05052024-LT-01.qxd 5/5/2024 1:01 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune USE COW CESS TO TACKLE STRAY CATTLE MENACE: RESIDENTS AMERICAN ACTRESS ALI WONG SUFFERS MAKEUP MISHAP SONAKSHI HANGS OUT WITH HUMA QURESHI, ZAHEER IQBAL Ludhiana Municipal Corporation aims to collect ~4 crore in cow cess this financial year. P2 Golden Globe-winning actress Ali Wong’s recent makeup session did not go as planned. P4 Sonakshi Sinha had a pleasant reunion with rumoured beau Zaheer Iqbal and her close friend Huma Qureshi. P4 » » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 38°C | MIN 23°C YESTERDAY MAX 41°C | MIN 23°C SUNSET SUNDAY 7.03 PM SUNRISE MONDAY 5:35 AM SUNDAY | 5 MAY 2024 | LUDHIANA Travel agent couple booked for fraud after seven years Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 4 A couple staying in the Basant Avenue area of the city duped a city resident of Rs 14.5 lakh on the pretext of sending him abroad. Interestingly, the police took almost seven years to register a case against the suspects. According to investigating officer ASI Pritpal Singh, the suspects were identified as Meenu Bharti and her husband Varinder Bharti, a resident of Basant Avenue. They were running an office in Basant Avenue in the name of Bharti Traders. A case under Sections 420 and 120B of the IPC was registered on the complaint of Krishna Kant Jain, a local resident. The complainant said he had lodged a complaint with higher officials of the Ludhiana police in 2017 against the suspects. In his complaint, he stated that the suspects took Rs 14.50 lakh to arrange his visa for going to Canada. After taking the amount, they neither sent him to Canada nor returned the money. After some time, the couple stopped contact with him and also refused to return the money. “I had lodged a complaint with the then Ludhiana Commissioner of Police. After nearly seven years of investigation, the police have registered a case against Meenu Bharti and Varinder yesterday and now, they have initiated further probe,” the complainant alleged. ASI Pritpal Singh said further investigation was initiated in the case and no arrest had been made so far in the case. All 2,919 polling stations equipped with assured minimum facilities in district Ramps, drinking water, furniture, lighting, toilets made available; 139 made model polling stations EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE INDIA VOTES ■ BUs: 7,529 4,405 ■ VVPATs: 4,677 ■ Buffer stock: 226 BUs, 462 CUs, 442 VVPATs 2024 ■ CUs: Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 4 In what appears to be a step towards facilitating voters to ensure maximum voter turnout during the June 1 Lok Sabha elections, the district administration has equipped all 2,919 polling stations across 1,410 locations, spread across 14 Assembly segments falling under Ludhiana (9) and Fatehgarh Sahib (5) parliamentary constituencies, with assured minimum facilities (AMFs). All these polling stations, including 1,460 at 515 locations in urban and 1,459 at 895 locations in rural areas, in Ludhiana district, have been equipped with ramps, drinking water, furniture, lighting and toilet facilities for voters and polling staffers. Besides, the administration has developed 139 polling stations, including 10 each in 13 Vidhan Sabha segments and nine in the Ludhiana East Assembly constituency, as model polling stations. Moreover, one polling station in each of the 14 Assembly segments in the district, have been exclusively earmarked for differently abled and women electorates. The brainchild of Deputy Commissioner-cum-District POLLING STAFF ■ Sector officers: ■ PROs: ■ APROs: ■ POs: ■ Non-regular: DEO Sakshi Sawhney inspects arrangements to provide crèche facility for kids of poll staff on polling day in Ludhiana. TRIBUNE PHOTO FACILITIES AT A GLANCE Total polling stations 2,919 Polling stations with AMFs 2,919 Model polling stations 139 Exclusive Disabled stations 14 Exclusive women stations 14 Creche facility, ORS packs for polling employees Electoral Officer (DEO) Sakshi Sawhney, the initiative was aimed at ensuring over 70 per cent polling, the target given by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to the election machinery across the country. Sakshi told The Tribune here on Saturday that besides providing the basic amenities to equip all polling stations with the AMFs, the district administration had developed 139 polling stations as model ones by providing special facilities and making best arrangements for the electorates and polling staff. “To provide best possible 238 3,503 3,503 7,006 1,785 employees (SOURCE: DEO) BEST ARRANGEMENTS IN PLACE Our endeavour is to put in place the best arrangements for voters and polling staff. Special emphasis will be laid on differently abled, women and aged electors while special care and facilities will be given to women employees, especially single and young mothers, put on election duty. — Sakshi Sawhney, DC-CUM-DEO ❝ ❞ trict at the CEO level and will be supplied in due course from the election