14122025-LT-01.qxd 12/13/2025 10:15 PM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune PAU’S GREEN FORMULA AIMS TO CHECK CHEMICAL EXPOSURE NGO URGES PPCB TO CLEAR WASTE DUMPS NEAR INSTITUTES ANJU MODI BEHIND ICONIC COSTUMES OF BOLLYWOOD PAU has rolled out bioenzyme-based home-care products that promise strong cleaning without health risks. P2 Vatrukh Foundation has written to PPCB and urged it to lift the garbage dumps outside various edu institutions. P3 Designer Anju Modi was in Chandigarh to launch her new Jaypore x collection of hand-embroidered garments. P4 » » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 21°C | MIN 7°C YESTERDAY MAX 22°C | MIN 8°C SUNSET SUNDAY 5.26 PM SUNRISE MONDAY 7:17 AM SUNDAY | 14 DECEMBER 2025 | LUDHIANA All set for smooth conduct of rural elections, 885 candidates in fray Tribune News Service Ludhiana, December 13 As many as 12,45,275 voters will decide the fate of 885 candidates, who are in the fray for the 25 seats of zila parishad and 235 seats of block samiti on Sunday, when voting will be held in 1,639 polling booths from 8 am to 4 pm. Divulging the details, District Election Officer Himanshu Jain stated that that there were a total 12,45,275 electors, including 6,62,498 male, 5,82,762 female, 15 others, etc., who would exercise their right to franchise in the poll. He mentioned that around 10,000 employees have been assigned duties for conducting the poll in a transparent manner, along with 1,639 polling parties, which had been dispatched to polling stations. There would be a total of 1,639 polling booths, including 316 sensitive and 92 hyper-sensitive. A total 1,178 names were nominated for the elections, of which 32 were rejected. After withdrawal, there were 890 candidates remaining, of which five were elected unopposed. Now, 885 candidates remain Polling staff gather required stuff before going on election duty on the eve of zila parishad and panchayat samiti polls at the KVM School in Ludhiana on Saturday. PHOTO: ASHWANI DHIMAN The administration here has claimed to have taken adequate measures for the smooth election of 10 zila parishads and three block samitis, polling for which is scheduled to take place at 257 polling booths on Sunday. Rank and file in the police and civil administration has been cautioned against zero tolerance regarding safety and comfort of voters coming to polling booths for using their right to cast vote freely. Deputy Commissioner Viraj S Tidkey and SSP Gagan Ajit Singh said adequate and proactive measures had been taken to ensure safety and comfort of all stakeholders, including voters, candidates and per- Gangster’s 2 aides come to collect extortion money, one nabbed 2 accomplices of gangster Goldy Brar arrested in the fray. He exhorted the entire election staff to perform their duties diligently so that voters could cast their votes smoothly and hassle-free. He stated that all of them had a huge responsibility on their shoulders to complete the whole exercise peacefully. He assured the polling parties of every kind of support in this process. The District Election Officer also added that elaborate arrangements had been made to facilitate polling par- ties and voters in the polling booths. Jain encouraged voters to set a new record of turnout by coming out in massive numbers to cast their votes on polling day. Fully prepared for the poll, claims Malerkotla admn Arrested person injured in exchange of fire Tribune News Service Ludhiana, December 13 One of the two foreign-based gangster Amrit Dalam’s accomplices, who had gone to collect Rs 10 lakh extortion money from a jeweler, fell in the police trap. After noticing the cops, the two accused fired shots and in exchange of fire the cops injured and managed to nab one, while the other managed to flee. Amrit Dalam is also part of the notorious Jaggu Bhagwanpuria gang. Deputy Commissioner of Police Jaskiranjit Singh Teja, Additional DCP Jashanpreet Gill, ACP Sumit Sood, SHO Inspector Gaganpreet Singh addressed a press conference regarding this matter here today. On December 4, jeweller Sachin Verma had told the police that gangster Amrit had called him up and threatened to kill him while demanding an extortion of Rs 1 crore. The police immediately registered a case against the gangster. After this, on December 12, the complainant received a WhatsApp call from Amrit Dalam group and the caller said he had demanded Rs 1 crore. On this, Sachin said he was having only Rs 5 lakh, but the caller insisted the complainant to give at least Rs 10 lakh or else he would send his men to kill him. After the jeweller agreed to pay Rs 10 lakh, the caller said he would send two persons, Rohin Masih and Jayen Masih, to Samrala Chowk, to collect the money. He said tha t they would be on a black motorcycle with- out number plates on the Delhi road side of Samrala Chowk around 8 pm on Friday and they would have a black leather kit bag. When the suspects arrived and the police party asked them to surrender, the accused started firing and during the exchange of fire, one bullet hit the left leg of the person sitting behind the motorcycle and he fell off the motorcycle along with weapon while other person managed to flee. The nabbed person has been identified as Rohin of Telianwal village, Batala, Gurdaspur. He was taken to a hospital for treatment. The DCP said police parties were already conducting raids to nab the remaining accused. Both accused were working for gangster Amrit Dalam. Ludhiana, December 13 The Ludhiana police on Saturday claimed to have arrested two aides of wanted gangster Goldy Brar. The accused had been engaged by the gangster to collect extortion money from bizmen. As per the investigating officer Nirmal Singh, a police party was patrolling near Daresi ground on December 12 to keep check over anti-social elements, during which they received a tip-off that Brar, who has been facing many cases, had formed an organised crime group to