03092026-CT-01.qxd 9/3/2026 12:54 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune LUDHIANA LIONS REGISTER 7-WKT WIN IN T20 LEAGUE TWO INJURED AS SPEEDING CAR RAMS INTO SCOOTER A WOMAN'S PURITY MORE VALUABLE THAN HER LIFE? Ludhiana Lions record a 7-wicket victory over Mohali Kings in Sher-e-Punjab T20 League. P3 Two persons were injured as a speeding car hit a stationary two-wheeler in Sector 29. P3 Swara Bhasker clarifies remarks she made at a Delhi event after a clip began circulating online. Lifestyle » » AIR QUALITY INDEX CHANDIGARH 50 PANCHKULA 43 401-500 301-400 201-300 101-200 51-100 0-50 SEVERE VERY POOR POOR MODERATE SATISFACTORY GOOD Police push for 2,000 more AI-enabled cameras at key locations in city Category ITMS City surveillance City entry/exits Schools Waterworks Parking Parks Hospitals ICCC building Community Centres OSDS Tribune News Service WHAT’S ON APNI MANDI Chandigarh: Sectors 34, 56 and Ram Darbar Mohali: Sec 88 and Phase 8 Please send information about events in Tricity at: whatson@tribunemail.com PUDA notices to 3 developers Mohali, September 2 The Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) has issued show-cause notices to three developers and directed them to stop work on three illegal colonies being carved out on industrial plots in the Dera Bassi area. Officials pasted the notices outside the three colonies and warned the developers of legal action if they failed to stop the work. Sources said illegal colonies were still being registered in Dera Bassi tehsil, with revenue officials remaining tight-lipped about the developments. PUDA Junior Engineer Balkaran Singh said notices had been issued to the persons who had carved out the three illegal colonies. — TNS Labourer falls off lift, dies Mohali, September 2 A logistics firm employee, Shambhu (36), died after falling off a lift at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research here today. According to the police, research equipment and furniture were being transported in the five-storey building. The victim was transporting goods for a laboratory in a research block when his foot slipped and he fell off the fourth floor. — TNS Location 40 47 20 94 9 25 23 3 2 10 7 Cameras 1,018 341 129 188 197 74 69 26 25 21 42 Inactive 64 17 1 13 58 11 12 6 0 0 2 THE EXPANSION PLAN Current cameras: 2,130 Units proposed: 2,000+ (AI-enabled) CCTV cameras installed on the Sector 16- 17 road in Chandigarh. TRIBUNE PHOTO: PARDEEP TEWARI parks 12 out of 69. Hospitals have six of 26 cameras down, while Community Centres and the ICCC Building, the nerve centre for the city’s camera feeds, reported no inactive units. City entry and exit points, critical for vehicle tracking, have one non-functional camera. Cameras across Chandigarh are managed and operated by M/s Bharat Electron- ics Limited (BEL). Officials said issues linked to nonoperational units pertain to the Municipal Corporation. When contacted, MC Commissioner Amit Kumar said the payment issues with BEL had been sorted out and Rs 7 crore, a part of outstanding payment, had been paid to the company. The remaining dues will also be cleared in due course. “The company has agreed in princi- ple to rectify the non-functional cameras shortly and keep the entire system robust in the future,” he added. FUTURE EXPANSION The UT Engineering Department has received a proposal to extend the ITMS-based CCTV network to the remaining 68 Automatic Traffic Control (ATC) signal locations and to install over 2,000 addi- (SOURCE: UT ADMINISTRATION) tional AI-enabled cameras across the city. SSP (Traffic and Security) Sumer Pratap Singh said, “Camera surveillance is central to how we police this city, and we are taking every possible step to ensure all installed units remain functional. Repair and maintenance of the network is being pursued on priority.” Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 2 A healthy female community dog died after undergoing sterilisation at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) here on Wednesday, allegedly after the procedure was conducted while she was in heat — eight days before the surgery date fixed with her caregiver. Rajan Gosain, a Sector 22 resident, said he had approached the Municipal Corporation for the dog’s sterilisation. He said Dr Prateek Balana told him on Tuesday that the procedure would have to be Police renew bid to extradite main accused Randhawa Chandigarh, September 2 The UT police have initiated fresh extradition proceedings against Balraj Singh Randhawa, the main accused in the nine-year-old Akansh Sen murder case, after furnishing additional information and documents sought by the Canadian government. Akansh was the nephew of former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. The