03082026-LT-01.qxd 8/3/2026 12:34 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune WOMAN TURNS WATERLOGGED FIELDS INTO SHRIMP FARMING BIZ KANGANA HITS BACK AT HRITHIK, SENDS GEN Z LOVE RANDEEP HOODA JOINS ASSAM FLOOD RELIEF DRIVE She received a 60 per cent government subsidy under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana. P2 Kangana continues to draw attention over a separate public exchange with actor Hrithik Roshan. P4 Randeep sought support for flood-hit people in Assam as he joined a relief programme in Sivasagar district. P4 » » » FORECAST GENERALLY CLOUDY MAX 33°C | MIN 28°C YESTERDAY MAX 34°C | MIN 28°C SUNSET MONDAY 7:15 PM SUNRISE TUESDAY 5:43 AM MONDAY | 3 AUGUST 2026 | LUDHIANA CM Mann inaugurates 2 more Schools of Eminence in city Says historic day for people of state; interacts with students, employees Sukhpreet Singh Tribune News Service Ludhiana, August 2 Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Sunday dedicated two new Schools of Eminence (SOE) at Kidwai Nagar and Miller Ganj in the city, taking the district’s tally to 16 Schools of Eminence. The new campuses, equipped with modern classrooms, state-of-the-art laboratories, an auditorium and other advanced facilities, are part of the state government’s ongoing efforts to strengthen public education and provide world-class learning infrastructure to students. The Chief Minister also spent a considerable time interacting with students during his visit to the newly inaugurated School of Eminence at Kidwai Nagar. He visited classrooms, science laboratories and other academic facilities at the school, where he took stock of the modern infrastructure and talked to students about their studies, scientific experiments and learning experience. Mann also met teachers and school staff, appreciating their dedication towards strengthening the education system in the state. Addressing the gathering, the Chief Minister said: CM Bhagwant Singh Maan inaugurates a School of Eminence at Kidwai Nagar in Ludhiana on Sunday. NOW, DIST HAS HIGHEST NUMBER OF SOES The two new Schools of Eminence at Kidwai Nagar and Miller Ganj are being dedicated to the people. With the two additions, Ludhiana district now has 16 Schools of Eminence, making it the first district in the state with the highest number of SOEs, says CM Bhagwant Singh Mann. “Today is a historic day for the people of Punjab, especially for residents of Ludhiana. The two new Schools of Eminence at Kidwai Nagar and Miller Ganj are being dedicated to the people. With these two additions, Ludhiana now has 16 Schools of Eminence, making it the first district in the state with the highest number of SOEs.” The Chief Minister said: “The School of Eminence at Kidwai Nagar has been completed at a cost of ?10.62 crore. The new building has been constructed over 8,300 sq yards and has 60 rooms, including 27 classrooms, seven modern laboratories, a library, the principal’s office and a state-of-theart auditorium with a seating capacity of 500 students and City bizman duped of ~97L Ludhiana, August 2 A city-based businessman was allegedly defrauded of Rs 97 lakh. His company employees colluded to obtain cash from customers but did not deposited the same into the firm’s account. Instead, they embezzled the money over a long period of time by showing fake credit card transactions and falsified sales reports in their records. The Police Division 5 registered a case against two persons, Bhupinder Singh of Himachal Pradesh and Gagandeep Kaur of Ludhiana. The complainant, Gurpreet Singh, a resident of Basant Avenue, Dugri, told the police in his complaint that under a well-planned conspiracy, the suspects caused a loss of about Rs 97 lakh to his firm. The complainant alleged that the suspects sold goods to customers visiting firm’s showrooms and an outlet in Kochhar Market. When customers paid in cash, the suspects used to keep the money. In company records, it was shown that payments were received via credit card. He alleged that to con- ceal the discrepancies, the suspects created fake credit card swipe slips and manipulated daily sales reports with false statements. It allowed the company’s records to appear normal, while the cash was embezzled. The police investigation revealed that the two suspects committed the fraud in collusion and as part of a premeditated conspiracy. Following the completion of the investigation, the police registered a case and initiated further probe. The police said they were examining financial records, bank transactions and other documents. — TNS nine washrooms.” “The School of Eminence at Miller Ganj has been completed at a cost of ?3.48 crore. The new building has been constructed over 1,800 sq yards and has 22 rooms, including 11 classrooms, seven laboratories, the principal’s office and six washrooms. A lift has also been installed for the convenience of students. Earlier, a magnificent School of Eminence building was inaugurated at Inderpuri, Ludhiana,” he said. Mann said: “The Inderpuri school is equipped with premium facilities, including a swimming pool and a tennis court. Student enrolment has increased from 1,320 to 1,788, reflecting growing public confidence in government schools.” The Chief Minister said: “The infrastructure of 200 government schools in the district has been significantly upgraded. Nearly 3 lakh students are studying in government schools