09062022-ATR-01.qxd 6/8/2022 11:43 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar TRIBUNE BORDER SECURITY FORCE FOILS ATTEMPT TO SMUGGLE HEROIN The BSF troops of Amritsar sector found two packets of contraband, suspected to be heroin, from fields. MAINLY CLEAR SKY INBRIEF DRONE SPOTTED NEAR BORDER Tarn Taran: A drone was spotted in Khalra sector of the border belt around 11.50 on Tuesday night. The firing and illumination bomb used by the BSF forced the Pakistani elements to take the drone back to their sides. Sources in the BSF said a sound was heard at 11.50 by jawans of the 71 Battalion of the BSF near BOP Karma in Khalra sector. The jawans fired eight rounds and attacked with illumination bombs. A team of officials from the Khalra Police station was called to the spot to launch a search operation, but due to darkness it was postponed to early morning, which was started at 5 am. Tarsem Masih, DSP, Bhikhiwind, said a joint operation was launched in the morning by the BSF and the police for hours, but nothing objectionable was found from the spot, though every inch was covered by the searching party. It was the 18th movement of the drone in the border belt of the district though nothing illegal had been despatched by even a single drone. OC BIKER DIES IN ROAD ACCIDENT Tarn Taran: A biker died in a road accident near Naushehra Pannuan late on Tuesday. The deceased has been identified as Harjit Singh (50), a resident of Bhathal-Bhai-Ke. He, after dropping his friend at Naushehra Pannuan, was going back to his village on his bullet. ASI Gajjan Singh, incharge of police post Naushehhra Pannuan, said the deceased was driving the bike rashly and lost control over it on way back and hit a roadside tree. He died on the spot. The deceased had retired as head constable from the BSF. A FIR under Section 174 of the CrPC was registered on the statement of Mukhtar Singh, father of the deceased, the ASI said. OC TAX COMMISSIONER ASSUMES CHARGE Tarn Taran: Rajmandeep Kaur assumed the charge of the District Sales Tax Commissioner (DSTC) on Wednesday. She succeeded Sunil Kumar who had been transferred to Jalandhar by the department. After taking the charge, Rajmandeep, in a meeting with her staff, guided them to work according to the department norms. OC PAGE 3 HUMA QURESHI WRAPS UP SHOOT OF TARLA DALAL BIOPIC Actress Huma Qureshi will soon be seen essaying the role of India’s first-ever home chef Tarla Dalal. MAX 44°C | MIN 28°C | YESTERDAY MAX 45°C | MIN 29°C SUNSET THURSDAY 7:34 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 5:25 AM From jail to freedom via hospital Government hospitals becoming easy, convenient escape route for prisoners THE TRIBUNE SPECIAL ON THE RUN Manmeet Singh Gill ■ May 6: Manpreet Singh, a resident of Dhindsa village in Tribune News Service Jallandhar booked by Mohali police for dacoity, had escaped from GMC ward after hoodwinking the guards and cajoling them to get permission to remove the handcuffs on the pretext of going to the washroom ■ January 14: A female prisoner Talwinder Kaur from Tarn Taran district, who was arrested with her husband in a snatching case, escaped from the gynaecology ward, where she was admitted for treatment ■ October 8, 2021: An undertrial Tarsem Singh, alias Kairon Pehalwan, from Tarn Taran, had escaped from the orthopaedic ward of the Government Medical College, where he was brought for treatment by the jail staff. Later, three guards were booked for dereliction of duty Amritsar, June 8 In the absence of proper security arrangements, the Government Medical College here seems to have become a convenient and easy escape route for the undertrials and prisoners lodged at the Central Jail here. The first step in the modus operandi is to get a referral for admission to the GMC from the medical staff in the jail. Next comes building trust with the jail wardens deputed for security at the hospital. And then comes finding the right moment to escape without raising any suspicion. The first step, though tough, is not impossible for the men with means, claim sources. For the influential, getting a referral for admission to the hospital for ‘holidaying’ outside the dreary jail is also not a secret. Roadways union not to go on strike Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 8 Members of the Punjab Roadways, Punbus and PRTC Contractual Workers’ Union decided to call off their strike, which was scheduled for three days from Wednesday. The union called off the strike after senior officials of the Transport Department conveyed to them that the government has sought time to discuss their demands with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Transport Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar. Kuljit Singh, president, Punbus Contractual Workers’ Union, said the motive to go on strike was to impress upon the government to give appointment to the union representatives so that they could raise their demands. Now, they have got the same without bothering passengers in blistering heat. Their