Ludhiana, June 23
In a brazen attempt to unlawfully connect sewer of an unauthorised colony with the main sewer line of the Municipal Corporation, a former SAD sarpanch got a stretch of Ludhiana-Ferozepur Road (a national highway) dug up, causing massive damage to the road, 11 KV underground power line and telephone cables.

The digging of the road, taken up around midnight on Saturday with the help of a JCB, damaged the 11 KV power line. Power supply to around 24 colonies had been disrupted for more than 12 hours. Similarly, hundreds of telephones in the localities around the site went out of order.

Following a protest by the residents of the affected localities, the labour and henchmen of the sarpanch fled from the scene, leaving the digging work midway.

While the area residents alleged that the said sarpanch, who had collected Rs 20,000 from each household for connecting the sewer to the main sewer, enjoyed proximity to Darshan Singh Shivalik, SAD legislator from the Gill constituency, the latter denied the charges. He said the MC could proceeed against the offender as per the law for causing damage to the road, telephone and power cables.

Officials of Bharat Sanchar Nigam and Punjab State Power Corporation Limited had remained on their toes throughout the day on Sunday to carry out repairs of the damaged electricity and telephone cables, which took more than 12 hours. The MC officials assessed the loss caused to the road due to illegal digging at around Rs 1.5 lakh.

It was officially stated by the MC officials that no permission had been granted for digging of the road or connecting sewer lines of the colony with the main sewer, and further an FIR had been lodged with the Sarabha Nagar police against the accused persons in this regard. The PSPCL officials were learnt to be in the process of lodging a complaint with the police.

Ludhiana, June 23
After passing the buck for a long time, both the Municipal Corporation and the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) will now have to get down to business as far as taking action against illegal change of land use and violations of building bylaws in four colonies is concerned.

Disposing of a CWP (11140 of 2014), the Punjab and Haryana High Court issued directions that the issue of jurisdiction, if any, should be sorted out and necessary action as per the law be initiated against offenders in shop-cum-flats (SCFs) in Sarabha Nagar Market, HIG flats on Maharani Jhansi Road, SCFs in E Block of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar and SCFs in F Block of Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar. The court had also sought compliance report within three days before the next date of hearing on August 2, 2014.

The notice issued to the respondent (MC Commissioner in this case) by the HC was received by Advocate-General, Punjab, Sukhdip Singh Brar and forwarded to the MC for necessary action.

The MC and the LIT authorities have shut their eyes to the blatant violations of the building bylaws and change of land use in these colonies over jurisdictional issues.

While the Sarabha Nagar and Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar schemes, developed by the LIT, stood transferred to the MC for maintenance under the provisions of the Punjab Town Improvement Act, the other two schemes, HIG Flats on Maharani Jhansi Road and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, were still with the LIT.

In the petition filed by city-based RTI activists Rohit Sabharwal, it was alleged that most of the owners of the SCFs in all the four schemes had converted the buildings into showrooms, and the portion meant for residential purpose was being put to commercial use in violation of the terms and conditions of allotment. Not only this, most of the buildings have been altered or extended in violation of the building bylaws.

The MC Commissioner, Pradeep Aggarwal, said action had been initiated in this direction. Talking to The Tribune, he said he would be meeting the chairperson of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust Shruti Singh in a day or so when modalities for taking action against violations of the building bylaws and change of land use would be finalised.

Ludhiana, June 23
A man died after he mistook acid as alcohol at Bharti Colony in the Salem Tabri area here today. The deceased has been identified as Naresh Kumar, a resident of Bharti Colony.

Naresh Kumar worked as labourer in the vegetable market at Salem Tabri. The members of his family said Naresh returned home drunk last evening. He wanted to drink more. He went to fetch a bottle of liquor lying on a shelf with other bottles.

There was no power supply in the area. Unable to identify the bottle of liquor in the dark, he picked up the bottle containing acid and drank it.

Naresh was rushed to the DMCH at 11 pm. He died at the hospital this morning.

The police said: “We have registered a case in this regard and investigating the matter”. — TNS

Ludhiana, June 23
The Daba police have arrested two gunmen of an Independent MLA and seized their weapons for opening fire into the air last night. The accused have been identified as Head Constable Gurtar Singh and Gurjot Singh of the Punjab Police.

According to information, both the gunmen of MLA Simarjit Singh Bains opened fire without any reason.