store in Patiala,” she said. The DC disclosed that sufficient manpower had also been made available in the district to ensure smooth and transparent conduct of the polling exercise. Besides regular employees from various government departments, as many as 1,785 other employees, including 1,106 contractual, 192 guest faculty, 86 ad-hoc, 235 special cadre, 134 outsourced, 28 part-time and three temporary workers had also been put on the election duty in the district. While 238 sector officers had been appointed across 14 Assembly constituencies, 3,503 each presiding officers (PROs) and assistant presiding officers (APROs), to be deputed at one each for one polling station and 20 per cent reserve staff, and 7,006 polling officers (POs) with two each at one polling station and 20 per cent reserve quota, will be deployed for the polling exercise in the district. “To facilitate polling staffers and ensure their proper welfare during duty hours, we have arranged crèche facilities for toddlers of single mothers and adequate quantity of ORS packs have been procured to provide them to counter the extreme heat wave forecast by weathermen around the polling and counting days,” the DC-cum-DEO added. It’s Cong vs rest in state, says Warring Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 4 Punjab Congress president and party’s candidate from the Ludhiana parliamentary constituency Amrinder Singh Raja Warring today asserted that the Congress would break all past records of the Lok Sabha elections in the state this time. The Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president said in Punjab, it was “Congress versus the rest”. He claimed that only the Congress had pan-Punjab presence while all other political parties were just marginal players with limited scope and influence. Regarding the Aam Aadmi Party he said: “Most of the AAP candidates, including the one in Ludhiana, might not be able to even save their security deposits,” he said, adding that AAP had, otherwise also, “performed miserably in all the Lok Sabha elections, including in Delhi”. The Congress leader said he did not want to comment more on BJP candidate Ravneet Singh Bittu since his time was already up. “We did speak about him initially, as we need to tell people how he had betrayed the party and his supporters,” he added. units (BUs), 4,405 control units (CUs), and 4,677 voter verifiable paper audit trails (VVPATs) to conduct polling at 2,921 polling stations, including two auxiliary ones, across the 14 Assembly segments falling under Ludhiana and Fatehgarh Sahib Lok Sabha seats. Besides, 226 BUs, 462 CUs and 442 VVPATs have been made available in the district as buffer stock to be used in case of any exigency. “Sufficient quantity of polling materials such as paper seals and address tags had also been procured for the dis- Finish targets, CHC staff told Cooling off arrangements for them, one polling station in each Assembly constituency is being identified to be dedicated exclusively to the differently abled and women voters,” she said, adding that the identification of such locations was being made keeping in mind the maximum number of such voters in specific areas of each Vidhan Sabha segment. Divulging arrangements for the General Election to the 18th Lok Sabha, slated here on June 1, the DC-cumDEO said the district had already received 7,529 ballot Raids held to arrest 20 miscreants who robbed farmer of tractor-trailer Tribune News Service A man washes his face with water on a summer morning in Ludhiana. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN Ludhiana, May 4 Civil Surgeon Jasbir Singh Aulakh held a review meeting at the Community Health Centre (CHC), Manupur, on Saturday. The entire staff of the CHC, including ASHA workers, were present. The Civil Surgeon asked the employees to complete targets so that the best available facilities could be provided to the people. He said gender ratio of many villages falling under the CHC was low and the staff should take initiatives for the same and high-risk pregnancies should be followed up regularly. Suspects have criminal background, says Sidhwan Bet Station House Officer Ludhiana, May 4 The Ludhiana rural police conducted raids at suspected whereabouts of the suspects who had snatched a tractor-trailer laden with wheat from a farmer, a resident of Patti, Tarn Taran. Station House Officer (SHO), Sidhwan Bet, SI Narinder Singh said after registration of a case, police teams were formed and raids were conducted at various places in Ferozepur but so far the suspects were not arrested. They seemed to INCIDENT OCCURRED ON APRIL 30 On May 2, the Sidhwan Bet police had booked around 20 persons for looting a tractor-trailer laden with wheat stock from Amarvir Singh, a farmer of Patti. The incident occurred on April 30 at Sidhwan Bet. have been hiding at some other places and the police would arrest them soon. The SHO said some of the suspects had criminal background as several cases were registered against them. “The suspects are not gangsters but