We have identified 142 low lying areas across the city which get waterlogged during monsoon every year. We have started cleaning sewer lines and road gullies to prevent water accumulation.”