Today, the police registered a case on a complaint of Simarjit Singh Bains.

According to the complainant, after he returned from a function late night, both the gunmen went to their quarters near his home. After a few hours, he heard the sound of gunshots.

He found that the gunmen opened the fire into the air. The residents of the surrounding area also gathered there.

Harwinder Singh, Daba Station House Officer, said: “On a complaint of MLA Simarjit Singh Bains, we have registered a case against the accused gunmen. The case has been registered under section 336 of the IPC. The police arrested the accused and seized their weapons.

Ludhiana, June 23
The Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority is in a spot after the recent incident in which a woman died and another suffered injuries after a girder fell on them at the newly constructed Pavilion Mall.

Questions are being raised why the completion certificate was issued to the mall by GLADA when work is under way on the top floor. The shuttering used in replacing mirrors is still there. The mall authorities did not take any safety measures before starting the parking lot near the mall where the accident happened.

There are frequent traffic jams due to haphazardly parked vehicles outside the mall. Though the mall authorities have written “No Parking” on the front wall of the building, this correspondent found two-wheelers parked right next to the wall today.

After two days of traffic chaos, the traffic police swung into action last evening and towed away a few cars. Some two-wheelers were impounded by the Municipal Corporation.

Harjeet Singh, ACP (Traffic), said: “We have towed away four cars and challaned several vehicles outside Pavilion Mall. We will keep a vigil around the mall and assure the residents that no inconvenience would be caused to them in the future”.

Police officials said the Police Department can’t issue the NOC for safety and other measures. But after the incident, they can investigate what type of safety measures had been adopted by the mall.

Sukhdeep Singh, Division No. 4 SHO, said: “On a complaint of the victim’s family, we have registered a case of negligence against contractor Zahir Khan. As IPC 304 (A) is a bailable offence, the contractor got bail yesterday. If the family of the victim is not satisfied and seeks further investigation into the matter, they can write to the senior police officials”.

Several attempts to contact Jasvinder Kaur, Executive Officer, GLADA, went futile. Earlier, two deaths were reported during the construction of the mall.

Ludhiana, June 23
Simple usable innocuous polythene or plastic carry bags have become a major environmental problem and a cause of lasting pollution in the state and city. Garbage dumps contain non-biodegradable polythene and plastic bags, which is a matter of grave concern.

In 2011, the state government implemented the Punjab Plastic Bags (Manufacture, Usage and Disposal) Control Act. The act prohibits the manufacturing, disposal and usage of polythene bags from virgin plastic of thickness not less than 30 microns and size not less than 8x12 inches and of a colour other than the specified colour. It is also mandatory that the manufacturer’s name and the thickness of the bag should also be specified.

But it seems that the government forgot to implement the Act. Even though some raids were conducted earlier, the wide availability of low quality plastic bags speaks volumes of the failure of the state government in implementing the Act.

Not only are these coloured, thin plastic bags are widely available and used in markets. Most of the bags don’t bear manufacturers’ names and width/specification of the plastic used for manufacturing the bags.

These are a major cause of pollution. As plastic is non-biodegradable, it causes pollution. Plastic bags also choke the sewerage system.

These are often burnt by residents and sweepers releasing toxic gases and residue in the air, causing air pollution. Unsystematic disposal of polythene also affects the fertility of soil. Animals and birds starve and die consuming the bags. “There are hardly any ways of disposing it of, except recycling it. Most of it turns into garbage and thrown by people after one-time use,” said Rajinder Singh, a resident.

Not only do these pollute the environment and choke waters, but kilos of polythene bags are being thrown into water resources every single day, proving to be a major threat to not only humans, but also to various species. According to Dr Amandeep Singh Bains from RBS Roots, polythene weighing several kilograms is thrown into the Sutlej within hours every single day by the residents. “At the power generation facility in South City, about 1,200 kilograms of polythene is removed every day, for the turbines to function all right. Water resources are being polluted in a big way because of the plastic bags,” he said. The demand for a complete ban on plastic bags by environmentalists is growing. But nothing is being done by the government to encourage the use of eco-friendly carry bags or make these available in the market.

What is the alternative?

But what, if not plastic? Baljit Kaur from VMad said they launched a ‘No Plastic’ campaign, but had to give it up, as there was no alternative to plastic in the market. Even disposable plates are made of non-biodegradable plastic or styroform. Earlier, ‘pattals’ made of leaves were used for ‘langar’, but out of 50 shops selling disposable glasses, only one shop was found selling the ‘pattals’, that too of very inferior quality. “We are going to meet officials of the Administration to request them to instruct the industry to manufacture eco-friendly carry bags,” she said.

