31052022-TTC-01.qxd 5/31/2022 1:14 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 6 NO.149 | 18 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2021-2023 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 HEAVY FIGHTING AS RUSSIA ENTERS SIEVIERODONETSK IN EAST UKRAINE WORLD /thetribunechd 2 JAISH MILITANTS KILLED IN PULWAMA ENCOUNTER J&K MARKET INDICES EXTEND WINNING RUN TO 3rd DAY BUSINESS WITH YOU IN HOUR OF CRISIS: PM TO COVID ORPHANS BACK PAGE tuesday | 31 may 2022 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com MOOSEWALA’S KILLING Fix accountability on security cut: Father | Didn’t link singer with gangsters: DGP Five detained, cops claim crucial leads Sanjeev Singh Bariana Tribune News Service CM wants judicial probe, request sent to HC EXPLAIN BASIS ON WHICH SECURITY PRUNED: HC Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 30 Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann on Monday announced setting up of a judicial commission headed by a sitting judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to probe the killing of singer Sidhu Moosewala. CM Mann said the decision was taken following a request by Moosewala’s father Balkar Singh Sidhu. He said the government would ensure full cooperation to the commission, including roping in any central agency like the NIA. Principal Secretary (Home) Anurag Verma later wrote to HC Registrar General Sanjiv Berry, asking for an inquiry by a sitting Judge. Earlier Moosewala’s father wrote an emotional letter to the CM, seeking a judicial probe and involvement of the CBI and NIA in the inquiry. He also demanded that the accountability of officers, who reviewed his son’s security and made public the order of withdrawal Chandigarh: Justice Raj Mohan Singh of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday asked Punjab to explain the basis on which it had withdrawn/pruned the security of protectees and how information on the security withdrawal had come in the public domain. He set a two-day deadline for furnishing the information. INSIDE ❝ WAS MISQUOTED On no occasion have I ever said Moosewalais a gangster or affiliated with gangsters. Supporters of slain singer Sidhu Moosewala hold a candlelight protest in Mansa on Monday. VK Bhawra, DGP AUTOPSY 25 BULLET WOUNDS I INJURIES TO LEFT LUNG & LIVER I RIGHT ELBOW SHATTERED I 2 BULLETS IN THE RIGHT LEG of the security cover, be fixed. CM Mann said all aspects of the security reduction of the slain singer were also under scrutiny and responsibility of lapse, if any, would be fixed. Sources, meanwhile, said the state police were in a spot over TRIBUNE PHOTO: MUKESH AGGARWAL the handling of the case. Eyebrows were raised as to why the CM chose to announce a judicial probe, although police sources termed the move “routine under the prevailing circumstances”. DGP VK Bhawra today issued a clarification over his statement, claiming an accomplice of Moosewala was linked with the murder of Akali leader Vicky Middukhera. The statement was misread by some, said Bhawra. “On no occasion have I ever said that Moosewala is a gangster or affiliated with gangsters. Claims and counter-claims by various persons surfaced on social media. The investigation will look into all such aspects,” he said. edit: Gangs of punjab Gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. File Bishnoi, aides quizzed in Tihar New Delhi, May 30 The Delhi Police on Monday questioned Lawrence Bishnoi and other gangsters in Tihar. The Special Cell traced a phone call by an inmate, Shahrukh, to Canada. COURT DECLINES BISHNOI’S PLEA FOR HIGHER SECURITY Sources said Shahrukh was using a cellphone application to talk to Goldy Brar, the Canada-based gangster who has claimed responsibility for killing Moosewala. Shahrukh, gangster Kala Jathedi and his aide Kala Rana were cross-questioned, sources said. INSIDE Chandigarh, May 30 The Punjab Police on Monday said they had rounded up some people and got several important leads in the murder case of Sidhu Moosewala. A CCTV footage has also emerged, which shows the singer’s vehicle was being followed just before he was shot dead. Police sources said five persons were rounded up from Dehradun. They were picked up from the Shimla bypass area and brought to Punjab. The sources said only one of them, identified as Manpreet Dhaipei, alias Manna, was a “person of interest”. He had a criminal record, though not of heinous nature, and was linked with some gangsters, they said. The others were his acquaintances. The sources said Manna belonged to Dhaipei village which is located near