14062022-ATR-01.qxd 14-06-2022 00:08 Page 1 c m y b Amritsar TRIBUNE ‘WOMEN PLAYED SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN FREEDOM STRUGGLE’ Union Minister Dr Subhas Sarkar unveiled a book titled “Remembering Women Freedom Fighters” on Monday. FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY INBRIEF PAGE 2 LIGHTING UP LIVES: RICHA & ALI LAUNCH UNDERCURRENT LAB PAGE 3 Richa and Ali Fazal have set up an incubation programme for women who hope to work as gaffers in the industry. MAX 41°C | MIN 28°C | YESTERDAY MAX 43°C | MIN 28°C SUNSET TUESDAY 7:36 PM PAGE 4 BIG B IS BACK WITH QUIZ SHOW KAUN BANEGA CROREPATI Megastar Amitabh Bachchan recently announced the return of quiz show KBC on Sony TV with its 14th edition. SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 5:25 AM TUESDAY | 14 JUNE 2022 | AMRITSAR Residents lose sleep over rising crime graph 12 murder cases registered in the last one and a half months; spurt in crime leads to protests in city PK Jaiswar EASY AVAILABILITY OF ILLEGAL ARMS Tribune News Service ‘ELDER LINE’ TO CHECK ABUSE Amritsar: The district administration launched “Elder Line”, a toll free helpline for elderly to check abuse of the elderly by their family members. The helpline number — 14567 — can be used by people aged above 60 years of age. Social Security, Women and Child Development Officer Asees Inder Singh said senior citizens could also get information regarding various social security schemes from the toll-free number. He said every complaint received on the number would be responded to within two hours. Speaking on the occasion, ACP Manpreet Kaur also instructed the employees to ensure that all government schemes were made available even to homeless senior citizens. She said all such persons should be shifted to old age homes. TNS CAREER TALK FOR ENTREPRENEURS Amritsar: The Department of Employment Generation, Skill Development and Training (DEGSDT) announced to organise a career talk “Startups - Master your destiny” on June 15. The key speakers for the event will be Hardeep Singh, Senior Consultant, Invest Punjab, and Priya Singh, Managing Director, Black Eye Technologies. The objective behind the event is to help state youth by providing them with expert opinion on how they can shape their future and can decide their own fate by investing in their own business. The key focus areas of the career talk will be to guide the aspiring entrepreneurs on how to start their own venture and how government schemes can help fulfill their dreams, said Rajesh Tripathi, Additional Mission Director, DEGSDT. The event would be telecast live at the link https://fb.me /e/3dM2obxup at 11 am on Wednesday. TNS MINISTER JOINS PLANTATION DRIVE Amritsar: Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal on Monday participated in a tree plantation drive organised by residents of the Dream City residential locality. Speaking on the occasion, Dhaliwal expressed concerns regarding the depleting water table. The minister stated that everyone should at least plant one tree. “All of us look for a tree to park our vehicles in shade during summers but most of us are never bothered about planting a tree or watering it,” he said. The residents of the area stated that 1,100 trees were planted on the occasion. TNS COVID: 2 POSITIVE CASES REPORTED Amritsar: With two positive cases reported in the district on Monday, the Covid tally increased to 59,491. The district health department also reported recovery of one patient, with which the total recovery count has increased to 57,796. The district, at present, has a total of 13 active cases. TNS Amritsar, June 13 The deteriorating law and order situation in the state, especially in the holy city, has triggered widespread condemnation of the ruling dispensation with the city witnessing as many as 12 murder cases in the last one and a half months. Out of these, six were killed in firing instances. The spurt in incidents of crime, including robbery, snatching and firing, led to protests by various organisations and political parties in the city on Monday. A sense of insecurity has crept into the general public. They feel insecure while venturing out of their houses during late evening hours. Hardly a day passes when incidents of robbery and snatching are not reported. The alarming situation could be gauged from the latest instance in which an Assistant Sub-Inspector was shot at by armed robbers in broad daylight at Talwandi Ghuman village falling under the Kathunangal police station here. He suffered bullet injuries on the leg. After committing the crime, the accused fled from the spot. While personal enmity was cited as the reason behind these murders, some of victims were killed during robbery attempts. In a majority of cases, illegal weapons were used in the crime. A police official pointed out that easy availability of illegal arms from UP Bihar, Madhya , Pradesh and Maharashtra was one of the reasons behind the recent spurt. Eulogising gun culture in songs was also impacting young impressionable minds, they added. Workers and leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party, SAD (women wing) and Sikh Students Federation (Grewal) held demonstrations at different parts of the city and raised slogans against the AAP government. The BJP local unit headed by district president Suresh