Ravneet Singh, project manager, EcoSikh, said Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh had successfully banned plastic bags. Not only the carry bags, but also the packaging of food in plastic bags is banned in Himachal Pradesh. Without the enforcement of the ban, the state cannot be plastic-free. Even religious organisations have to work more to increase awareness about the gravity of the problem. Bags made of jute and tote are being used in other states where plastic is not being used. It should be done here also.

Passing the buck

Chief Environmental Engineer Karunesh Garg from the Punjab Pollution Control Board said the board was responsible for curbing the manufacturing of plastic bags. “We make sure that norms are followed by registered manufacturers of plastic bags,” he said. But products of lower quality manufactured in other states are brought here. People choose cheaper plastic, if it is available in the market. But stopping the availability and sale of the bags in the market is the responsibility of the local authorities,” he said.

Mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwadia said the availability of the plastic bags was because of the lapse of “law-enforcement agencies.” He said such implementation did not come under the purview of the Municipal Corporation to conduct such raids. He said the Administration and the PPCB were responsible for it. Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal said: “The responsibility for the implementation of the ban on plastic bags lies with the PPCB or the Municipal Corporation. He said the Administration launched awareness campaigns on a regular basis.

New MC Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Aggarwal said he would look into what steps the MC had taken so far in this regard. “If something has been done, I will take it forward. He said a complete ban on plastic was not possible until an alternative to plastic bags was available,” he said.

Worried about future

Many aware residents said they were worried about their futuredue to gross mismanagement, lack of will and systematic implementation of the laws and provisions. “Environment in one of the most polluted cities in the country remains a non-issue for political parties or of little concern to the government. It is strange that WHO reports and plastic bag pollution have not been able to jolt the government and the Administration to take immediate and strict action to take steps to work on all fronts for saving environment and making the city clean and green,” said Harneet Singh, a resident.

Ludhiana, June 23
The excise and taxation officer (ETO) and excise and taxation inspector (ETI) will issue C/F forms every Monday and Thursday.

The Punjab Taxation Bar Association has welcomed the move of the Income Tax Department. Ashok Kumar Juneja, president, said traders would no longer have to make rounds of the office to get the forms.

District Taxation Bar Association (Sales Tax) president Arun Kanwal said they had raised the issue during a meeting with the excise and taxation commissioner.

In case of shortage of forms, Amrik Singh, Additional ETC (VAT), and Jaspal Grag, Joint ETC (VAT), can be contacted.

Ludhiana, June 23
Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal said of 63 Punjabis living in Iraq, 62 were alright and that efforts were on to contact the 63rd person.

The Deputy Commissioner today visited Sahnewal to meet the parents of Tejinder Singh who is in Iraq.

He said the youth would return to India by June 30. Aggarwal said Balbeer Chand, son of Devraj lal, a resident of Selkiyana village, who could not be contacted after June 16, would be traced soon.

Ludhiana, June 23
Activists of the Shiv Sena, Punjab, today held a protest against the multi-crore scam of the City Bus Service being run by a private company on the MC’s behalf.

Rajiv Tandon, chairman of the body, who led the protest march taken out from Ghas Mandi to the zonal headquarters of the MC at Mata Rani Chowk, alleged that senior officials of the civic body, along with functionaries of the ruling dispensation, were patronising the private operator, who was making money in the operations of the City Bus Service while the MC was losing lakhs every day.

Tandon said they wanted to hand over a memorandum to the MC Commissioner and also wanted to pose a question of the shady City Bus Service operations. However, the meeting with the MC Commissioner did not materialise and the Shiv Sena workers burnt the copies of the memorandum in protest.

In a word of caution, the leaders said if the government failed to effectively act against the private company operating the bus service as well as the officials and others involved in the scam, they would hold protests in every nook and corner of the city to expose the corrupt officials and political leaders.

Ludhiana, June 23
The government is forced to bear expenses of an overstaffed 108 ambulance service. A few months ago when the ambulance service staff had gone on an indefinite strike, the government had recruited new staff, keeping in view the importance of the emergency services.

Although termination letters were issued to the old staff, they got a stay from the Panjab and Haryana High Court.

