04062022-JTR-01.qxd 6/3/2022 11:32 PM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar TRIBUNE MAKING PHAGWARA GREEN ON CIVIC BODY’S MIND The MC has already started with plantation drives to mark World Environment Day falling on June 5. FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY PAGE 2 ‘WOMEN CAN NOW TALK ABOUT TABOO SUBJECTS IN CINEMA’ PAGE 3 WINNING SHOW IS ‘ROMANCE KI JEET’ FOR VICKY AND ANKITA Nushrratt Bharuccha will be essaying the role of condom seller in the upcoming movie Janhit Mein Jaari. MAX 41°C | MIN 24°C | YESTERDAY MAX 42°C | MIN 24°C SUNSET SATURDAY 7:28 PM PAGE 4 TV’s one of the most loved couples, Ankita Lokhande and Vicky Jain, has won Star Plus’ show Smart Jodi. SUNRISE SUNDAY 5:23 AM SATURDAY | 4 JUNE 2022 | JALANDHAR Scam worth ~29L unearthed in Phillaur, Jal East block villages INBRIEF GARHI MANSOWAL FORESTUPINFLAMES Garhshankar: The forest area in Garhi Mansowal village of Bet area under Garhshankar was up in flames on Friday. The fire even reached the houses adjoining Gurdwara Shaheed Singhan. Residents, however, prevented the fire from spreading further by pouring water. The fire tenders also reached but by them the forest wealth worth lakhs of rupees was already gutted. OC DDPO conducted two different inquiries and found funds were misused Dhuleta villagers take out a march against the police demanding that the sale of drugs be stopped in Goraya village of Phillaur. Dhuleta villagers protest youth’s death due to drug overdose SEDATIVES SEIZED, 1 ARRESTED Tribune News Service Hoshiarpur: Model Town police arrested a smuggler near Rahimpur during a naka on Wednesday and recovered a huge quantity of sedative capsules from him. The accused has been identified as Vinay Kumar of Bhim Nagar. After registering a case further probe is on. OC Jalandhar, June 3 Residents of Dhuleta village in Phillaur took to the streets on Thursday night after a youth died of an alleged drug overdose at the village. The villagers later also took out a protest march and held a dharna outside the police chowki at Dhuleta village in Phillaur in protest against the youth’s death. They alleged that the sale of drugs, which is easily available in the village, has been leading to deaths due to overdose. The 22-year-old victim has been identified as Sunny, a resident of Dhuleta village. The police have denied the death was due to overdose and claim it was a case of suicide. However, villagers vehemently deny the claim and maintained that the death was due to overdose. They claimed that they would hold a dharna again in a day or two if culprits facilitating the sale of drugs were not caught. Residents indulged in sloganeering against the police post staff and the AAP government in the village last evening. They even tried to lock the main gate of the police post at Dhuleta village. The dharna outside the police post was called off late last night after assurances by senior police officials. The villagers said while their village was earlier known for kabaddi players, it has now earned notoriety for drugs and children were falling prey to drugs. Videos of the village showing drugs being sold go viral from time to time. ATTACK WITH INTENT TO KILL Hoshiarpur: Kultardeep Singh of Chotala village lodged a complaint with the Tanda police. He said he was listening to the news on his mobile on the roof of his new house on Wednesday night. During this, an unidentified person came with a sharp weapon, who attacked him with the intention to kill him and injured him seriously. He said in view of his serious condition, he was sent to DMC Ludhiana, where he is under treatment. The police have registered a case against unidentified accused for attempt to murder. OC ELDERLY DIES IN ROAD ACCIDENT Hoshiarpur. An elderly person died after being hit by an unidentified vehicle. Indu Bala, a resident of Talwara, told the police that her father-in-law Tara Chand, was crossing the road on Wednesday, during which a vehicle passing by hit him and he died. After registering the case against unidentified driver, the police have started further action. OC Villagers said all this has been happening right under the nose of the police. There have been six to seven deaths due to drug overdose in the village. Meanwhile, with villagers attempting to lock up the police post, the police also rounded up several villagers who were later let off. Hardeep Singh, sarpanch of Dhuleta village, said, “Sunny died of a drug overdose. The cremation took place at 12 noon. The chowki is in the village and what stopped the police from coming and checking. 13year-olds are hooked to drugs. Many villagers from neighbouring areas, too, come to the village to buy drugs. We will not sit quiet until around seven to eight families selling drugs are caught. We will now put a permanent lock at the gates of the chowki if the police did not stop this. More deaths have also happened and even today, another youth is serious after he overdosed on intoxicants.” Dhuleta chowki in-charge Sub-Inspector Paramjit Singh said, “There has been no death due to drug overdose in the village. The youth committed suicide and hung himself to death on the night of June 1. In the morning, he was silently cremated. No one informed the police until then. We could not even get the youth’s postmortem conducted. In the evening, villagers held a dharna demanding sale of drugs be stopped in the village. They also gheraod the chowki. Aakanksha N Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Jalandhar, June 3 The embezzlement of panchayat funds to the tune of ~28 lakh has been reported from Phillaur village