police submitted a fresh status report to Kaushal Kumar Yadav, JMIC, Chandigarh, following an earlier direction of the court to apprise it of the extradition proceedings against Randhawa. According to the status report, the Chandigarh Administration’s Home Department (Police Branch), in a letter dated July 29, 2026, forwarded to the Deputy Legal Adviser, Ministry of Home Affairs, a letter it had received from the Chandigarh DGP . During further investigation into the case, the police found that Randhawa was active on social media and was residing in Canada. An extradition request was subsequently prepared by Ketan Bansal, then SP (Crime), and countersigned by the JMIC, Chandigarh. It was sent to the Canadian authorities on October 30, 2024, through the Home Department, Chandigarh Administration. However, the request was returned by the Canadian authorities seeking additional information, including a fresh record of the case containing a summary of the evidence and a general legal statement through the judicial or prosecuting authority, besides certain clarifications to meet the requirements of Canadian extradition law. In compliance with the queries raised by the Canadian authorities, a request was sent through senior Chandigarh officials to the Legal Remembrancer-cum-Director of Prosecution, Chandigarh Administration, to prepare the information sought by the Canadian authorities. Extradition proceedings are being initiated and duly followed up, said the status report. The status report was filed in response to an application moved by Akansh Sen’s Continued on page 2 SKM protest swells on Day 2, leaders slam Centre, Pb Tribune News Service The salon in Sector 80, Mohali, which was targeted by assailants. Mohali salon targeted in suspected extortion bid Tribune News Service Mohali, September 2 In a suspected case of extortion, unidentified assailants fired shots at a salon in Sector 80 here this evening. No one was injured in the incident, but a bullet hit the windowpane of Hair Masters, located opposite the CP-67 mall. The salon is being run by Sahil Kapoor, who was reportedly questioned by the police in connection with the incident. The police are probing the incident as an extortionrelated case. Sources said the owner had allegedly been receiving extortion calls from several gangsters for the past few months. Senior police officials reached the spot and initiated an investigation. The police are scanning CCTV footage from the area to identify the suspects. The sources said two youths, riding a motorcycle without a registration number, were seen stopping in front of the salon before leaving the area this evening. They are suspected to be involved in the incident. A case under Sections 308 (2) of the BNS has been registered. Mohali, September 2 The second day of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) protest at the MohaliChandigarh border witnessed a larger turnout than the first day, with farmer leaders criticising the Centre and the Punjab government for their “complete silence” on their demands. Taking an aggressive stance, the morcha leaders have called a meeting of the senior leadership on September 4 to discuss the government’s alleged indifference and chalk out their future strategy. The number of protesters at the site in Sector 48-C, Chandigarh, swelled today as members of various farmer organisations, carrying colourful flags, reached the protest “pandal” and listened to the speakers. The gathering was addressed by Balbir Singh Rajewal, Nirbhay Singh Dhudike, Gurdeep Singh Rampura, Buta Singh Burj Gill, Sukhdev Singh Arayanwala, Pavitar Singh Lali, Prem Morcha calls meeting of senior leadership on Sept 4 to chalk out future strategy Famers partake of langar at the protest site near Jagatpura village in Mohali on Wednesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: VICKY Singh Bhangu and others. The leaders said they had submitted memorandums to both the Centre and the state government at different times seeking a solution to Punjab’s water crisis, cancellation of the proposed free trade agreement, debt relief for farmers and labourers, and fulfilment of other demands. However, both governments had disappointed them, they said. They alleged that the governments’ “neglect” had forced Dog dies after sterilisation at SPCA; medical negligence alleged Pavni Arora 2017 AKANSH SEN MURDER Ramkrishan Upadhyay CCTV NETWORK STATUS Nitin Jain Chandigarh, September 2 Even as the UT police are pushing to nearly double the city’s camera network to tackle road safety issues, official figures show that 187 of the existing 2,130 CCTV cameras were out of order as of August 27. These defunct cameras were spread across nearly