Now, there are nearly 30 per cent more employees than required working for the 108 ambulance service.

“When the staff went on strike, we recruited nearly 400 new employees. Now, that the High Court has given stay to the termination of the old staff, we can neither end their services nor the services of the newly appointed staff. We hope the stay is lifted and we are able to streamline the staff structure,” said project head Jitender Sharma.

A new recruit said: “It is not our fault that the employees on strike joined back. We are not being provided basic facilities such as a rest room and are forced to wait for calls while sitting in the ambulance.”

Sharma said there was a provision of providing the staff a rest room, but it was not mandatory.

“Presently all the employees hagve access to rest rooms,” he said.

The employees who went on the strike said that it was the right of citizens to express their ire and the authorities could not throw them out for doing so.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, June 23
The Sadar police have booked at least five persons including a panchayat secretary and sarpanch for alleged breach of trust and conspiring to usurp government funds in the name deceased persons.

The suspects have been identified as Balvir Kaur, sarpanch of Badesha village in Sangrur; former sarpanch Sinder Kaur, panch Gurjit Kaur, anganwadi worker Dalwinder Kaur and panchayat secretary Mandeep Singh. After initial investigations, they have been booked under Sections 409 and 120-B of the IPC.

The case came to light after the Senior Superintendent of Police, Sangrur, Mandeep Sidhu, received a complaint about irregularities in the payment of pension by the office-bearers of the Badesha village civic body.

Residents, led by panchayat member Sukhdev Singh, panch Surinder Singh, former panch Baldev Singh and Mohan Singh, accused the sarpanch and her associates of usurping government funds by diverting funds on the pretext of paying pension to deceased persons.

On the SSP’s directions Sadar station house officer registered an FIR. The investigating team has summoned records pertaining to payment of pensions to residents of the locality, including documents supporting identity and residence of the beneficiaries.

While proofs regarding identity of alleged fake recipients would be verified from original records at issuing offices, random checking of all beneficiaries will be conducted by the police.

The Deputy Superintendent of Police, Amargarh, Gurmit Singh, said the investigating officer had been advised to initiate further action after verifying allegations leveled against the accused. The modus operandi, individual role of suspects and amount usurped are yet to ascertained.

Ludhiana, June 23
Core Banking System (CBS) scheduled to be inaugurated at the Head Post Office today could not be started.

According to postal department officials, some discrepancies in the data of account holders led to the postponement.

An official said that the work on removing the discrepancies had been going on for months. He said at the last moment, some more discrepancies came to light, forcing the department to postpone the inauguration.

The Senior Postmaster at the HPO, Swaraj Kaur, said the inauguration of CBS was postponed till further directions from the circle office at Chandigarh.

Residents were disheartened to learn about the postponement.

“We had been hearing about CBS for many months and were excited to know it was finally starting today. But, when we reached here, we were disappointed to know it had been postponed,” said a resident.

The CBS, meanwhile, was started at the Khanna Head Post Office, as part of the Muffasil Division today.

Through the system, post offices will provide all facilities offered by banks. The work will be streamlined by connecting all CBS-enabled branches to the central server at Mysore.

Khamano, June 23
Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Khamano, today took stock of arrangements at the drug de-addiction centre situated on the local Civil Hospital premises.

The SDM, Anand Sagar Sharma, watched the doctors counselling drug addicts. He advised the doctors to be friendly to the patients.

The SDM appealed to the drug addicts to come forward for counselling and meditation to ensure a better future.

Sharma said at these centres patients were treated well and their identity was not revealed.

He also appealed to the family members of drug addicts to cooperate with the doctors. Senior Medical Officer Surinder Kumar Gogna said nine drug addicts were being treated at the centre free-of-cost.

Ludhiana, June 23
“Mujhe vapis vahin bhej do (send me back from where I came),” shouts a visually impaired beggar, admitted to the drug de-addiction centre at Lord Mahavir Civil Hospital, every few minutes. Beating his “daphali” he makes this appeal, creating a lot of nuisance at the centre.

He is one of the six beggars who have been shifted to the hospital from the shelter home where they were taken on Saturday.

Of the 62 beggars moved to the shelter home under the district administration’s campaign that day, these six were found to be drug addicts.

Civil Surgeon, Ludhiana, Dr Subhash Batta said: “During the raid conducted by the district administration, a few beggars were found to be drug addicts. They were sent to the de-addiction centre of the Civil Hospital, Ludhiana, for treatment.”