major demand include regularisation of contractual staff. After repeated assurances by previous governments, they have not been Continued on page 2 In the recent incident, Manpreet Singh, a resident of Dhindsa village in Jalandhar booked by Mohali police for dacoity, had escaped from GMC ward on Monday after hoodwinking the guards and cajoling them to get permission to remove the handcuffs on the pretext of going to the washroom. In a similar incident on January 14 this year, a female prisoner Talwinder Kaur from Tarn Taran district, who was arrested with her husband in a snatching case, escaped from the gynaecology ward, where she was admitted for treatment. In another instance on October 8 last year, an undertrial Tarsem Singh, alias Kairon Pehalwan, also from Tarn Taran, had escaped from the orthopaedic ward of the Government Medical College, where he was brought for treatment by the jail staff. Later, three guards were booked for dereliction of duty. From petty criminals to those booked under heinous crimes, all have found hospitals an easy escape route. Hospital authorities on the other hand believe that security of the undertrials and prisoners brought from jail is the responsibility of the jail staff. The jail officials, however, claim that prisoners are sent Gang of robbers busted, 3 arrested Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 8 The Government Railway Police (GRP) claimed to have busted a gang of robbers by arresting three of its members here on Wednesday. Those arrested have been identified as Pradeep of Fatehpur, Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, currently residing near the Amritsar railway station; Shivam Kumar, alias that we will not tolerate threats being issued to those who have been on strike for the past nearly a week. The government had issued a letter stating that the norm of 'no work no pay' will be introduced, which we opposed by joining the protest. Harpreet Singh Kohli, ❞ CONVENER, TALMEL COMMITTEE << Tehsils complex wears a deserted look in Amritsar. WORK HIT IN TARN TARAN AS WELL Tarn Taran: The pen-down strike by patwaris, kanungos, employees of the DC and SDM offices in support of the Revenue Department officers paralysed normal work in most of the offices in the district on Wednesday. The officers of the Revenue Department were already on mass casual leave till Wednesday against the suspension of four officers at the state level for certain irregularities. The patwaris and kanungos jointly marched towards the office of Deputy Commissioner Moneesh Kumar and submitted a memorandum in the name of the state government regarding their demands. Sarabjit Singh Sandhu, district president of the Patwar Union, and Puran Singh of the Kanungo Association, led the delegation that went to submit the memorandum. They said the state government had threated them against supporting the agitation, which was just to censure the voice of the agitating officials. The leaders confirmed that they would go on supporting the agitation of officers of the Revenue Department ignoring the warnings of the state government. The organisations demanded to accede to all current demands of the Revenue Department officers and the soon as ❝Asfinancial the Tribune News Service vetting completes, the tendering process will be completed in three months. ❞ Sandeep Singh, SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER IN-CHARGE PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION UNIT << The Kairon market site, where a multi-level automated parking lot will come up, in Amritsar. PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR multi-level car parking facility at Kairon market on October 2018. No vendor could fulfil the requirements of ASCL and the authorities failed to find a vendor later as well. In 2020, the city-level technical committee revised the cost of multi-level car parking at Kairon market as steel c m y b prices were raised. Earlier, the cost of the project was ~18.24 crore, which had been revised to ~32 crore. Continued on page 2 Chhotu, of Motihari, Bihar; and Mohit Kumar of Hathi Gate area in Amritsar. Sub-Inspector Harjit Singh of GRP said they got a tip-off about the accused involved in robberies and stealing luggage of railway passengers. We got information that Pardeep, Shivam and Mohit were planning for some robbery while sitting on the railway lines under the Bhandari Continued on page 2 The three members of the robbers’ gang in the custody of the GRP in Amritsar on Wednesday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR were ❝We to theon strike to convey government Tribune News Service Charanjit Singh Teja projects were announced by ASCL in 2017. ASCL had first released a tender for design, operation and maintenance for 10 years of fully automated to the hospitals outside the jail premises only after proper verification and when such treatment is not possible at the jail hospital. “There needs to be a proper and high security ward for prisoners and undertrials at the hospital that can