take extortion money and had engaged many youths, identified as Shubham Grover, Varinder Charan, Manav, Vikas, Rajesh, Sandeep, Naresh Soni, Vikram Kumar, Rajan Sidhu, Jaspreet Singh, Jatin and Jatin Kataria for this. The police party started searching for the accused and arrested Jatin and Jaspreet Singh. — TNS Fraudster who duped local resident of ~20 lakh apprehended in Bihar Mahesh Sharma Ludhiana, December 13 Seventeen months after registration of an FIR at the cyber crime police station on June 24, the police have succeeded in arresting a migrant from Bihar, who had allegedly duped a local resident of Rs 20 lakh on the pretext of getting a franchise of Dominos Pizza. The accused, identified as Dheeraj Kumar, had got the amount transferred in his bank account opened under the fake name of Udey Thind in Gujarat. Assistant Commissioner Police, Cyber Crime, Murad, The accused in the custody of the cyber crime police in Ludhiana. Jasvir Singh Gill said that the prime accused, Dheeraj Kumar, had allured Tarsem Singh of Guru Nanak Engineering College area around two years ago to make money by opening a Dominos Pizza outlet and took an amount of Rs 20 lakh from him on the pretext of various expenses, including security deposit. To win the confidence of the victim, Dheeraj asked him to transfer the amount in his bank account in Gujarat instead of paying in cash. On coming to know about the fraud committed with him, Tarsem got an FIR registered against the suspect at the cyber crime police station on June 24. “It was on the basis of scientific, technical and human investigation conducted under the supervision of Commissioner of Police Swapan Sharma, cops led by SHO Harinder Singh managed to nab the accused from Bihar,” said ACP Gill. c m y b sonnel facilitating smooth conduct of election for zila parishad and block samitis first time since the creation of Malerkotla district. Appreciating coordinated efforts made by police officers posted at various police stations of the district in maintaining law and order during earlier phases of election process, the SSP claimed that enough proactive measures had been taken to ensure safety of all concerned during polling and return of polling parties to their respective centres. “Besides making foolproof security arrangements at and around all polling booths we have deployed adequate number of patrolling parties to keep a close watch on activities of anti-social elements, if any,” said Gagan Ajit Singh, maintaining that cops had been advised to equip themselves with necessary gadgets and safety equipment according to the set protocol. Residents, including candidates and their supporters, have been cautioned against allowing outsiders to stay at their places under the guise of guests. PRI election: Employers asked to allow special leave Mandi Ahmedgarh, Dec 13 With intent to ensure maximum participation in the voting process and allowing people to exercise their democratic right freely during the ensuing election for Panchayati Raj Institutes, the administration has asked all employers to allow special paid leave to those employees who are voters in rural constituencies. Attention of owners of factories, shops and commercial organisations has also been drawn towards communiqués issued by the Secretary, Department of Labour, Punjab Government, on Thursday, regarding exemption to their employees from routine work on polling day. District Election Officercum-Deputy Commissioner, Malerkotla, S Viraj Tidkey said there would be a paid holiday on Sunday for all employees and workers of the district who are voters in either of the rural localities under 10 zones of zila parishad and 45 segments of Malerkotla, Amargarh and Ahmedgarh block samitis. The DEO warned that strict action would be taken against any employer who refused to grant leave to voters on the polling day. — OC Lover turns out to be killer; argument over marriage led to brawl Tribune News Service Ludhiana, December 13 The Ludhiana police on Saturday claimed to have cracked the murder case of a girl, whose body was found in a hotel room on December 12. The lover of the deceased turned out to be the killer. He has been identified as Amit Nishad, a resident of Jagirpur village, and had been arrested by the police. Due to some critical injury, allegedly inflicted by the girl, he was undergoing treatment at the PGI, Chandigarh. The woman’s body found last evening was half-naked. Her face bore injuries, blood was also coming out of her nose, which had been smeared all over her face. On getting information, the police raided the village of Meharban late last night and arrested the accused. Joint Commissioner of Police Rupinder Singh, Additional DCP-1 Sameer Verma, ACP Kikkar Singh and SHO, Salem Tabri, Inspector Harshvir Singh addressed a press conference regarding the matter. Police officials said that the two had come to spend time in the hotel room, where the girl pressured Amit to marry her, but Amit was not saying yes to the marriage. Following this, a scuffle started between them, during which the woman inflicted an injury on Amit and enraged over this, he strangled her to death. The cops also found a cutter on the bed as the girl had a cut on her eyebrow. Joint DCP Rupinder Singh said that Amit was a friend of the victim, Rekha. He had gone with her to Hotel IndoAmerican in Salem Tabri. After staying for about three hours, he left the room alone. He told the hotel manager that he was going to get food. When he did not return for a long time, the hotel manager went to the room and found the woman’s body drenched in blood. Joint DCP Singh added that Rekha was living separately from her husband and had two children. Amit and Rekha had been friends for a long time. Both used to meet each other. Rekha had been pressuring the accused to marry her, but he was not ready for this. The ADCP further said that after the hospital would discharge the accused, he would be arrested.