they are having criminal history. After arrest, their questioning may help the police to probe if they committed other such incidents in the past as well,” he said. On May 2, the Sidhwan Bet police had booked around 20 persons who looted a tractortrailer laden with wheat stock from Amarvir Singh, a farmer of Patti. The incident occurred on April 30 at Sidhwan Bet. The complainant had alleged that on April 30 he was procuring wheat from the fields. The tractor-trailer was parked in the fields and he was about to take the same to the nearby grain market when four cars arrived from which around 20 persons came out. They were carrying arms, sharp weapons, iron rods and sticks. By pointing weapons at him, they took away the tractortrailer from the victim. The suspects had told the victim they had some issue with the owner of the land. — TNS Residents oppose setting up Man gets 10-yr RI Two minor girls abducted of liquor vend on Jassian Road in snatching case from city areas, two booked Ludhiana, May 4 Residents and a former councillor are opposing the establishment of a liquor shop near the railway bridge on Jassian Road, here. The Municipal Corporation (MC) had previously taken action by sealing the premises but the shop was later unsealed. Now, questions are also being raised over the MC’s decision to unseal it. Former Ward 94 councillor Gurpreet Singh Gopi raised residents’ concerns about the liquor shop. He said the shed for the shop was built on agricultural land without the proper change of land use. Converting a small part of the A former councillor questioned the MC’s decision to unseal the liquor vend on Jassian Road after sealing it earlier. TRIBUNE PHOTO land for commercial use, for the liquor shop was not fair. Gopi said the MC had sealed the shop earlier and why the seal was removed without the necessary certificate for change of land use. He urged the MC Commissioner to take action. However, ATP MS Bedi pro- vided a contrasting perspective, stating that the MC removed the seal as the vend owner had committed in writing to pay required fees for operating the vend. He argued that the road’s width, at 45 feet, could accommodate commercial establishments such as the liquor shop. — TNS Ludhiana, May 4 The Court of Sessions Judge Harpreet Kaur Randhawa has sentenced Vijay Kumar, a resident of Dugri, to 10-year rigorous imprisonment (RI) in a snatching case. Besides, the court also ordered the accused to pay a fine of Rs 10,000. It held that the prosecution had successfully proved the charges levelled against the man beyond any shadow of doubt. Additional public prosecutor BD Gupta apprised that a case was registered at the Division No 5 police station on October 10, 2022, on the complaint of Pallavi of Gurdev Nagar. She told the court that she got c m y b married in 2018 and had a three-year-old son, who was studying in a playway school in Sarabha Nagar. On October 10, 2022, she picked up her son from the school. At that time, the accused opened one of the rear doors of the car and sat on the seat. He kept a knife on her son’s neck and threatened to kill them. He snatched her purse containing Rs 2,000. She raised the alarm, following which people gathered there and caught him. However, during the trial, the man pleaded innocence. But after appreciating the evidence on record, the court found him guilty and sentenced accordingly. — OC Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 4 Two cases of kidnapping involving a 16-year-old girl and a 17-year-old girl came to the fore in the city. The police registered separate cases on Friday in this regard. In the first incident, the Salem Tabri police registered a case against Vicktor Bhatti, a resident of Ambedkar Nagar, Phillaur, on the charges of kidnapping a minor girl. The complainant in the case, Krishan Kumar, a resident of Salem Tabri, who is the father of the victim, said on May 1, his daughter Shikha Kumari (16) had left home without telling any member of the family. They searched for her at various places, including houses of our relatives, but she was not found. Later, he came to know that the suspect had kidnapped his daughter as he wanted to marry her. The girl’s father said on May 3, he lodged a police complaint and a case was registered against him on Friday. ASI Charan Singh said further investigation was launched in the case. In the other incident, the Dehlon police registered a case against Saif Ali, alias Rods, a resident of Pakhowal village, near Koom Kalan. The complainant, Sher Ali, a resident of Silo Kalan, told the police that on April 30 his daughter Jainam (17) went missing under mysterious circumstances. During a search conducted by them, he came to know that the suspect had kidnapped her on the pretext of getting married with her. He lodged a police complaint on the same day and after preliminary investigation, the police registered a case on Friday. ASI Subhash Chand said raids were being conducted to nab the man and recover the victim.
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