and Jalandhar East block village. District Development Panchayat Officer Iqbal Singh conducted two different inquiries into these blocks recently and found that funds were misused in villages in both the blocks. A detailed report has been prepared on how the sarpanches misused the funds that were received from the head office for various works. While in Chhokra village in Phillaur, a scam amounting to ~12,90,000 has come to the fore and in Ibrahim Khan village in Jalandhar Two booked in theft case Garhshankar, June 3 The Garhshankar police have registered a case against two accused in connection with the theft of taps installed in a house in Ibrahimpur village. The complainant, Joga Singh of Garhsankar in Hoshiarpur, told the police that he reached the Ibrahimpur village at 11 pm to look after his uncle Manjit Singh’s house, who had gone abroad along with his family. He said when he opened the gate of the house, he saw two persons were taking off taps installed in the bathroom of the house. While the accused had already put some taps in a plastic sack. Seeing him, the accused escaped by climbing the wall and riding a motorcycle. The accused were identified as Sanjay Singh and Sukhwinder Singh, both residents of Balachaur. A case was registered. — OC ‘TAKE ACTION AGAINST SARPANCHES’ ■ The DDPO has written to higher officials to act against the sarpanches. ■ The Chhokra village sarpanch allegedly used the panchayat funds for his personal works and got the amount transferred to his own account ■ The Ibrahim Khan sarpanch did not spend the entire money on various development works in the village me a week to conduct these ❝It tookfinished it, I informed about itinquires. The moment I to the higher authorities so that further action could be taken against the accused involved. Iqbal Singh, DDPO ❞ East block, a fraud of ~15,90,000 has been reported. The frauds were allegedly committed by sarpanches of respective villages. In both cases, the DDPO has written to higher officials to act against the sarpanches. The Chhokra village sarpanch allegedly used the panchayat funds for his personal works and got the amount transferred to his own account. The matter has been brought to the notice of Director of Rural Development and the Panchayat Department and it has been requested that a case under Section 20 of the Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, be filed against the accused. In East block, the sarpanch did not spend the entire money on various development works in the village. Funds granted for buying cement, interlocking tiles, gravel and other construction materials were not utilised in a proper manner. The amount that was received by the panchayat for various works was misused. The DDPO has written to the Vigilance Bureau in this regard for further investigation. Notably, fraud and scams in 497 acres of govt land vacated in Kapurthala Tribune News Service Kapurthala, June 3 The district administration has made a remarkable contribution to the Punjab Government’s drive against illegal encroachments on government lands, especially from shamlat land, by vacating 497 acres of government land in the district till May 31. The vacated land has been transferred to the Panchayat Department, which earns more than ~45 lakh, by giving it on lease through open bidding by village panchayats. Deputy Commissioner, Kapurthala, Vishesh Sarangal, who led the drive, informed that ~45.05 lakh had been deposited in the state exchequer by the 75 take part in 7.5-km rally ahead of 75th I-Day WORLD BICYCLE DAY ~45 lakh deposited in govt treasury with open bidding by panchayats Panchayat Department after bidding for the land by panchayats. The DC said as per the directions of the Punjab Government, the illegal occupants were requested to vacate government lands by May 31, which got a huge response from people as the administration encouraged them to do it voluntarily. He said the district administration had also launched a campaign to enforce the warrants issued by the District Development and Panchayat Officer-cum-Collector Panchayat Lands in favour of gram panchayats regarding shamlat lands. The DC said out of 497 acres, three acres of land vacated at Talwandi Chaudriyan village, three acres at Maheru, 74 acres at Lakhpur, 10 kanals at Bhabana, 128 acres at Khukhrain , 32 acres at Amanipur, 37 acres at Maqsoodpur, 176 acres at Alaudipur, four acres at Raipur Pir Bakhshwala and 38 acres at Narkat village. He further said the land vacated was given on lease by the village panchayats through open bidding except 37 acres at Maqsoodpur village. He said the orders had been issued to expedite the process of vacating land at Maqsoodpur. Continued on page 2 these villages are common. Every year several such scams are unearthed. Last year, the name of a former sarpanch of a village in Bhogpur block had also appeared in the inquiry report for allegedly misappropriating ~16,36,000. The sarpanch, whose tenure was from 2013 to 2018, was accused of misappropriating funds and not spending proper amount on the works of the village. As per the inquiry report, from 2013 to 2018, a grant of ~47,19,937 was received by the panchayat from the department, but the funds were not spent properly on development works. The inquiry reports also mentioned the involvement of a panchayat secretary for not maintaining the record. Fire at Pong Dam Power House Talwara, June 3 A fire broke out at the switch yard of the Pong Dam Power House located at the dam site on Thursday late evening. The reason behind the fire is said to be a sudden burst of a transformer installed there. Fire