18012021-ATR-01.qxd 1/17/2021 11:17 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar TRIBUNE BEFORE VACCINATION, GOVT MUST ALLAY FEARS OF PEOPLE PAGE 2 Open House: While some readers have expressed concern about its side-effects, others are doubtful of its potency. FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY INBRIEF 1 DEATH, 18 NEW CASES IN DISTRICT Amritsar: With one death Sunday, the Covid toll in the district has increased to 569. The deceased has been identified as Rattan Chand, a 75-year-old from Sundar Nagar. The district health authorities have also reported 18 new cases with which the total count has increased to 14,840. The new cases include nine influenzalike-illness cases and nine contacts of positive patients. Meanwhile, with the recovery of 10 patients, the recovery count has increased to 14,171. The district at present has a total of 100 active cases. TNS MINOR SEXUALLY HARASSED, 1 HELD Amritsar: The police have arrested a youth for allegedly sexually harassing his sevenyear-old cousin. The accused has been identified as Aman Verma (20), a resident of Khai Mohalla. The incident came to light after the victim narrated the incident to her relative who further informed her mother. A case has been registered under Sections 376-A (B) and 511 of the IPC and Section 3, 4 of the Protection of Children of Sexual Offences Act. The police said Aman was produced before the court, which sent him to five-day police remand. TNS 32-YEAR-OLD MAN ELECTROCUTED Tarn Taran: Sarup Singh (32), a daily wager, was electrocuted at his native Baghiari village, on Saturday night. Ranjit Singh, cousin of the deceased, said, Sarup Singh had touched a live wire while switching off the lights. He died on the spot. The Chabal police have lodged a report under Section 174 of the CrPC. The postmortem was conducted at a local Civil Hospital today. The deceased is survived by his wife, daughter and a son. He was the sole bread winner of his family, said Ranjit Singh, his cousin. OC KRITI SANON IS ALL SET TO START SHOOTING FOR BACHCHAN PANDEY TALENT MANAGER OF BIGG BOSS PISTA DHAKAD PASSES AWAY The actress is all set to start shooting for the upcoming film Bachchan Pandey, starring Akshay Kumar. MAX 17°C | MIN 6°C | YESTERDAY MAX 14°C | MIN 8°C SUNSET MONDAY 5:52 PM PAGE 4 The loss of the 23-year-old was mourned by show’s host Salman Khan as well as former contestants. SUNRISE TUESDAY 7:30 AM MONDAY | 18 JANUARY 2021 | AMRITSAR ASI nabbed in drug seizure case Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 17 The Amritsar (city) police have arrested Assistant SubInspector Kuljit Singh on Sunday in connection with pilfering of 1-kg smack from the malkhana of the Government Railway Police (GRP), which later found its way into the hands of drug peddlers. The incident had come to the light when the police had nabbed two peddlers with the contraband on November 9 last year. The GRP had booked ASI Kuljit and the then Station House Officer, Sukhwinder Singh Malhi, on the charges of fraud, criminal conspiracy and under the NDPS Act on December 21, 2020. The CIA Staff had nabbed Vinod Kumar, a resident of Maqboolpura, and Raj Kumar, alias Tita, of Ram Tirath road, for allegedly possessing 1 kg of smack on November 9, 2020. A case under Sections 21, 22, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act was registered against them. Their interrogation revealed that they had procured the contraband from Kuljit for Rs 85,000. Following this, the police had nominated Kuljit. Taking a serious note of the incident, the GRP formed a special investigating team headed by the AIG-rank officer to probe the matter. The preliminary probe was conducted by Parveen Kumar Kanda, SP Bureau of , Investigations. A case under Sections 409 and 120-B of the IPC and Section 59 of the NDPS Act was registered against Sukhwinder and Kuljit. Later, they were placed under suspension. Now, a special investigation team headed by DSP Aswani Kumar Atri has been formed to probe the case further. Another case of carjacking at gunpoint in city Tribune News Service Gangster Ranjodh Singh, alias Sunny Yama, and his four accomplices in the Amritsar police custody. Police arrest gangster Yama PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 17 The police have nabbed notorious gangster Ranjodh Singh, alias Sunny Yama, along with his four accomplices on Saturday. The police have also recovered a brand new MPV (Innova Crysta) and a revolver from his possession. The accused were produced before the Duty Magistrate, who remanded him into police custody. Other occupants of the vehicle have been identified as Taljit Singh, alias Jimmy, and Chanpreet Singh of Sudarshan Nagar, Narinder Singh of Ghanupur Kale and Gurpreet Singh of East Mohan Nagar. Vallah police station SHO Sanjiv Kumar said the accused could not produce any documents related to the weapon and vehicle in which they were travelling. According to police, a team headed by Assistant SubInspector Prem Singh laid a naka near Vallah bus stop. The ASI said they got a tipoff that occupants of a vehicle heading towards Verka Chowk were carrying weapons. He said on being stopped, driver of the MPV first slowed down the vehicle and then suddenly stepped up acceleration. The ASI pushed barricades ahead of the vehicle and arrested its occupants. The vehicle was being driven by Yama, a resident of Fairland colony, on Fatehgarh Churian road. Yama has around 12 criminal cases registered against him. The police recovered .32 bore revolver and seven live bullets from his possession. Cops also recovered 20 live cartridges from the possession of Narinder. Investigations revealed that they had procured the weapon from Sukhpreet Singh of Khandwala, who also has a couple of