29032024-JTR-01.qxd 3/29/2024 12:57 AM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune ILLEGAL COLONISERS SELLING OFF PLOTS IN NANGAL SHAMA AREA Even as the civic authorities look the other way, illegal colonisers make a quick buck by selling plots in Nangal Shama area.P2 » FIR AGAINST FIVE AAP WORKERS FOR VANDALISING RINKU, ANGURAL BOARDS Some AAP workers have been booked for uprooting signboards bearing names of Sushil Rinku & Sheetal Angural. P3 » REBEL DESCRIBES HOW HER HEART WAS ‘CRACKED OPEN’ BY A TENNIS PLAYER Actress Rebel Wilson said, “I describe it as cracking open my heart. Like you could open a fresh can of tennis balls.” P4 » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 30°C | MIN 20°C YESTERDAY MAX 29°C | MIN 17°C SUNSET FRIDAY 6.45 PM SUNRISE SATURDAY 6:18 AM FRIDAY | 29 MARCH 2024 | JALANDHAR INBRIEF MAN DUPED OF ~1.20 LAKH Phagwara: The Nakodar Sadar Khas police have booked two women travel agents for allegedly duping a villager of ~1.20 lakh on the pretext of sending him abroad. Nakodar DSP Kulwinder Singh Virk said the suspects were identified as Ranjit Kaur and Seema, both residents of Kotla Jangan village. The DSP said Sunni, a resident of Khiva village, complained to the Jalandhar (Rural) SSP that he paid ~1.20 lakh to the suspects for facilitating his migration to Italy, but he was neither sent abroad nor his money was returned. The DSP said a case under Sections 406 (breach of trust), 420 (cheating), and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and Section 13 of the Punjab Travel Professions Regulation Act was registered against the suspects after an inquiry. OC TWO BOOKED FOR CULTIVATING POPPY Phagwara: The Bilga police have arrested a villager and booked another person on the charge of cultivating poppy crop. Investigating officer (IO) Satpal said the suspect was identified as Hans Raj, alias Chirri, a resident of Meonwal village. He said the police received information that the suspect was cultivating poppy crop on his land. He said the police raided the spot and recovered plants of green poppy crop weighing 30.5 kg. He said a case under Sections 8(B), 15, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act was registered against Hans Raj and Hari Ram, also a resident of Meonwal village, who was absconding. OC FIVE BOOKED FOR FRAUD Hoshiarpur: The district police have registered two cases against five suspects, including a mother and son duo, on the charges of fraud worth lakhs of rupees. Jatinder Singh had complained to the Garhdiwala police that Pushpinder Singh of Hardoneknama village, and Mohit Sharma and his mother Poonam Sharma of Premgarh, Hoshiarpur, defrauded him of ~17,17,528. The trio was booked by the police and probe initiated into the matter. In the second incident, Manish Kumar of Ahirana Khurd told the Mehtiana police that Sahil Khan of Bajra Colony, Ludhiana, and Mohammad Khan of Basti Jodhewal, Ludhiana, cheated him of ~61,199. After booking the duo, the police launched a probe into the matter. OC Liquor vend auction evokes no response in 7 of 14 city zones Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service Jalandhar, March 28 The auction of liquor vends held by the Excise Department in Jalandhar drew no response to as many as seven of the 14 zones of the city with applicants citing rampant smuggling as the reason. Applicants said the black sale was affecting their business adversely and they were not able to generate the expected revenue. The contractors said liquor was smuggled openly in the city with doorstep delivery of bottles at concessional rates. They said there was no check and the counter sales had fallen drastically. Only 73 applications were received for 14 zones of which 18 were of Subhash Chander’s group. The contractor paid three per cent of the licence fee for one zone, but did not turn up subsequently for the draw coming in his name. This despite the fact that he had paid Rs 75,000 per application as non-refundable fee. Officials during the auction of liquor vends in Jalandhar. MALKIAT SINGH This way, the department earned Rs 19.58 crore by first installment of the licence fee today during the auction held at Red Cross Bhawan. The department had plan to earn Rs 988.05 crore as the total annual licence fee from the auction of 26 liquor zones, including 14 in the city, seven in the rural areas and five of Nawanshahr. Even for Nawanshahr auction, two of the five zones did not elicit any response. Jalandhar (Rur- al) zones got a good response with 769 contractors filing their applications. Nawanshahr auction received 238 applications for five zones. Officials cited other reasons for a poor response in the city. “The ED action on liquor policy in Delhi and subsequent action expected in Punjab has led to apprehensions among investors. Contractors fear wrath of the central agencies. So, they are reluctant in making bigger investments,” said a Jalandhar-based department official. The annual licence fee of a single zone in the city varies between Rs 32 crore and Rs 38 crore, of which three per cent amount was to be paid today. Another three per cent amount was to deposited by contractors tomorrow and the reamaining six per cent by March 31 in a quick succession for the allotment of vends. Regarding allegations of rampant liquor smuggling, Jalandhar Commissioner of Police Swapan Sharma said, “Liquor contractors are levelling false charges. There could be a plan to form a cartel. So, contractors were trying to downplay in the auction today. They perhaps could be planning to take the same deal at lower licence fee.” Deputy Commissioner (Excise) Paramjeet Singh along with Additional Deputy Commissioners Jasbir Singh and Rajiv Verma supervised the