13012021-ATR-01.qxd 1/12/2021 10:40 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar TRIBUNE GNDU STUDENTS CONTINUE TO PROTEST AGAINST OFFLINE EXAMS Hundreds of GNDU students blocked the GT Road in front of the main gate of the university for nearly two hours. FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY PAGE 2 PAGE 3 QUALITY OVER QUANTITY IS VAANI KAPOOR’S MANTRA KANIKA TO STAR IN SONY TV’S KYUN UTTHE DIL CHHOD AAYE For Vaani, 2021 looks like an incredibly big year with her two movies, Shamshera & Bellbottom, set to hit the big screen. MAX 16°C | MIN 3°C | YESTERDAY MAX 16°C | MIN 3°C SUNSET WEDNESDAY 5:48 PM PAGE 4 Set in 1947 Lahore, pre-Partition India, Sony TV’s upcoming show narrates the story of three young & bubbly girls. SUNRISE THURSDAY 7.31 AM WEDNESDAY | 13 JANUARY 2021 | AMRITSAR Police crack Shastri Nagar robbery case; 4 arrested Lohri spirit A dentist, family were held hostage at gunpoint a week ago PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 12 The city police have cracked the robbery case in which several armed persons held a dentist’s family hostage and robbed them a week ago. The police have arrested four persons, including two women, in the case while three of their accomplices are still on the run. Those arrested have been identified as Davinder Kaur, Daljit Kaur of Krishna Nagar, Kot Khalsa, Shammi alias Aman alias Amu of Islamabad, and Gupreet Singh, alias Fateh, of Sewa Singh Nagar on Ram Tirath Road here. The police also recovered a country-made weapon, two scooters and Rs 65,000 from their possession. The incident occurred in the posh Shastri Nagar locality in the Lawrence Road area here on January 6 when the victim, Dr Shivangi Arora, and her family was at home. Dr Shivangi was in her clinic located in the residence. Two of the accused had come on the pretext of treatment of a person. Later, their two more accomplices barged into the house and tied Dr Arora and her helper Priyanka and then held her mother-in-law and children along with Dr Shivangi’s helper Priyanka hostage at gunpoint. They later In view of a huge demand for kites ahead of Lohri, kite maker Jagmohan Kanojia displays his creations at his home workshop in Amritsar; and (right) a boy carries an over-sized kite on his bike on Tuesday. TRIBUNE PHOTOS: VISHAL KUMAR LOHRI CELEBRATIONS MARK REOPENING OF VIRSA VIHAR Promising a new beginning for theatre and cultural activities in the city, theatre thespian Kewal Dhaliwal and several other prominent theatre as well as folk artistes celebrated Lohri at Virsa Vihar here on Tuesday. The event also marked the reopening of Virsa Vihar for live performances and audiences after a gap of 10 months. PAGE 2 INBRIEF ASSAULT: CONG LEADER BOOKED Amritsar: The local police have booked Congress leader Saurabh, alias Mithu Madaan, and his brother Sameer Madaan and over 20 persons for allegedly causing hurt, wrongful restrain and threatening. He was accused of assaulting the owner of a brickkiln and his family over a monetary dispute in the Tilak Nagar area after a video of the same went viral. SHO Neeraj Kumar said they had registered a case on the basis of a complaint filed by Naresh Arora and his family. He said further investigation was under progress and appropriate action would be taken. Madaan is considered close to former Cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu and his wife. His mother is also a councillor of the MC. TNS 1 DEATH, 20 NEW CASES IN DISTRICT Amritsar: With one more death in the district due to Covid-19, the toll has increased to 565 on Tuesday. The deceased has been identified as Kashmir Kaur, a 55-year-old woman from Ajnala. The district health decamped with jewellery and lakhs of rupees from the house. While escaping they forgot gloves and a datar at the clinic. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Mukhwinder Singh Bhullar said Daljit Kaur used to work at the residence of Dr Shivani Arora as a domestic help several years ago. She, along with her other accomplices, had conducted a recee of the area a few days ago before committing the crime. He said their other accomplices — Daljit Kaur’s husband Dildar Singh, Vikramjit Singh TT and Gurmeet Singh — were absconding A FORMER DOMESTIC HELP ALSO INVOLVED ■ Deputy Commissioner of Police Mukhwinder Singh Bhullar said Daljit Kaur used to work at the residence of Dr Shivani Arora as a domestic help several years ago. She, along with her other accomplices, had conducted a recee of the area a few days ago before committing the crime. and raids were on to nab them. Bhullar said Vikramjit TT had several criminal cases registered against him in Madhya Pradesh. He said the police had also detained Gorakhnath, a gold- smith, who originally hailed from Maharashtra, following the interrogation of the suspects. He had melted around 208gm of gold given to him by Vikramjit Singh. If his involvement was found in the case, he would also be nominated in the FIR. The DCP said Davinder Kaur had a couple of cases of robbery and under the NDPS Act against her in Faridkot area while another suspect Shammi had two cases of the NDPS Act against him. He said Daljit Kaur and her husband Dildar Singh were drug peddlers while Gurpreet Singh used to procure drugs from them. Govt schools better off than 30-yr-old stabbed to death as Illegal arms racket: Police get private on attendance scale family failed to pay house rent remand of two MP residents Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 12 Days after reopening of schools across the state for Class V-VII, the private schools have started getting students but the turnout remains dismal. The government schools had implemented the reopening orders as soon as they were issued, while most private schools chose to wait for parental consent before calling students. As of today, private schools in city are getting 10-12 per cent attendance of Class V to Class VIII. Dr Anita Bhalla, secretary of Sahodaya Schools and principal, Bhavans’ SL school, said that the low turnout is due to multiple reasons. ‘The extreme cold weather conditions and the suspicions regarding pandem- ic still in mind, the number of students coming to school of middle classes remains low, but consistent. Most parents are waiting till Lohri to send their wards as there could be change in weather.” The government schools too fall in same bracket with almost 10 per cent attendance, mostly from Class VIII onwards. Keshav Kohli, teacher, from Government School, Hathi Gate, said that the attendance may increase in the coming days as students will get accustomed to school environment. ‘ We have got almost 30 per cent attendance between last two days, as students are happy to come to classrooms and resume offline classes,” he said. Meanwhile, schools are carrying out online classes alternately as well to ensure that students do not miss out on anything. Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 12 Jagandeep Singh (30), a resident of Gurnam Nagar area, on Saturday was stabbed by the owner of the house in which he, along with his family, was living on rent. The victim succumbed to his injuries on Monday. The police have booked Kulwinder Singh, alias Baba, along with four unidentified persons for murder. According to the victim’s mother Raj Kaur, the accused tried to forcibly vacate the house as they failed to pay one month rent of the house. She said due to the lockdown their earnings dwindled and therefore they could not pay the rent. In her statement to the police, she said she, along with her daughter Malka and son Jagandeep, was living in the Jagandeep Singh, victim house, belonging to Kulwinder Singh, on rent. She said due to the lockdown restrictions, they lost their work and started facing financial hardships. As they could not pay the rent of one month, the accused asked them to vacate the house. She said on Saturday, the accused came to the house and demanded rent but they expressed their inability to pay the rent. On the same day in the evening, the accused, Filth finds its way on this nameless road Stretch connecting Islamabad to Rego ROB dotted with garbage Tribune News Service authorities have also reported 20 new cases with which the total count has increased to 14,741. The new cases include 12 Influenza-like-illness cases and eight contacts of positive patients. Meanwhile, with the recovery of 37 patients, the recovery count too has increased to 14,016. The district at present has a total of 162 active cases. TNS Four persons, including two women, were nabbed in connection with a robbery incident on Tuesday. Amritsar, January 12 Residents here have been demanding removal of huge garbage dumps along the sides of the stretch connecting the Islamabad area to Rego Railway Overbridge (ROB). Many important areas fall along the 1-km stretch such as defence area, railway station’s loading and unloading cargo facility, railway’s residential B-block Colony and a gurdwara. The road is also of strategic importance as it diverts the traffic heading towards Islamabad area to take a detour from the GT road via Rego ROB. Similarly, the commuters travelling from Islamabad to the Civil Lines area need not go via congested Puttalighar. The width of the stretch is also not regular. However, as per the Municipal Corporation records, its paved road is 30-ft wide and the kuchha portion on the railway side is 15 to 16 ft wide and along the Defense area, it is eight feet wide. Chander Kumar, a resident of Islamabad area, said, “Despite being so significant for the commuters, it never figured in the priority list of the authorities. Hence, the stretch never earned any name. Both the sides of the stretch are dotted with garbage, debris and other refuse. “It has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. It also emanates an unbearable stench.” Sohan Singh, a resident of Bblock, said despite repeated complaints, the road became a dumping site. It not only is an eyesore but can also become a source of several diseases. He added that a large number of those tourists coming out of the Gobindgarh fort heading to the Attari Wagah border Joint Check Post to witness the c m y b retreat ceremony commute over this stretch. The authorities must spare a thought about what impression they might be taking along. Vikas Soni, area councillor, said with the rise in traffic flow on the GT road, the stretch has assumed importance among the commuters. “I have already initiated the process of re-carpeting and end-to-end tile work. This will end the practice of disposing garbage along its sides,” he said. DIRTY PICTURE The road between Rego ROB and the railway crossing Islamabad area has turned into a garbage dump. PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR along with four unknown persons, came to the house armed with sharp-edged and blunt weapons. They started throwing their household goods out of the house. She said as she tried to resist, they pushed her and she fell down. She said her son Jagandeep also tried to resist but they stabbed him with a sharp-edged weapon. She said she raised an alarm following which her nephew Shiv Charan, along with Manpreet Singh of the area, rushed to their house. By the time, they reached the house the accused had fled the spot. She said they took Jagandeep to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital and after treatment they brought him home. She said as his condition deteriorated and he was again taken to hospital where he died on Monday. — TNS Amritsar, January 12 Two illegal arms racket accused, who are residents of Madhya Pradesh, were produced before the court which remanded them in one-day police custody here on Tuesday. The police sought five-day police remand of the accused for further interrogation. Arrested on January 9 from Madhya Pradesh, Mahesh Selotia and Jaggu, both natives of Khargone village in MP were brought here , after getting transit remand. The police authorities said they would be produced in the court tomorrow again. With their arrest, the Punjab Police had claimed to have busted a gang involved in supplying country-made weapons to criminal elements in Punjab, including gangsters and alleged terrorists. The police had recovered 12 (.32 bore calibre) country-made pistols with 15 magazines along with a huge cache of ammunition from their possession. The gang was suspected to have supplied over 24 pistols to gangsters and criminals in the last three months. Preliminary investigation had revealed that he was also in close contact with Akashdeep Singh, the prime accused in the drone module busted by the Punjab Police in 2019 and who is at present lodged in Amritsar jail. Gurinder Pal Singh Nagra, DSP (Detective), said the police had got the production warrant of Akashdeep Singh and he would be taken into custody from jail on Friday for further interrogation.