Jawaharke. He has not been formally arrested. The police found out that the assailants used Pradesh Assembly elections, has been arrested just a day New Delhi, May 30 ahead of PM Narendra The Enforcement Directorate Modi's visit to the Himalayan (ED) today arrested Delhi state on Tuesday. Health Minister and senior However, the ED action Aam Aadmi Party comes over a month (AAP) leader Satyendar after the agency issued Jain under criminal a provisional attachprovisions of the Prement order under the vention of Money LaunPMLA to seize assets dering Act (PMLA) in linked to Jain and his connection with his Satyendar Kumar family members, worth alleged involvement in a around Rs 4.81 crore. Accord“hawala transactions” case, ing to officials, the alleged officials said. hawala transactions for which Incidentally, Jain, who is Jain has been arrested “relate the party in-charge for the to a Kolkata-based company”. continued on page 9 upcoming Himachal Tribune News Service ‘Court, Constitution to decide Gyanvapi issue’ Will accept decision in letter & spirit: Nadda Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 30 Asserting that the BJP was always eager to “take everyone along”, party president JP Nadda today said issues like Gyanvapi mosqueShringar Gauri temple would be “decided by courts and the Constitution” and the party would follow the decision in letter and spirit. Addressing a press conference on the completion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s eight years in office, Nadda gave a detailed briefing on his achievements. “Prime Minister Modi has changed the political culture and ushered in a responsive and proactive government,” he said. Brushing aside suggestions that a section of the society feels alienated under the BJP-led government, Nadda said: “When we work politically, it is our endeavour to take everyone along. Our conduct is centered on the principle of a strong nation, one nation. Everyone will have an equal share.” On the question whether reclaiming temples at Kashi and Mathura was part of the BJP’s agenda, Nadda said the “court and Constitution will decide on it and the BJP will follow the decision in letter and spirit”. “The BJP only passed a resolution on the Ram Janmabhoomi issue at its national executive meeting (in 1989) at Palampur and after that there has been no resolution,” he said. continued on page 9 The car, believed to be used by assailants, found in Moga. INTERROGATION ON ■ One of the five persons detained has criminal record ■ CCTV footage shows ‘suspects’ having meal at Mansa dhaba ■ Raids in Bathinda, districts of Haryana and Rajasthan another car’s number plate on the Bolero vehicle used in the crime. The police were also investigating the role of some people who were seen in a CCTV footage procured from a continued on page 9 Delhi Health Minister Shruti tops UPSC, women get first 3 spots arrested in PMLA case Tribune News Service BJP president JP Nadda at a press conference in New Delhi. One from village near Jawaharke New Delhi, May 30 The top three positions for civil services examination, 2021, have been bagged by women, with Shruti Sharma, a student of history, securing the first rank. Ankita Agarwal and Gamini Singla of PEC have taken the second and third rank, respectively. Aishwarya Verma secured the fourth position and Utkarsh Dwivedi achieved the fifth rank, the UPSC said in an official release on Monday. A total of 685 candidates (508 men and 177 women) have qualified and have been Shruti Sharma Ankita Agarwal PEC’S GAMINI SINGLA THIRD ■ Ankita Agarwal comes sec- ■ Top 25 candidates comprise recommended for appointment to various central services, the UPSC said. Sharma, who has graduat- ed in history (hons.) from the University of Delhi, topped the examination with history as her optional subject. INCLEMENT WEATHER CAUSED CRASH Inclement weather was the reason behind the crash of the Tara Air plane, according to a preliminary investigation carried out by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. 