across the district. Ludhiana now has 16 Schools of Eminence, 11 Schools of Brilliance and 35 Schools of Happiness.” He said: “In Ludhiana, 155 students have qualified JEE and NEET examinations, while 47 have cleared the Punjab State Talent Search Examination. Last year, 201 students from Ludhiana represented the district at the national level in various sports events. They won a total of 25 medals, including seven gold medals, bringing pride to the district and the state.” Earlier, students including Malika Singh, Keshav Kumar, Rahul, Aishpreet Kaur, Aksha, Sourabh, Aaradhna, Jashdeep Kaur and Lavi, hailed the Chief Minister for taking pathbreaking initiatives to give fillip to the education sector. Cabinet Minister Harjot Singh Bains and Chief Secretary KAP Sinha were among others present. After sanitation workers’ strike, 24x7 clean-up drive launched Sukhpreet Singh Tribune News Service Ludhiana, August 2 After six days of garbage piling up across the city during the sanitation workers’ strike, the Municipal Corporation (MC) has launched a round-the-clock clean-up drive to restore normalcy. Heaps of waste that had accumulated at major intersections, roads and markets caused inconvenience to commuters and residents, with many stretches becoming difficult to navigate due to overflowing garbage. The strike had brought door-to-door garbage collection and lifting of waste from secondary collection points to a standstill. As garbage remained uncleared for nearly a week, foul smell spread across several localities and waste spilled onto roads at many busy chowks, creating an unhygienic environment. Following the withdrawal of the strike late on Saturday evening, sanitation workers resumed work on Sunday. The MC began day-and-night operations to clear the accumulated waste from across the city. Municipal Commissioner Ojasvi Alankar visited different locations to inspect the garbage-lifting operations and directed officials to speed up the clean-up so that normal sanitation services could be restored at the earliest. Health Officer Vipan Malhotra said special teams had been constituted to tackle worst-affected areas. “Teams have been formed and around 20 sites have been identified where lifting has been started. Around five locations have already been cleaned while the remaining sites will be cleared in the next two to three days. We have also hired additional machinery for day-and-night operations,” he said. According to the MC, priority is being given to locations where garbage had blocked roads and disrupted traffic movement. Officials said the remaining affected sites would be cleared in phases, after which regular door-to-door waste collection would resume across the city. The civic body has appealed to residents to cooperate with the sanitation staff during the clean-up drive, expressing hope that things will be normal within the next two to three days. Garbage being picked up from an area in Ludhiana on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN Banned items found Car owner gets ‘riding sans helmet’ challan inside jail, man booked Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, August 2 Staff of the Central Jail, Ludhiana, found two suspicious packages containing tobacco, mobile phones and other items. The packages were thrown inside the prisons by a man. The Ludhiana police registered an FIR against the suspect under the NDPS and Prison Acts. As per the FIR, the action was taken on the basis of a complaint given by Sukhpal Singh, Assistant Superintendent of the Central Jail. In a statement to the police, he stated that on the night of July 27 and 28, while conducting a routine patrol of the prison premises, security personnel found two suspicious packages thrown from across the prison wall. When the staff opened the packets, they found several items which were prohibited inside the jail. In the first packet, two keypad mobiles, two data cables and 15 tobacco pouches were found while from the second one, 45 narcotic pipes, which were used for drug abuse, were recovered. Initial probe revealed that the packets were thrown inside the prison from outside by a city resident, Fauji. The police said a raid was being conducted to nab the suspect. — TNS Ludhiana, August 2 A flaw in the e-challaning system of the Ludhiana traffic police has come to light. An echallan has been issued in the name of a car owner, listing the offence as “riding a vehicle without a helmet”. What makes the matter startling is that the vehicle against which the challan has been issued is not a twowheeler but a car. Not only the car owner is surprised but questions have also been raised about the online challan system and its monitoring. According to information, Gaurav Jain, a resident of the city, said he downloaded Pari- vahan app and when he put his car’s number in the app, he was left shocked as a challan for “riding a vehicle without a helmet” was issued to him. At first, he thought it might be some technical glitch. However, when he carefully examined the photograph attached to the challan, he found that the vehicle shown in it was a two-wheeler while the challan had been issued against the number of his car. Jain revealed that linking an offence like “not wearing a helmet” with his car is beyond understanding. He stated that either there was an error in the automatic number plate reading system or carelessness was