19042022-ATR-01.qxd 19-04-2022 00:14 Page 1 c m y b Amritsar TRIBUNE FIRING CREATES PANIC IN TARN TARAN’S JHABAL VILLAGE PAGE 2 Panic gripped the village when a group opened firing on Bhikhiwind road in which a tractor was damaged. FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY INBRIEF BODY FOUND NEAR RAILWAY TRACKS Tarn Taran: The Government Railway Police (GRP) found a body near the railway tracks at Kot Mitt Singh in Amritsar. The man was around 30 years old and nearly 5.5-ft to 5.6-ft in height. Sub-Inspector Gurwinder Singh, in-charge of the police post, said the body has been kept at the mortuary of Guru Nanak Dev Hospital in Amritsar. A case under Section 174 of the CrPC was registered. OC 2 DRONES ‘SPOTTED’ AT BAGHIARI VILLAGE Tarn Taran: Panic gripped the border areas on Sunday, when two drones were reportedly spotted at Baghiari village under the Jhabal police station. SHO Sub-Inspector Balwinder Singh said the police launched a search operation for more than three hours, but nothing was recovered from the fields. The nearby fields were thoroughly searched but the police failed to recover any material related to the drones. Smugglers in the border area are indulging in smuggling drugs, arms and ammunition with their crossborder counterparts through drones. Just a few days ago, the Sarai Amanat Khan police had busted a gang of smugglers involved in this activity by arresting two of its members. OC 275-GM HEROIN SEIZED, 1 HELD Amritsar: Cantonment police have arrested Taran Singh, a resident of Gawal Mandi area on Ram Tirath Road, with 275 gm of heroin. He was produced in court and brought on police remand for further interrogation. The police said a case under the NDPS Act was registered against him and further investigations were on to find the source of the contraband. TNS TWO ARRESTED FOR OPENING FIRE Amritsar: The Kot Khalsa police have arrested two persons who indulged in firing at the Guru Nanak Pura area thereby creating panic and tension among the general public late on Sunday evening. They were identified as Sandeep Sharma, alias Bahman of Guru Nanak Pura, and Thakur Kulratan Singh of Ram Nagar locality of Sultanwind Road. The police officials said the police got a tip-off that several persons in an Innova Crysta opened fire in the air thereby vitiating the peaceful atmosphere. They said a police team was immediately dispatched and the duo was arrested within five hours. The police confiscated a .32 pistol from them. TNS SNATCHER HELD WITHIN 2 HOURS Amritsar:The Mohkampura police held a snatcher within two hours of the incident here on Sunday. The accused has been identified as Sajan, alias Pandhi, of Dharampura, near Jora Phatak. The police have recovered the snatched mobile from him. The police said around 8pm, they got a tip-off that two bike-borne persons snatched a mobile phone from the Jora Phatak area. Following probe, the police nabbed the accused within two hours and recovered the mobile. TNS PAGE 3 JENNIFER ANISTON SEEKING HELP TO DEAL WITH INSOMNIA The Friends alum revealed that she had turned to professional help after decades of dealing with insomnia. MAX 40°C | MIN 22°C | YESTERDAY MAX 41°C | MIN 21°C SUNSET TUESDAY 7:02 PM PAGE 4 DIVYANSH, MANURAJ CROWNED THE WINNERS OF IGT SEASON 9 Beatboxing & flautist duo from Jaipur and Bharatpur have been declared the winners talent-based reality show. SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 5:56 AM TUESDAY | 19 APRIL 2022 | AMRITSAR Wheat arrival up, farmers’ problems too HARVESTING PANGS Say being harassed by employees of procurement agencies on one pretext or another Long power cuts to control farm fires irk residents Manmeet Singh Gill Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 18 With the arrival of 52,567 metric tonne (MT) wheat on Monday, the rush at grain markets started to increase and farmers have already started complaining that they are being harassed by the employees of procurement agencies on one pretext or the other. Farmers said the most common objection by the procurement agencies is regarding grains having more moisture than the permissible limit after which the produce is procured by applying an unauthorised cut in the minimum support price. Dr Satnam Singh Ajnala, a farmer leader from Jamhoori Kisan Sabha, said: “In the provisions laid down norms by the Central Government, there was no provision for applying any cut in the MSP if the moisture content was more.” He said more moisture content was just a ploy to fool farmers. The farmer leader said farmers were also harassed on the pretext of shrivelling of grains. Ajnala said even though the government had fixed the expenses and fee of ~6.12 for one 50-kg wheat bag and ~3.68 for one 30-kg bag, they were being charged 2 per cent to 2.5 per cent of the purchase price. “Now, if a farmer has to pay around ~13 per quintal of wheat, he ends up paying a minimum of ~41 per quintal,” he said. Meanwhile, different procurement agencies have purchased total 