every category of the city’s surveillance grid — from traffic enforcement units to school, hospital and waterworks installations — according to data accessed by The Tribune. The waterworks category has the highest number of inactive cameras, with 58 of 197 units — nearly 30 per cent — not working. The flagship Integrated Traffic Management System (ITMS), the backbone of the city’s challan and crashdetection network, has 64 of its 1,018 cameras out of order. Of 341 city surveillance cameras, 17 are non-functional. Schools account for 13 inactive cameras out of 188, parking sites 11 out of 74, and FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE Tribune News Service THE TRIBUNE SPECIAL MAX 32°C | MIN 25°C YESTERDAY MAX 34.7°C | MIN 25.9°C SUNRISE FRIDAY 6.00 AM /THETRIBUNECHD Of 2,130 CCTVs, 187 defunct across UT surveillance grid PARTLY CLOUDY SUNSET THURSDAY 6.44 PM » THURSDAY | 3 SEPTEMBER 2026 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST postponed for eight days as the dog was in heat. September 9 was fixed for the surgery, he said. However, Gosain alleged that he received a call from the SPCA around 5 pm on Wednesday informing him that the dog had already been operated upon and died while being shifted to the post-operative room. When Gosain contacted Dr Prateek, he was allegedly told that the doctor was not at the SPCA and that his senior, Dr Ishan Kaushal, had conducted the surgery. The police were called to the spot, and IO Satnam Singh Gill reached the SPCA. Dr Ishan and Dr Pra- The dog which allegedly died after sterilisation. teek were present there. According to Gosain, they told the IO that the dog had died of shock. Gosain submitted a complaint to the IO, a copy of which is with The Tribune, seeking an inquiry into the circumstances of the death and a post-mortem examination. A volunteer, requesting anonymity, alleged that the IO, who is from the Maloya police station, was extremely biased towards the authorities. “Many times, the police don’t take medical negligence cases involving community dogs seriously,” the volunteer alleged. The incident comes amid earlier objections to Chandigarh’s Animal Birth c m y b Control (ABC) programme. On July 1, PFA Zonal Head Saarthak Jain had submitted a representation alleging that the programme was being conducted without the mandatory Project Recognition Certificate (PRC) under the ABC Rules, 2023. Taking cognisance of the complaint, Special Commissioner Pardeep Kumar suspended the operations and floated a fresh tender to ensure compliance with statutory norms. However, following the Special Commissioner’s transfer, the MC allegedly resumed ABC activity without securing the requisite PRC. Nikki Latta Gill, Execu- tive Director, Sehjeevi Foundation, who was present at the site, said, “A diagnostically blind-folded surgery led to the death of yet another healthy dog at the SPCA. How many more innocent and voiceless lives have to be lost before authorities take assertive action to provide adequate and responsible medical funding and treatment.” Meanwhile, when The Tribune sought the name of the veterinary attendant who was present during Wednesday’s surgery, SPCA staff refused to disclose it, citing confidentiality. Dr Prateek and Dr Ishan refused to comment. them to launch the protest. Senior Mohali police officials said no untoward incident had been reported in the area during the past two days. SKM leaders said the gathering had swelled to around 5,500 activists, with nearly 700 tractors, pickup jeeps, buses and trucks, besides 50 water tankers. Trailers have been parked along the stretch from the Mohali-Chandigarh Faidan barrier to the light point near Bestech Square Mall. CAPITAL COMPLEX PLAN UT depts asked to submit details of proposed works Chandigarh, September 2 A comprehensive five-year master plan is being formulated to preserve the unique architecture and heritage of Chandigarh’s Capital Complex, a UNESCO World Heritage site, while guiding its future development up to 2031. Authorities have initiated a stakeholder and occupant survey across various departments and building managements to compile details of all proposed, approved and pending projects for the 202631 period. The initiative is aimed at coordinating con- struction, repair and modification works under a unified master plan so that individual departmental interventions do not compromise the complex’s historical and architectural character. Under the survey guidelines, the departments managing multiple structures have been asked to submit separate details for each building. The information collected will be implemented in a phased manner by the Development and Research Organisation for Nature, Arts and Heritage (DRONAH). — TNS