auction which was videographed too. Two arrested on charge of extortion Our Correspondent Phagwara, March 28 The Lohian Khas police have arrested two persons on the charges of extortion and criminal intimidation. Investigating Officer (IO) Balwinder Singh said the suspects were identified as Jaswinder Singh, alias Labhu, a resident of Yusafpur Aalowal village, and Lehmbar Singh, a resident of Mohalla Dhumanna, Ward No. 4. Sandip Kumar, a resident of Ward No. 13, complained to the police that the suspects in an inebriated condition came to his dhaba on July 13, 2021, at 8.30 pm and ordered nonvegetarian food. He said the suspects refused to pay a bill of Rs 1,600 and paid only Rs 400. He said on asking the suspects to pay full bill, they ransacked his dhaba and asked other customers not to pay their bills. He said the suspects forcibly downed shutters of his eatery, used filthy language and snatched Rs 2,000 from the counter after threatening cashier. The IO said a case was registered against the suspects and others. 35-yr-old man shot dead at shop in Garhshankar Our Correspondent Garhshankar, March 28 A man, who had come to buy eatables from a bakery shop at Chandigarh Chowk in Mahilpur, was shot dead today. The attackers fled from the spot on a motorcycle after committing the crime. After the incident, panic has spread in the city. Sunny Bhardwaj (35), son of Hari Om, a resident of Mahilpur, came to Rana Bakery near Chandigarh Chowk on a Bullet motorcycle at 5 pm today. When he went inside shop, a masked youth followed him. The youth opened fire at Sunny. After firing many rounds on him (Sunny), he and his companion fled from the spot on a motorcycle. After the incident, Sunny was brought to the Mahilpur Civil Hospital where he died during treatment. Doctors at the hospital said he was hit by bullets in his chest. Bakery shop owner Mahesh Kumar said he was in his shop at the FILE PHOTO time of the incident. He said as soon as Sunny parked his motorcycle and came inside shop, a young man with a covered face fired six to seven rounds at Sunny and fled with his companion standing outside on a motorcycle. A case was registered against the deceased under the Arms Act at Mahilpur police station and he was out on bail recently. The police are scanning footage of the CCTV cameras installed in the shop and neaby areas to find clues about the suspect and his accoplice who were involved in the incident. Civic body departments asked to Nakodar jeweller duped hike recovery target for next fiscal byunidentifiedmiscreants Tribune News Service Expired medicines at the Civil Hospital in Phagwara. TRIBUNE PHOTO Expired drugs destroyed at Phagwara Civil Hospital Our Correspondent Phagwara, March 28 Resentment prevails among residents after a video went viral on social media in which an employee was seen destroying costly medicines that expired in January 2024 at the Civil Hospital on Wednesday. The said employee was seen destroying five boxes of Meropenem injections and five boxes of Cefoperazone which expired in the first month of this year. Were these medicines still being used till now at the Civ- il Hospital? This question has become the talk of the town. Girish Sharma, a social activist, said it could have been better if these medicines were given to patients free of cost before their expiry dates. It was learnt that usually medicines were distributed among neighbouring Civil Hospitals or dispensaries before their expiry dates. When contacted, Senior Medical Officer Dr Lehimber Ram said these medicines were received from the government during the Covid period. Jalandhar, March 28 Municipal Commissioner (MC) Gautam Jain held a meeting with officials of various department heads today and reviewed the recovery of taxes and dues for this financial year and possibility to increase it in the remaining three days of the current fiscal. He inquired about the tax recovery target for the next fiscal from officials. He asked the Building Department to increase its budget up to Rs 60 crore for the next year. The department had to recover Rs 48 crore for the current financial year. Till now, Rs 40 crore has been recovered by the department. Jain also asked the property tax wing of the MC to increase its budget from Rs 45 crore to Rs 70 crore for the next financial year. Officials told him that as it would be difficult to achieve the target, so they would rather increase it to Rs 50 crore. The MC Commissioner asked officials of the water Municipal Corporation Commissioner Gautam Jain at a meeting with officials in Jalandhar on Thursday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: MALKIAT SINGH supply wing to increase the recovery target from Rs 18 crore to Rs 22 crore for the next year. This year, officials recovered Rs 16.5 crore. The licensing branch was suggested to increase its target to Rs 1.5 crore by the MC Commissioner. As per information, department heads told the MC Commissioner that it was difficult to recover dues during the election period. Notably, Vikrant Verma, Zonal Commissioner, had recently held a review meeting with officials of the property tax wing of the MC. The property tax wing had so far recovered over Rs 43 crore tax dues in the present fiscal. He asked officials to ensure maximum recovery under the one-time settlement scheme, which would end on March 31. Despite government holidays on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, property tax wing officials would recover pending dues from residents. The Accounts Department would prepare a report and present an MC Budget for the next financial year. Phagwara, March 28 The Nakodar police have booked unidentified miscreants on the charges of cheating and criminal