Mahajan burnt an effigy of the state government in Hathi Gate area. Speaking on the occasion, Mahajan said gangsters and notorious criminals had become more powerful who were committing crime without any fear of the law. They are committing crime at will, but the police remain a mute spectator. continued on page 2 ■ According to the police, illegal arms were available in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh at cheaper rates. Ironically, the Punjab Police were finding it difficult to check sneaking of these illegal weapons into the state if investigations carried out in previous seizures are anything to go by. ■ Wishing not to be named, a police official said these weapons were manufactured in Meerut, Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, Munger in Bihar and Malwa-Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh. He said these weapons were being sold at a cost between ~5,000 and ~1 lakh depending on their calibre and quality. ■ Petty criminals having access to these weapons do not think twice before using it. Firing incidents even over minor quarrels have increased, creating a law and order problem. FIRING & MURDERS RECORDED ■ June 12 – A Dubai-based NRI ■ June 2 – A youth was shot dead was shot dead when he along with his family was going to pay obeisance at a gurdwara. The police held his wife and her paramour among three persons for murder. ■ June 12 – A woman was found strangled to death at her residence in Gwal Mandi area in Putlighar here. ■ June 11 – A shopkeeper was shot dead by an AAP volunteer and son of a councillor in 100foot road area. ■ June 10 – Two armed persons fired in the air in Guru Ka Wadali area ■ June 9 – Firing led to panic in Guru Ki Wadali area when several armed persons fired in the air and ransacked a house over a minor dispute. ■ June 8 – A man was shot at by his brother-in-law who was unhappy with the marriage. ■ June 5 – A land dispute led to firing in Rajasansi area. ■ June 4 – An elderly man was gunned down when he resisted miscreants’ bid to snatch a scooter from two girls at Dhing Nangal village in Majitha. while his friend was injured in broad daylight firing outside Khalsa College. ■ May 29 – A Gujarat tourist lost her life when snatchers pulled her out of an auto-rickshaw while going to airport for taking a return flight. ■ May 20 – Firing over a land dispute left a man dead and another injured at Kiragarh village under Tarsikka police station area. ■ May 17 – A man was shot dead and his relatives were injured near Manawala village in a robbery bid ■ May 15 – A man was beaten to death in Kot Khalsa area over illicit relations. ■ May 12 – A man was killed over a land dispute at Bhangwa village in Majitha subdivision of the district. ■ May 3 – A youth was murdered while his parents were injured in Nangal Dayal village over illicit relations. ■ May 1 – A retired man was killed by his son in Naraingarh village falling under the Tarsikka police station. ASI shot at by snatchers Notorious criminal opens fire Inmate hurt in clash at jail BJP workers and members of the Sikh Students Federation along with Shiromani Akali Dal (women wing) workers (below) hold protest against the state government over the deteriorating law and order situation in the state, in Amritsar on Monday. PHOTOS: SUNIL KUMAR WHAT POLICE HAVE TO SAY one or ❝Barringall casestwo ❝Intoleranceamong instances, were people, especially youth, Police Commissioner Arun Pal Singh on the spot where the Dubai-based NRI was shot dead in Amritsar on Sunday. Amritsar: An ASI, identified as Satnam Singh, of the Amritsar rural police, was shot at by two unidentified armed persons at Talwandi Ghuman village here on Sunday. He was waiting for his wife Satinder Kaur on a bike when the accused came and tried to snatch his purse. When he resisted their attempt, they shot at him. He suffered injury on his thigh. He told the police that he had gone to pick up his wife at the Talwandi Ghuman bus stop. He said two unidentified youths came from the Jaintipur side and stopped near him enquiring about the route. He said the pillion rider took out a pistol and point- ed at him asking to hand over his purse. He said he resisted their attempt which led to a scuffle. He said he caught one of the accused, but his accomplice shot at him which hit his thigh. He said in the meantime his wife came there and raised an alarm following which the accused fled from the spot. He was rushed to a private hospital. The police have registered a case under Sections 392 (robbery) and 397 (using weapon in robbery) of the IPC and Sections 25, 27, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act against unidentified robbers. The police said CCTV cameras in the area were being analysed for finding some clues about robbers. cracked and the accused were nominated. Efforts were on to nab them. Most of the incidents occurred due to personal enmity. ❞ Swarndeep Singh, SSP, AMRITSAR RURAL has led to a spurt in crime. Easy access to illegal arms from states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh has worsened the situation. ❞ Parminder Singh Bhandal, DCP Old enmity: Victim escapes unhurt Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 13 A notorious criminal Sony Cylinder fired several gunshots at a youth here late last evening. The youth escaped unhurt from