be properly guarded. At GMC presently, keeping an eye on prisoners especially if they are in different wards is a difficult task,” a jail official said. THURSDAY | 9 JUNE 2022 | AMRITSAR Revenue officers call off strike after govt assurance Amritsar, June 8 Tehsils remained closed on Wednesday owing to the strike call given by the Punjab Revenue Officers’ Association. It was eventually called off by the evening following an assurance of the government. Clerical staff, talmel committee, Revenue Patwar Union and Revenue Kanungo Association also extended support to the strike. A joint delegation handed over a memorandum, addressed to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, in this regard to the DC. Harpreet Singh Kohli, convener of the talmel committee, said they were on strike to convey to the government that they would not tolerate threats being issued to those who have been on strike for the past nearly a week. The government had issued a letter stating that the norm of ‘no work no pay’ would be introduced, which they opposed by joining the protest. The revenue offices, including that of tehsildars and naib tehsildars, were closed due to the strike and visitors had no option but to return without getting their works done. PAGE 4 Bollywood diva will be seen judging the show alongside Remo D’souza giving a chance to all super moms. 5 yrs on, automated parking at Kairon market yet to see the light of day Amritsar, June 8 The multi-level automated parking lots proposed under the Smart City project seems to be a distant dream as the tendering process is yet to materialise. Senior officials of Amritsar Smart City Limited (ASCL) claimed that the case of automated parking at Kairon market has been sent to the Local Government Department for financial vetting. As per the proposed plan, there would be a total of seven floors (two underground) at the proposed Kairon market parking. The cars would be parked automatically in the lots. The parking would facilitate several markets near Hall Bazaar and Katra Jaimal Singh. The automated parking URMILA MATONDKAR ROPED IN AS JUDGE FOR DID SUPER MOMS PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR FORECAST PAGE 2 A delegation of patwaris and kanungos submits a memorandum to the Tarn Taran DC on Wednesday. GURBAXPURI employees. Meanwhile, the general public which came to the offices for their work had to face harassment. The DC has appealed to all patwaris and kanungos to cooperate with the state government. OC Unhappy over love marriage, man fires at brother-in-law Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 8 Unhappy over his sister’s love marriage, a man fired at her husband at Manawala here on Wednesday. Amritpal Singh, the victim, who is a resident of Krishna Nagar received two bullets — one in the stomach and another in the leg. The accused has been identified as Charanjit Singh, a resident of Jandiala. According to the wife of the victim, she married Amritpal Singh two months ago and her brother Charanjit was unhappy over this decision. On Wednesday, when Amritpal and her wife was returning from Manawala, Charanjit came on a bike. He intercepted the auto-rickshaw and fired two gunshots targeting Amritpal. He fell on the road. The victim was rushed to a private hospital on Circular Road. Amritpal is undergoing treatment, while Charanjit is still at large. The police have registered a case and further probe is on. Leaderless Cong cadres a disheartened lot in city Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 8 With two of the five Assembly constituencies having been already rendered leaderless within months of the debacle in the state Assembly elections, grassroots Congress workers and leaders are not only confused but also disheartened. With senior party leaders going into hibernation after the poll debacle, the leaderless cadres have been left rudderless. Of the five constituencies in the city, two — the Amritsar East earlier represented by Congress stalwart Navjot Singh Sidhu and the Amritsar West represented by former Cabinet minister While Navjot Sidhu is in jail at present in a fourdecade-old culpable homicide case, Raj Kumar Verka quit the party to join the BJP. With rumours of more Congress leaders joining the saffron party in the near future, the party workers are discouraged as they see a bleak future. Raj Kumar Verka — are at present leaderless as the party is yet to make interim appointments. While Navjot Singh Sidhu is at present in the jail as he was convicted in a nearly four-decade-old culpable homicide case, Raj Kumar Verka has quit the party to join the BJP With rumours of . more Congress leaders joining the saffron party in the near future, the party workers are discouraged as they see a bleak future. A local Congress leader close to Raj Kumar Verka said, “It (Raj Kumar’s joining the BJP) was such a shock that nobody could believe it. Even his security guards and personal staff were in the dark.” However, it is yet to be seen if his loyalists from the Continued on page 2