15 men and 10 women IN BRIEF Champawat bypoll today, Dhami’s fate at stake NEW DELHI: The byelection to the Champawat Assembly seat in Uttarakhand will be held on Tuesday, deciding whether or not CM Pushkar Singh Dhami will continue in the office. BACK PAGE Three persons killed as storm batters Delhi NEW DELHI: Three persons died as New Delhi witnessed its first severe thunderstorm in four years as squally winds of 100 kmph pummeled the city on Monday, uprooting trees and damaging property. BACK PAGE Bhullar moves HC for ‘pre-mature release’ CHANDIGARH: Claiming to have completed 27 years of sentence, 1993 Delhi blast convict Davinderpal Bhullar has moved the Punjab and Haryana HC, demanding “pre-mature release”. TNS The wreckage of the crashed Tara Air plane seen scattered in a gorge at Sanosware in Mustang district of Nepal on Monday. AP/PTI als, two Germans and 13 Nepali passengers, besides a three-member Nepali crew. Rescuers have pulled out 21 bodies from the crash site, the Kathmandu Post newspaper reported. “The search and rescue teams are scouring the area for the remaining one body,” Sudarshan Bartaula, said a spokesperson for Tara Air. He said that out of the total recovered bodies, 10 had been brought to Kowang. 20K flags, 174 hoardings: Shimla set to receive PM today Bhanu P Lohumi Tribune News Service Arrangements being made for PM Narendra Modi’s rally at The Ridge in Shimla. PHOTO: LALIT KUMAR fied civil services exam, 2021 ond, PEC’s Gamini Singla third ■ 685 candidates have quali Nepal plane crash: 21 bodies recovered Kathmandu, May 30 Rescuers today recovered 21 bodies from the wreckage site of the Tara Air plane that crashed in Nepal’s mountainous Mustang district on Sunday with 22 persons on board, including four Indians, minutes after taking off from the tourist city of Pokhara, officials said. The turboprop Twin Otter 9N-AET plane went missing in the mountainous region of Nepal yesterday morning. The Canadian-built plane, flying from the city of Pokhara to the popular tourist town Jomsom in central Nepal, was carrying four Indian nation- Gamini Singla Second-rank holder Agarwal is an Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise) officer of the 2020 batch. A graduate in economics (hons.) from the University of Delhi, she had political science and international relations as her optional subject. Singla, a BTech in computer science from PEC, took sociology as her optional subject. The top 25 candidates comprise 15 men and 10 women. It is after six years that women have bagged the top three slots. In 2015, the top four positions were achieved by women. All the three women achievers said they continued on page 9 Shimla, May 30 Ahead of PM Narendra Modi’s rally at The Ridge on Tuesday, the BJP cadre has given the capital city a saffron look with party flags fluttering all over. The rally is being held to mark the eighth anniversary of the BJP-led Union Government. BJYM state president Amit Thakur said besides pamphlets and other material, nearly 20,000 flags and 174 hoardings had been put up. “We are expecting a gathering MODI GOVT’S 8TH ANNIV ■ Nearly 20,000 flags, 174 hoardings put up at The Ridge ■ Party expecting a turnout of over 50,000 people ■ 15 LED screens installed for public to watch rally live of over 50,000 people. We have installed 15 LED screens at different places to enable the public to watch the PM’s address live,” he said. The district administration has decided to close the road from Annandale to Kennedy House tomorrow for all vehi- Today’s issue is of 18 pages, including four-page Jalandhar Tribune. cles from 7 am to 2 pm. A major stretch of the road from the Vidhan Sabha to the Lift has been split into two parts for the PM’s cavalcade and pedestrians. The public will be allowed entry only from Scandal Point and Lakkar Bazaar and no bags will be allowed. Sitting arrangements have been made from Mahatma Gandhi statue till Gaiety Theatre. The PM will also hold a roadshow from Central Telegraph Office to Mother’s Choice store at The Mall. Sirsa villagers flag drugs, chowki staff transferred Tribune News Service Hisar, May 30 The authorities transferred the entire staff of the police chowki in Singhpura village of Sirsa district after villagers took up the issue of rampant drug peddling with Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar during his visit to the district yesterday. Police sources said villagers met the Chief Minister when he went to offer prayers at the gurdwara in Daduwal village in Sirsa district. Villagers of Daduwal and Singhpura complained that drugs were being supplied in their villages and youth were falling prey to Residents of Singhpura, bordering Punjab, meet CM over smuggling narcotics. They alleged that the police had failed to control the menace. The Chief Minister immediately directed Sirsa Superintendent of Police (SP) Arpit Jain to transfer the entire staff of the Singhpura chowki, which is located near the Punjab border. Khattar also expressed serious concern over the rising drug addiction among youth in Sirsa and Fatehabad districts during his speech in Odhan village continued on page 9