conspiracy. Munish Dheer, a resident of Mohalla Jalotiyan, complained to the police that he received a WhatsApp call on Wednesday morning from an unidentified person who wanted to buy jewellery from his showroom. Dheer said he told the caller to come at his showroom at 10.30 am. Dheer said the person called him again and introduced himself as a manager of the Nakodar SBI branch. Dheer said the caller requested designs of gold rings which were provided. Dheer said the caller liked designs and asked him to send two rings. Dheer said he sent two rings through his employee and asked him to bring cash from caller. Dheer said he also gave his employee a cellphone number of the caller. The complainant said cheaters were waiting in a car (bearing registration number PB-10-EN5511) outside the SBI branch on Jalandhar Road. One of them went inside bank on the pretext of bringing cash. Dheer said when his employee went inside bank, he was told that none of the bank employees had ordered rings. When he came out of bank the car was not there. Investigating Officer Harinder Pal Singh said a case against unidentified persons. — OC 1 hurt in police encounter Jalandhar, March 28 An encounter between CIA staff team and a notorious criminal occurred in the Abadpura area here on Thursday night. Sources in the Police Department claim that the criminal, identified as Chintu, sustained injuries during the confrontation. Acting on a tip-off, the CIA staff team conducted a raid at Abadpura, resulting in apprehension of Chintu. — TNS Cops turn blind eye to illegal truck parking on roadsides Avneet Kaur FIVE HELD WITH LIQUOR, DRUGS Hoshiarpur: The district police have recovered large quantity of drugs and arrested five suspects in this connection. Following a secret information, the Mahilpur police arrested Kulwant Singh, a resident of Saila Khurd village, and recovered four boxes of liquor from him, meant for sale in Himachal Pradesh only. In another case, the police arrested Sukhmanpreet of Jassowal and Sunny of Saila Khurd village and recovered 280 intoxicating pills and 6 gm of intoxicating powder from them. In the third incident, the police arrested Ravi Kumar of Talwara and Gaurav Sharma of Sansarpur Terrace and recovered 460 grams of intoxicating powder from them. OC Sunny Bhardwaj. Tribune News Service State leaders induct former MLA Love Kumar Goldy into Congress. Former MLA Goldy back in Congress fold Garhshankar, March 28 Former MLA Love Kumar Goldy today joined the Congress again. At the party’s state office in Chandigarh, Congress Punjab in-charge Devendra Yadav, state president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and MP Manish Tiwari inducted him back into the party fold. Goldy has been MLA twice from Garhshankar on the Congress ticket. His return to the party would help the Congress strengthen its hold in Garhshankar. His father Pandit Sarvan Ram was also a two-time Congress MLA from Garhshankar. Goldy, considered close to Captain Amarinder Singh, had gone with him when he left the Congress. However, even after this, he continued working for the Congress. — OC Jalandhar, March 28 Although the city police have taken strict action in the recent past against vendors and pushcart owners for encroaching footpaths and roads to prevent traffic congestion, it appears that officials concerned are turning a blind eye towards illegal parking of trucks and heavy vehicles on roadsides. The road heading from Patel Chowk to Workshop Chowk, and the areas, including Pathankot Chowk and Tanda railway crossing, have become hotspots of unauthorised parking, posing a significant risk to commuters’ lives, but the traffic police have failed to take any action against violators in this connection. Commuters complain that illegal parking of trucks not only causes traffic snarls, but c m y b Illegally parked trucks along a road near Workshop Chowk in Jalandhar. PHOTO: SARABJIT SINGH also inconveniences them and leads to accidents and frequent quarrels. They alleged that the issue had been brought to knowledge of the authorities concerned several times, but to no avail. “The road heading from Patel Chowk to Workshop Chowk have virtually turned into a truck bay. A large number of trucks can be seen parked haphazardly on either side of the road,” said Kavita Sharma, a resident, She said, “There are schools, colleges and even hospitals on the stretch, but despite that the traffic police have not bothered to take action against drivers of these trucks.” Rajan Sharda, an industrialist, who has repeatedly raised the illegal parking issue with the administration, the Commissioner of Police (CP) office, and even written to the Punjab Chief Minister in this regard, said, “Trucks are parked recklessly in middle of roads without scant regard for the traffic rules. Numerous accidents have occurred on these roads recently, resulting in the loss of lives of many residents.” He said acting on a complaint filed by his association, the CM office issued directives to the administration and the Jalandhar CP urging them to , convene meetings with transporters and enforce orders for relocating their booking offices and godowns to the area like Transport Nagar. The directives emphasised the need to prevent operations in congested areas like the Industrial Area and Patel Chowk, already burdened with heavy traffic, but still nothing happened, he said. Residents said, “There is an urgent need for swift and decisive action from the authorities to address illegal truck parking and ensure the safety and convenience of all road users. Failure to do so not only exacerbates traffic congestion, but also jeopardises the lives of commuters.”
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