the spot while the accused also ran away. An old enmity is stated to be the reason behind the incident. Mamta, a relative of the victim, said she along with her brother-in-law Manish and his friend had come near the railway crossing in Islamabad area when Sonu came there on a scooter and fired at Empty shells recovered from Islamabad area. TRIBUNE PHOTO Manish Gai. Following a narrow escape, he ran away from the spot for his safety. She said the accused used to abuse and open fire at him to intimidate them earlier too. Government Railway Police SHO Dharminder Kalyan said Sonu along with another accomplice Kanwal came on a scooter and fired four gun shots at Manish. Sonu had an old enmity with Manish which was the reason behind the incident. He has several criminal cases registered against him, the SHO added. He said the police have recovered empty shells from the scene of crime. He said a case under Section 336 of the IPC and Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act was registered against him and raids were on to nab him. He was absconding from his house since the incident. Amritsar, June 13 A jail inmate was injured in a clash that broke out between two groups of prisoners in the Amritsar Central Jail here on Sunday. The injured, Nikhil Kumar, was taken to the jail hospital for treatment. The Islamabad police have booked four prisoners for assaulting fellow prisoners and injuring Nikhil. Those booked have been identified as Sahil Kumar, Kanish Kumar, Gaurav Kumar and Sukhdev Singh. The staff seized an iron piece from the accused which was handed over to the police. A case under Section 52 of the Prisons Act was registered against them. — TNS Capt Bhinder who turned saviour Rising incidents of crime make remembered on 25th death anniv residents avoid outings in city Tribune News Service UPHAAR FIRE TRAGEDY Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 13 The fateful day on June 13, 1997, at Uphaar Cinema in Green Park, Delhi, during the screening of JP Dutta’s epic war saga Border, turned into India’s worst fire tragedies in recent years as fire eruption claimed 59 lives. While the film had actors playing roles of war-heroes during the Battle of Longewala in 1971 on screen, off the screen, Capt Manjinder Singh Bhinder turned a real-life hero for many stuck in the deadly fire tragedy. The hero Capt Manjinder Singh Bhinder of Uphaar cinema fire, Capt Manjinder Singh Bhinder, whose bravery and sacrifice to save the lives of people stuck in fire, was commemo- rated by his family members on his 25th death anniversary, which also marks the 25th anniversary of the tragedy. For the uninitiated, Capt Bhinder along with his fouryear-old son Prabhsimran Singh and wife Jyot Saroop Kaur had died in the Uphaar cinema fire tragedy in 1997. Captain Bhinder had decided to stay back and save people through the safe passage as the fire broke out. Before sacrificing his life, the gallant officer had saved the lives of many people. After his death, his parents mother Gurnam Kaur and father Capt Vardeep Singh had settled at Chowk Mehta, c m y b their native village. They passed away in 2020. The then government had built a stadium at Udho Nangal Government School and a gate at his native village Mehta Chowk, in his memory. Tributes were paid by natives, local residents and prominent personalities of the village remembering Capt Bhinder’s selfless act. His three sisters — Sukhminder Kaur, who is posted as district ayurvedic officer in Gurdaspur; Gursinder Kaur, who resides in Chandigarh, and Pritpal Kaur, who is based in Muscat — supported the remembrance ceremony by sharing memories of their brother. Amritsar, June 13 The increasing incidents of crime, especially murders and firings, in the city in recent past has panicked people who are asking the government to rein in such incidents. The feeling that anyone could be a victim of crime is forcing people to stay at home in the evenings instead of enjoying their social life. “The other day we had planned a get-together with friends at a banquet on the outskirts of the city. When we entered the parking, we saw two groups fighting with each other,” said Sneha, a local resident, adding that “they immediate- The recent instance in which a cop was shot in the leg by snatchers makes people believe that if members of law-enforcing agencies are not safe, they too are not safe ly returned to their home”. Jagseer Singh, another resident, said, “I never allow my children to attend birthday parties of their friends, especially if these are being organised in hotels. Who knows who is carrying a weapon and what would prompt him to shoot someone.” Almost everyone seems to be worried about the growing crime rate and the safety of their loved ones. The recent instance in which a cop was shot in the leg by snatchers makes people believe that if members of lawenforcing agencies are not safe, they too are not safe. “These days patience seems to be missing in youth, that is why, even a minor incident could turn into a bloody clash,” said Rattan Singh, a senior citizen. They said as compared to incidents murder and firing reported recently, snatchings and bike thefts seem minor crimes. “There is a sense of discomfort among resident. Don’t know whether our children would return safely every time they go out,” said Gurinder Kaur, a mother.