criminal cases registered against him. The ASI said they have registered a case under Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act. Youth assaulted, 4 booked A youth was allegedly kidnapped and assaulted on January 13. The victim has been identified as Gurjit Singh, a resident of Kotli Amb village, falling under the jurisdiction of Ajnala police station. The accused have been identified as Major Singh, Hardeep Singh and Sandeep Singh of Kotli Amb village and an unknown person. Gurpal Singh, cousin of the victim, stated to the police that on January 13 he and Gurjit were returning to their native village from Ajnala on separate motorcycles. He said Gurjit stopped near the village to answer the call of nature and a car stopped near him. Gurpal said before they could understand anything, the accused started assaulting Gurjit. He said they bundled Gurjit in the car and sped away towards Harad Khurd village. He said he immediately called Gurjit’s father Harpal Singh and started looking for his cousin. Gurpal said they found Gurjit in unconscious state on the roadside around 1 km away. He said they immediately rushed him to the Ajnala Civil Hospital. Amritsar, January 17 Yet another incident of carjacking was reported in the city on Sunday. An employee of an engineering college and his colleague was robbed by three motorcycle-borne persons at gunpoint. Complainant Santosh Kumar and his colleague Harsimran Singh were returning from Ambala and had reached near Rayya when the incident took place. Santosh said he stopped his car on the roadside to answer the call of nature. He said as they were about to sit in the car, three bike-borne persons with their faces covered stopped near them. Santosh said the accused took out a pistol and pointed at them. He said the accused snatched keys of the car and wallet of his colleague, which contained Rs 3,000. He said the trio fled towards Amritsar. In another incident, a snatcher was nabbed when he and his accomplices tried to rob a worker. Bhupinder Singh, who works as a security guard at BG Textile factory at Nagkalan village, said a worker named Mithu went out of the factory after ending his shift. He said two youth travelling on a motorcycle tried to snatch money from him. He said after Mithu raised an alarm, he rushed towards him and nabbed one of the snatchers. The accused has been identified as Sandeep Singh, a resident of Gopalpura village. His accomplice, Tara of Nagkalan village, fled away on the bike after snatching ~500 from Mithu. The police have registered two separate cases. The accused in the police custody with seized material. GURBAXPURI Gang involved in making spurious milk busted, 1 held Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, January 17 In a raid at Ghadhum village here on Saturday, a police party, headed by Sub-Inspector Sukhraj Singh, in-charge of the CIA, Patti, busted a sixmember gang involved in producing spurious milk. The police arrested Jajj Singh, one of the gang members, while the others absconded. The police said five of the gang members were residents of Ghadhum village in Tarn Taran district while the sixth one was a resident of Dhaddrian Kalan in Ludhiana district. The accused were identified as Jajj Singh, his sons Gurlal Singh and Gursahib Singh and Jajj Singh’s brother Bhajan Singh and his son Arashpreet Singh (of Ghadhum village) while the sixth accused was identified as Romesh Singh (of Dhaddrian Kalan). The police confiscated 25 kg of dry milk (Maltodex Treen powder) and 72 ltrs of refined oil stored in the joint house of Jajj Singh and Bhajan Singh. The police said the accused of Ghadhum village used to produce spurious milk and Romesh Singh would carry the milk in a van and supply it to different shops in Ludhiana and other districts. The accused had been booked under Sections 307, 328, 272 and 273 of the IPC by Harike police. The police said spurious milk could cause serious health problems like heart problem, cancer and sometimes even lead to death. It was also called white poisons. Sub-Inspector Sukhraj Singh said Jajj Singh was produced in a court which remanded him in one-day police custody. The police have launched a hunt to nab the other accused. ‘Govt implicating us in false cases’ Plastic tube removed from Jalandhar-based farmer summoned by NIA says 70-yr-old’s liver RATION DISTRIBUTED AMONG NEEDY Amritsar: Mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu attended the ration distribution function of Mahakali Temple Trust at Green Field Majitha Road here on Sunday. Mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu along with councillor Priyanka Sharma, Ritesh Sharma and trust managers distributed ration to the needy families of Ward No. 12, 13 and 14. Ration is being distributed to the needy families every month by the Mahakali Temple Trust. Speaking on the occasion, the Mayor said that by giving basic amenities to the residents of Ward No. 12, 13 and 14, we have done development of every area. The Mayor praised managers of the Mahakali Temple Trust for the social welfare work by the trust. Vipan Kumar, Rajiv Sharma, Indrajit Sharma, Bhupinder Kumar, Rajesh Dogra and a large number of area residents were present on the occasion. TNS PAGE 3 he has no connection with Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) Tribune News Service SUMMONED BY NATIONAL INVESTIGATION AGENCY A SEA OF TICKET SEEKERS Aspirants for Congress ticket for Ward No. 37 submit their applications at the district Congress president Jatinder Sonia’s office in Amritsar on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTO Political activities pick up pace for by-election in Ward No. 37 Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 17 Though the party tickets are yet