Dr Sudha Vasudev, head of psychiatry department at the hospital, said: “The administration sent six beggars to the de-addiction centre. We have started their treatment. Yesterday, the staff told me one of these beggars left the centre unannounced. However, the remaining five are still there.”

Though, four of the remaining addicts are cooperating with the hospital staff, the one with the “daphali” is giving the staff a tough time.

“The staff assisting the addicts find it difficult to handle the fifth beggar. He creates a lot of nuisance in the ward. But we are taking care of him,” said Dr Vasudev.

Assistant Civil Surgeon, Ludhiana, Dr Kaushal Saini said: “We will provide free treatment to the needy and beggars. I appeal to people and social organisations not to give alms to beggars.”

Doraha, June 23
The Marxist Communist Party of India (United) has termed the steep hike in railway fare a cruel blow to the common man already burdened with taxes and inflation.

Talking to mediapersons, party’s national general secretary Kuldeep Singh said government had taken such an anti-people step without the Parliament’s approval.

“Instead of giving some relief to people as promised during the election campaign, the Modi government has shattered all their hopes,” he said.

State-level committee secretary Pawan Kumar Kaushal, too, called the hike a severe blow to the working class.

“The increase in rail fare will have a cascading impact on prices of essential commodities that are transported by trains across the country,” said Kaushal.

Ludhiana, June 23
The Kendri Punjabi Likhari Sabha has opted to go paperless for its bi-annual elections. It will be conducted through computerised multiple system. The elections are scheduled to take place on July 13 at the Punjabi Bhawan, Ludhiana.

Presiding officer Janmeja Singh Johal said, “There are 3,137 members who will cast their vote. Each voter will be casting his vote to elect office-bearers in order of preference. For this, we have developed ULR-based software which will facilitate each voter to mark their preference easily on the computer itself. With this we hope that we will be able to declare the results same day by 5pm.”

The election officer further said earlier it used to consume a lot of time for declaration of results as paper ballot papers were used for voting and often the results were declared the next day.

The last date for withdrawing nominations is June 24. The members will cast their vote for electing president, senior vice-president, general secretary, four male vice-presidents, one female vice-president, three secretaries and one female secretary. Johal said, “For the post of president there is a contest between Dr Labh Singh Kheeva and Kuldeep Singh Bedi. For the post of general secretary, Susheel Dosanjh, Dr Karamjit Singh and Des Raj Kali are battling it out.

Makhan Kohar, Sulakhan Sarhaddi, Atarjit and Gurcharan Kaur Kochar are vying for the post of senior vice-president. For post of four vice-presidents, there are 12 candidates including Sukhcharan Singh Sidhu, Surinderpreet Ghaniya, professor Ram Murti, Dalbeer Singh Saini, Dev Dard, Deep Davinder Singh, Tarlochan Jhande, Hardeep Dhillon, Karam Singh Vakeel, Jasveer Jhajj and Maan Singh Dhindsa.

For secretary (female) post, Manjeet Kaur has filed her nominations. For the four posts of secretaries there are 11 candidates. Amritbit Kaur has been elected unopposed as secretary (female) because Arvinder Kaur Kakra has withdrawn the nominations.

Ludhiana, June 23
City-based Yudhishtar Singh Bedi, presently studying at Texas A&M University in Texas, USA, is a member of the research team which has got the coveted Bill Gates grant to develop a HIV-protective contraceptive.

He is the son of a city-based cardiac surgeon, Dr Harinder Singh Bedi and paediatric surgeon Dr Nandini Bedi, both faculty members of the Christian Medical College and Hospital.

Yudhishtar has done his BSc in Bio Technology from the Manipal Institute of Technology and masters in the University of South California, USA.

The grand challenge in Global Health Award from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation aims to create a contraceptive that will protect individual against HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.

The Texas team is one of the 54 applicants selected among 1,700 applications from across the globe. “This is a tremendous accomplishment for my chief, Dr Mahua Choudhury and will help us develop a product that will have an impact on the health of people around the world,” said Yudhishtar. Over the next several years, Dr Choudhury and Yudhishtar Singh Bedi will work toward creating the contraceptive. “It’s an honor to receive the award and also to work for the foundation’s humanitarian mission,” said Bedi.