Department personnel at the dam site extinguished the fire with much effort. Bachittar Singh, the leading fire man of the BBMB, was in his office when a loud explosion was heard from the yard. The transformer burnt to ashes. Soon after the incident, all employees of the department, rushed to the site and doused the flames. Due to this incident, electricity of the Talwara Township Colony and Amroh sub-station of the PSPCL remained suspended for about two hours. — OC Five arrested with 3 pistols, 22 bullets near Hoshiarpur village Tribune News Service TRIBUNE PHOTO: MALKIAT SINGH Our Correspondent Jalandhar, June 3 Nehru Yuva Kendra in collaboration with the district administration organised a cycle rally to mark the World Bicycle Day on Friday. The rally held ahead of 75 years of Indian Independence covered 7.5 km and had 75 participants. ADC (Development) Varinder Pal Singh Bajwa and SDM Balbir Raj Singh flagged off the rally from the Punjab State War Memorial on Friday morning. The ADC urged the youth to adopt cycling as a part of their daily routine, so as to stay fit. The SDM said besides helping everyone in staying healthy, cycling would also help curb rising pollution. All participants were given certificates. Programme assistant Rishav Singla said the rally started from the war memorial, which has been chosen from among the 75 iconic sites for the forthcoming 75th Independence Day. The cyclists passed through BMC Chowk, World Bicycle Day is celebrated every year on June 3. It aims at developing a culture of cycling for basic transportation, commutation and strengthening physical and mental health Guru Nanak Mission Chowk, Dr BR Ambedkar Chowk, Bhagwan Valmiki Chowk, Sri Ram Chowk, Namdev Chowk, BMC Chowk and back at the starting point — the war memorial. Rally taken out till Bhagat Singh’s ancestral village in Nawanshahr Dedicated to Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav being celebrated throughout the country to imbibe the spirit of nationalism among people, the district administration on Friday organised a cycle rally from Government Senior Secondary School, Kahma, to Khatkar Kalan, the ancestral village of Bhagat Singh, on the occasion of World Bicycle Day. Flagging off the cycle rally, Deputy Commissioner Navjot Pal Singh Randhawa and District and Sessions Judge Kanwaljit Singh Bajwa said the aim of the rally was to promote a healthy lifestyle among the people and disseminate information about the glorious history of India’s freedom struggle, martyrs, culture and others. They encouraged people to Cycle rallies being taken out to mark World Bicycle Day in Jalandhar; and (above) in Nawanshahr, on Friday. It was dedicated to Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav being celebrated throughout the country to imbibe the spirit of nationalism among people. take up cycling not only for remaining fit and healthy but also for daily commuting in their lives. They said due to Covid-19, people had now become more health conscious and cycling was a very good exercise, which would not only improve their fitness but would also help in reducing pollution. They said everyone must do cycling and ride daily and become the ambassadors of the environment. They also solicited support for generating maximum awareness against the c m y b curse of drug menace. District Youth Officer, Nehru Yuva Kendra, Vandana Lao said as per the orders of the Youth Affairs and Sports Ministry, the bicycle rally was organised in which youth and students from different villages of Nawanshahr district participated enthusiastically. Prominent among those present on the occasion included Satnam Singh Kahma, coach Malkeet Singh Gosal, Balwant Rai, panchayat members and hundreds of volunteers from youth clubs. Hoshiarpur, June 3 The police arrested five persons, armed with firearms, who were going to attack another group out of revenge. The police seized three 7.65 mm pistols and 22 live cartridges, baseball stalk and sharp-edged weapons from them. A court has remanded them in four-day police custody for further interrogation. This was stated by SSP Sartaj Singh Chahal during a press conference held in the Police Lines here on Friday. He said a special campaign has been started by the police to control anti-social elements. For this, a special police team has been formed under the leadership of SP (D) Mukhtyar Rai. DSP (Rural) Prem Kumar and Inspector Baljinder Singh, incharge police station, Hariana, have also been included in the team. In response to a question, the SSP said acting on a tipoff, a special naka was laid by The five accused in the police custody were going to attack a criminal out of vengeance. the police near the Civil Hospital, Hariana. At the naka, a car was signalled to stop. When the police searched it, three pistols of 7.65mm, 22 live cartridges and sharp-edged weapons and baseball stalk were recovered from them. He said the accused were identified as Jaswinder Singh, alias Sonu, a resident of Pahari Gate, Hariana, against whom five cases were already registered in different police stations; Ajay Kumar, alias Ritak, a resident of New Colony, Dholwaha Road, Hariana; Sunny, alias Basi, a resident of Bajwara, Hoshiarpur; Sunil, alias Sahi, a resident of Shakala under Hargobindpur police station in Gurdaspur district; and Gaurav, a resident of Hamirpura, Amritsar district. The SSP said earlier too several cases were registered against some of the accused. Chahal said during interrogation, it came to the fore that Parminder Singh Ghodi, who already has a criminal record, was going to be attacked out of vengeance by the accused.