shown at the manual level while preparing the challan. He said no person should have to face harassment without reason due to such a mistake. He maintained that he would soon contact traffic police officials, provide complete information about the matter and demand cancellation of the wrongly issued challan. He hopes that after inquiry, the error would be rectified and necessary steps also be taken to prevent such incidents in the future. “Purpose of modern technology is to ensure effective compliance with traffic rules. There is a need to finalise every e-challan only after complete verification so that such mistakes can be avoided,” he said. 2 youths found dead at village, cops deny drug death rumours Food delivery boy Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, August 2 Two persons found dead under mysterious circumstances at Manwarpura village in Sidhwan Bet, near Jagraon, here on Sunday. Initially there were talks that the deceased were drug addicts and they had died due to drug overdose. However, the SAD leader alleges victims were addicts; their kin urge people to stop defaming families Kin of one of the deceased at Manwarpura village in Sidhwan Bet. Ludhiana rural police categorically denied the rumours and stated that both reportedly died of natural causes. The police warned rumour-mongers to stop spreading lies. The kin of the victims also urged people to stop defaming their families Both deceased were around 25-year-old. As the news of the suspicious deaths spread in the area and on social media, politicians visited their houses to console the families and condemned the state government’s ongoing campaign against drugs. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann was present at Mullanpur Dakha to hold a meeting with the Village Defence Committee under the Yudh Nashian Virudh event. Meanwhile, Senior Super- intendent of Police (SSP), Ludhiana rural, Ankur Gupta, said wrong information was being spread by some people about the deaths at Manwarpura village. “Drug overdose was not the cause of deaths, rather the duo reportedly died due to some natural cause. Rural police senior officials went to meet their families to inquire about the deaths and the latter claimed that the deceased were not drug addicts and they were having some health issues, which could have become the cause of their deaths,” he said. The SSP said the families even gave statement to the police that the victims did not die due to drug overdose. Jagraon DSP Jaswinder Singh, who visited the families of the deceased in the village, asserted that one of the youths fainted near the c m y b main door of the house while the other, who went for a walk, found dead in a tube well room. The DSP also denied the rumours that syringes were found near the bodies of the deceased. The village sarpanch also shared a video in which he alleged that the deceased were not drug addicts, though they used to consume liquor. Drug overdose was not the reason of the deaths. The cremation of the deceased was already performed. Meanwhile, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader SR Kaler, who also visited the house of the deceased, claimed that the youths were friends and drug addicts. On Saturday, they left home telling their parents that they were going to attend a jagran near the village but they did not return to their houses. On Sunday morning, the body of one of the youths was found near the door of his house and the other was found dead at a tube well room near the house in Manwarpura village. “I was told by villagers that syringes were found near the bodies and drug overdose could be the cause of death. One of the deceased was married and had a two-and-a-half-yearold child while the other was unmarried. Even the residents claimed that drug was being sold openly in the village and the police need to take strict action against its suppliers,” he alleged. In January this year, a woman from Sherewala village near Sidhwan Bet had alleged that she lost her six sons to drugs. She made the claims when her sixth son died under suspicious circumstances. abducted, assaulted Tribune News Service Ludhiana, August 2 A case has come to light in the Lohara area in which, due to an old enmity, a Swiggy delivery boy was stopped on the way, kept in illegal confinement for some time, assaulted and threatened with death by miscreants. The police registered a case against 11 persons and started searching for them. In the complaint given to the police, Sunny, a resident of Basant Nagar, Barota Road, stated that he works as a delivery boy. At night, after delivering a parcel near the post office at Lohara village, he was returning on his motorcycle. Meanwhile, Raj, Yuvi, Sachchu, Piyush Bhalla, Jot, Mitthu, Ranbir, Ajay, Rishi and two of their unknown accomplices stopped him on the way. The complainant alleged that the suspects covered his mouth with a cloth, tied his hands, made him sit on a motorcycle and took him to a deserted place. According to the complaint, the suspects mercilessly beat him with handles of sharp weapons and sticks and also threatened to kill him. SHO, Daba police station, Inspector Jatinder Singh, said preliminary investigation revealed that there was an enmity between both parties and a case had already been registered against the suspects. He said the police were searching for the suspects and they would be arrested soon.