1.63 lakh MT wheat so far. Private players, too, have purchased 737 MT Manmeet Singh Gill Tribune News Service Labourers work at the Bhagtanwala Grain Market in Amritsar on Monday. PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR SKM DEMANDS BONUS ON WHEAT MSP Amritsar: A delegation of the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha on Monday submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner’s office demanding legal guarantee for the minimum support price (MSP). Farmers’ leaders Dr Satnam Singh Ajnala, Jatinder Singh Chinna and Balwinder Singh Dudala stated that the MSP for the crops should be fixed with at least a 50 per cent profit over the There is no ❝applying anyprovision for cut in the MSP if the moisture content is more. More moisture content is just a ploy to fool farmers ❞ Dr Satnam Singh Ajnala, A FARMER LEADER FROM JAMHOORI KISAN SABHA crop. The district mandi officials said 1.80 lakh MT of wheat has arrived in the markets so far and nearly 93 per cent of it has been purchased. input costs. They said the MSP should also be fixed for all agricultural produce, including vegetables, fruits, poultry and milk. The SKM also demanded ~1,000 per quintal bonus reasoning that the price of wheat in the international market had increased and farmers were suffering losses as yield had decreased this season. TNS Amritsar, April 18 Long power cuts, especially in rural areas to save the wheat crop from burning due to short circuit, have become the order of the day and is troubling the general public. Residents complain that instead of fixing the transmission lines, which would check short circuit, the power corporation year after year has resorted to easy method of keeping the power supply off. In most villages, the power supply is kept off from 7 am to 6 pm in the evening. Residents complain that even during the night, power outages are caused by technical snags caused by overloading and even due to unscheduled power cuts. “There is no denying the fact that in most cases wheat burning incidents are caused by electric short circuit, but keeping power off throughout the day causes much inconvenience,” said Rashpal Singh, a resident of Jandiala. Accustomed to long power cuts for the past many years, most of the households in rural and urban areas have inverters at homes. However, these, too, drain if the power cuts are for more than six to eight hours. “Children and the elderlies need comfort from the scorching heat, but they have to bear the brunt due to the unavailability of power. Even farmers who haven milch animals have to face problem as they cannot even make enough drinking water available for animals,” said another resident Harman Preet Singh. Farmers complain that every year before the start of harvesting, they request power corporation officials to fix the transmission lines, but instead of doing the needful, the department prefers to apply power cuts. They said usual power supply would not be restored until the harvesting is over, which would take at least four more weeks. Now, spl train to lift procured wheat from Tarn Taran grain markets THE TRIBUNE IMPACT A train will be loaded with the procured stock directly from the grain markets in Tarn Taran and the stock will be sent to other states bypassing FCI godowns Gurbaxpuri Tarn Taran, April 18 The administration took serious note of the news item ‘ Poor arrangements at grain markets irk farmers in Tarn Taran’, published in these columns on Monday. SDM Ranjish Arora on Monday said the administration has made arrangements to lift the procured stock with special trains. He said a special train would be loaded with the procured wheat stock directly from the grain markets in Tarn Taran on Tuesday and the stock would be sent to other states bypassing the FCI godowns. He said the administration was making arrangement to arrange four to five special trains, which would be loaded directly from the grain market here. Farmers are facing acute problem due to space shortage at the grain market to unload their wheat crop. The problem of drinking water and clean toilets, however, still remains. Continued on page 2 Panic in Kotla Kazia village Details of abandoned mobile phone after minor’s death in blast hint at some insider behind attack Two others also injured |Trio was grinding potash Tribune News Service ATTACK ON HOTELIER PK Jaiswar Amritsar, April 18 Panic gripped Kotla Kazia village after a 12-year-old boy of the village was killed and two others were injured as the potash, an explosive material, they were grinding blasted here on Sunday evening. Dhir Singh, sarpanch of the village, said people were enthusiastic as a volleyball tournament was being held on the Government Elementary School ground. Around 20 teams were participating in the tournament. “It was organised for a noble cause of weaning the youth away from drugs. Several youths from the village, who have settled abroad, had encouraged and funded to hold the tournament,” he said. The entire village was present in the ground and enjoying the match when the blast left everyone confused and in tension. Following the blast, a chaos and confusion prevailed in the village as some people said it was a tyre blast or a cylinder blast. All residents ran here and there to find what actually occurred. When we reached near Skatar Singh’s house, people were rushing the victims to hospital. It was later found that children were grinding potash which led to the blast. Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 18 Two days after a city-based hotelier was shot at in the posh Ranjit Avenue area, the police have found several clues in the case. The scrutiny of the abandoned mobile phone, which was seized from near the spot, has hinted at the involvement of some close relatives of the Amritsar MP Gurjeet Aujla meets the deceased’s family members at Kotla Kazia village following a blast late on Sunday evening. TRIBUNE PHOTOS ❝ People were enthusiastic as a volleyball tournament was being held on the Government Elementary School ground. Around 20 teams were participating. It was organised for a noble cause of weaning the youth away from drugs. The entire village was present in the ground and enjoying the match when the blast left everyone confused and in tension. Dhir Singh, VILLAGE SARPANCH ❞ A pall of gloom descended on the village. The victims were grinding potash in the house of Mohit, who was later booked by the police for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, had just come out (of the house) to answer the call of nature. The incident shocked him. As per the police, the villagers said Mohit had brought the banned explo- sive material. Rather than using original firecrackers, using potash for that purpose has raised many questions about easy availability of the same. The police were ascertaining the source of potash and who provided the same to the children. Mohit’s father Sakatar Singh was not present at home. He was on his duty when the incident took place. c m y b family in the attack. Though the police are tight-lipped over the investigations carried out so far, it has been reliably learnt that the mobile was procured just a few days ago. It had several voice and video messages besides a couple of contacts. The police were verifying the details, while the mobile was sent for forensic examination. The police have sent the summons to several rela- tives of Harpreet Singh, alias Anmol Chadha, asking them to join investigations. They are also looking for the person who had procured the mobile. Chadha along with his driver was going to Starbucks coffee house in Ranjit Avenue area on Saturday, when unidentified persons fired several gun shots at him. As he came out of his SUV, two scooter-borne persons came and started firing at him. He had a narrow escape in the incident. It is being alleged that the police were working under some influence as the suspects also have close contacts with the who’s who in the government and the Police Department. The police suspect that the perpetrators were gangsters hired by some other persons. Being a high-profile case, the incident has become a pain in the neck for the police. Mortar bomb recovered from garbage dump Now, FIR against SIM owners of mobiles seized from jails Our Correspondent PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Tarn Taran, April 18 Valtoha police recovered a mortar bomb from a garbage dump outside the grain market of Amarkot village here on Monday. Inspector Balwinder Singh, SHO, said as soon as the police got information of the Continued on page 2 Amritsar, April 18 The SIM of mobile phones being confiscated from the jail premises will be scrutinised to nab the person who facilitate the equipment to their known inmates, said Punjab Jails Minister Harjot Singh Bains, while talking to the mediapersons here on Monday. Bains who also holds the portfolio of Tourism and Culture was here to participate in the programme at the Partition Museum and visit heritage sites in the holy city. “We have promised to make promised to make jails mobile ❝We havewe are working on it. Currently,free within six months and a sanitisation drive is on in jails. We will share the data with the media regarding the seizures of mobile phones and other materials from jail after 15 days. ❞ Harjot Singh Bains, PUNJAB JAILS MINISTER jails mobile free within six months and we are working on it. Currently, a sanitisation drive is on in jails,” he said. He said we will share the data with the media regarding the seizures of mobile phones and other materials from jail after 15 days. To end the menace, he said appropriate action would be taken against the black sheep, who are colluding with criminals for sneaking drugs and mobiles inside jail. We have registered an FIR against a former superintendent of a Central Jail. He also pointed out that previous governments did nothing to end the menace. Continued on page 2
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