Ludhiana, June 23
The Punjabi Sahit Academy has come up with ‘Pustak Vikri Kender’ at Mai Meeyan Meer Bhawan. The kender is offering books of Punjabi writers at 50 per cent discount.

Calling it as a priority of Punjabi Sahit Academy, Dr SS Johal, Chancellor of Central University, Bathinda, said, “This was a long pending priority of the academy. It will help strengthening the reader-writer relationship.”

The president of Punjabi Sahit Academy, Dr Sukhdev Singh, said, “The academy will now facilitate writers to serve the readers directly now. Of 50 per cent discount on each book, only 10 per cent will be given to the service provider.”

The academy has deployed Ajmer Singh as in charge of the kender. Dr Anup Singh, general secretary of the academy, said, “Books of every Punjabi writer will be available here. Five copies of each book will be kept here. In case a writer wants to keep more than five titles, then two copies of the remaining (other than first 5 titles) titles will be kept for sale.”

Interestingly, the kender sold books of worth Rs 5,600 on the very first day. Rajinder Kaur, a school teacher, said, “Every year we buy expensive books for our school library. The kender will help promoting Punjabi literature among masses.”

Ludhiana, June 23
The protest by fishery students of Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) entered 23rd day today. The students have been sitting outside Gate No. 5 of the university.

The students said they are dogged in their pursuit and will not call off the strike until they were given jobs.

One of the students said, "We have invested four precious and crucial years of our lives pursuing this course, and joined the course on the basis of rosy picture that the college authorities painted before us when they were alluring students for admission. Why are they backtracking now from providing us with jobs for which we have worked hard?"

It is strange how hardhearted the authorities and the government have become as they cannot even provide jobs, said another student.

"Every student of the college is under depression thinking about the future. How can the government play with our lives and careers in such ruthless and heartless manner?" asked a student. "Rather than helping us, the university authorities or the government are not lending us any support. We are being pressurised to end our strike," said Khushwinder Singh, a student.

Ludhiana, June 23
A pre-recruitment training will commence in the office of the District Sainik Welfare Office.

“About 7,000 posts are lying vacant in the Sikh regiment. The main aim of this training camp is to recruit maximum youngsters of Punjab,” said Col Kanwalpreet Singh Atwal, District Sainik Welfare Officer.

“From July 31, army recruitment will be done in the Ludhiana district. This recruitment will be in different trades,” said the welfare officer.

He said besides wards of ex-army men, civilians can also take part in the training.

The interested candidates can get themselves registered on June 30 at the District Sainik Welfare office. Interested may contact the concerned authorities at 0161-2741066.

Machhiwara, June 23
A woman who was allegedly set on fire by her close relatives is struggling for life with around 70 per cent burn injuries at a Ludhiana hospital.

The police has registered a case against six persons including the victim’s brother-in-law.

The woman, identified as Sukhjit Kaur—a resident of Dhakka Colony, in a statement to the Machhiwara police said she took a house on lease from her brother-in-law. She, reportedly, paid Rs 2 lakh, and as per the agreement was to leave the house on getting the amount back.

Sukhjit Kaur said last night her brother-in-law accompanied by four persons, including women, came to the house and tried to vacate it. When she resisted, they allegedly poured diesel on her and set her on fire.

Some neighbors heard her shouts and doused the fire. She was rushed to the Civil Hospital, Machhiwara, from where she was referred to a Ludhiana hospital in a critical condition.

Station house officer, Machhiwara, Jarnail Singh said a case had been registered against the suspects under Sections 307, 148 and 149 of the IPC and the police were probing the matter.

Ludhiana, June 23
The police arrested four persons and recovered 97 grams of heroin from their possession yesterday. Officials of the anti-narcotics cell nabbed two drug addicts with 47 grams of heroin from Hambran Road.

The accused have been identified as Sunil Kumar and Baljinder Singh of Shimlapuri.

The police said the accused tried to flee near Partap Singh Wala at Hambran Road. The officials chased them and recovered the contraband from them.

They said the two had been selling heroin for the past two years.

Two persons with 50 grams of heroin and a countrymade pistol were arrested near College Road. The accused have been identified as Sanjay Kumar and Neeraj Kumar, residents of Saharanpur.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Manjit Singh Dhesi said the duo was nabbed at a naka. The accused had got the pistol from Meerut, he added.

“The accused have been smuggling drugs for the past one year. Accomplices of the accused are already in jail,” said the ADCP.