to be announced for the by-election to Ward No.37 of the Municipal Corporation, political activities have started picking up pace with the polling scheduled to be held on February 15. The post of councillor of Ward No.37 fell vacant after the death of Harpreet Singh on April 30, 2019. Aspirants of various parties are presenting their claims for the party ticket. Jatinder Sonia, the district president of the Congress, received six applications. Kulwant Singh, father of Harpreet Singh Goldy, also presented his claim for the ticket. According to sources, he is a strong contender for the Congress party ticket. Some other aspirants such as Paramjit Kaur, Harmeet Singh Matharu, Udhahy Singh, Amarjit Singh Joda and Gagandeep Singh Sehajra also submitted their applications for the party ticket. Senior leaders of the Congress would conduct scrutiny on January 17 and it was being expected that the ticket would be announced on 18. Meanwhile, Inderjit Singh Pandori and Baljit Singh Raju from the Shiromani Akali Dal are two aspirants for the party ticket. However, no decision on the party ticket has been taken. Some more activists may claim for the party ticket. The Aam Aadmi Party has two aspirants Avtar Singh Babbu and Japinder Singh. During the SAD-BJP alliance, the seat used to be in the SAD quota but now after a split between the two parties, the BJP is fielding its candidate separately for which three aspirants have already submitted their applications to the party office. Apart from political parties, there are chances of independent candidates. The area of Ward No.37 lies along Sultwanwind Road. c m y b Jalandhar, January 17 A day before appearing before the National Investigation Agency (NIA) headquarters in New Delhi, Jasbir Singh, a Jalandhar-based farmer who was issued a notice by the agency, said the government was only trying to threaten farmers by unnecessarily implicating them in false cases. Jasbir was reportedly among the 30-40 farm leaders who were summoned by the NIA to be examined as significant testimonies in a fresh case registered against Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), a US-based secessionist group that supports the secession of Punjab from India as Khalistan. The notices were issued under Section 160 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). After approaching his lawyer, Jasbir said the notice (a copy of which is with The Tribune) mentioned serious allegations against Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, an SFJ leader. And his attendance was sought to answer certain questions related to the case registered under FIR (number 40/2020) under Sections 120-B, 124-A, 153-A and 153-B of the IPC and Sections 13, 17, 18, 18-B and 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). ■ Jasbir Singh, a Jalandhar-based farmer, was reportedly among the 30-40 farm leaders who were summoned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to be examined as significant testimonies in a fresh case registered against Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), a US-based secessionist group that supports the secession of Punjab from India as Khalistan ■ The notices were issued under Section 160 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) ■ The notice mentioned serious allegations against Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, an SFJ leader. And his attendance was sought to answer certain questions related to the case registered under the UAP Act ■ Apart from the farm leaders, a journalist, an actor and others have also been summoned at the NIA between January 18 and 21 “This was just yet another ‘attempt’ by the government to instill fear in farmers. The motive of such notices is to impede our peaceful agitation against the controversial farm laws. However, we are not at all affected by it. Even if we are arrested, we will continue to intensify our agitation until our demands are met,” added Jasbir, a resident of New Hardayal Nagar here. Founder of the internationally-constituted Kisan Bachao Morcha, Jasbir said he had been at the protest sites on the outskirts of the national capital since December 2 and had been organising langar and medical camps for the protesting farmers. He claimed to have no connections with the SFJ. “I have been called at the NIA headquarters on Monday and I’ll definitely cooprate. We will neither disrupt our protest nor the tractor march on January 26 due to such petty politics by the government. Apart from farm leaders, a journalist, an actor and others have also been summoned at the NIA between January 18 and 21. Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 17 A 70-year-old woman got a new lease of life after a migrated plastic tube was removed from her liver through endoscopy, by a local doctor. Dr Hameed Raina, gastroenterologist and hepatologist consultant at Ivy Hospital, who performed the procedure, said the patient had reached the hospital with severe pain and also complained of vomiting in the upper abdomen area. He said, “On evaluation, a migrated plastic T-tube was found placed in the right hepatic duct. This tube was placed during patient’s previous surgery for gall bladder and common bile duct stones.” He added that usually the tube moves downwards and it automatically gets removed from the body. But in this case, it had moved in the opposite direction and had gone up, he said adding that the situation had posed a threat to the life of the elderly. Dr Hameed said, “It was very complicated and challenging due to various reasons and we decided to remove it endoscopically.” This kind of procedure is usually done by expert gastroenterologists and endoscopists in metropolitian cities which have advanced medical infrastructure and equipment.