27062022-ATR-01.qxd 6/26/2022 11:38 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar TRIBUNE MASS CAMPAIGNS ON ILL-EFFECTS OF DRUGS NEED OF THE HOUR PAGE 2 Concerted efforts & decisive action against anti-social elements/mafias will help eradicate menace: Residents FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY INBRIEF VEGGIE GROWER ROBBED OF MOPED Tarn Taran: Three armed persons robbed a poor vegetable grower of his Activa (Moped) (PB-46 AF-0643) at the flyover on National Highway No.54 at Aladinpir village here on Saturday. The victim, Sukhwinder Singh, was going to the local grain market to sell his crop (lady’s finger) in the morning. He was stopped on the flyover by the three armed persons who robbed him of his two-wheeler at pistol point. The robbers fled away while threatening him. Sadar police have registered a case under Section 379-B of the IPC in this regard. OC NRI ARRESTED WITH BULLETS Amritsar: Security staff at Amritsar airport arrested a Germany-based NRI, Subash Chander, and recovered three live bullets from his possession. He was to board a Doha-bound flight and during checking the bullets were found from his luggage. He could not give satisfactory answers and therefore was booked by the police under the Arms Act. TNS CRIMINAL HELD WITH PISTOL Amritsar: Beas police have arrested a notorious criminal, identified as Vishal Soni, alias Mani Filter, and recovered an illegal pistol from his possession. He was produced in a court, which remanded him in police custody. SI Raghubir Singh, investigating officer in the case, said he was arrested at a check-point near Beas following a tip-off. He was coming from the Jandiala Guru side in a car. During the search, the police recovered a .32 bore calibre pistol from his possession. He had three criminal cases — two for possessing drugs and one for attempt to murder — registered against him. Further investigations were under way to ascertain the source of the weapon. Meanwhile, city police arrested Munish Kumar and Manpreet Singh of Navi Abadi Faizpura with a country-made pistol of .30 bore along with 10 live bullets of 7.62mm. TNS MINOR RAPED, YOUTH BOOKED Amritsar: A 15-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a youth, identified as Manpreet Singh of Dhulka village, on the June 2425 intervening night. The victim’s mother said they were sleeping in the verandah when the victim went missing. The family members searched for her, but could not trace her. At 3am Manpreet dropped her in the street and fled away. The victim said the accused gave him water laced with some intoxicant and later raped her. The police have registered a case under Section 376 of the IPC and Section 4 of the POCSO Act against Manpreet and raids were on to arrest him. TNS MISS BULGARIA MARGO SAYS SHE IS TOTALLY INTO BOLLYWOOD SRK took to his Insta handle on June 25 and held a live session with his fans, celebrating his 30 years in the industry. MAX 40°C | MIN 29°C | YESTERDAY MAX 40°C | MIN 27°C SUNSET MONDAY 7:39 PM PAGE 4 Actress and Miss Bulgaria 2019 Margo Cooper is determined to make it big in the Hindi film industry now! SUNRISE TUESDAY 5:27 AM MONDAY | 27 JUNE 2022 | AMRITSAR MC all set Major fire breaks out at city hotel single-use to ban plastic Three staff members rescued | No loss of life reported Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 26 A major fire broke out at Hotel Pannu International on the Court Road late on Saturday night. No casualty was reported and the firefighters rescued three persons from the blaze. According to the information, the fire broke out around 11 pm inside the hotel. The Fire Department was informed, but before the fire tenders arrived, more than half of the hotel was up in flames. The fire spread rapidly due to the excessive wooden work and flammable material used for decoration. The firemen found that three persons were trapped inside. They were rescued safely. Around eight fire tenders of the MC and Sewa Society worked for around three hours to completely douse the flames. More than half of the hotel building was damaged in the inci- Amritsar, June 26 Come July and the health officials of the Municipal Corporation will impose a ban on single-use plastic. Already gearing up for it, they will conduct awareness campaigns to make residents aware of the ill-effects of plastic after which its ban would be implemented soon. The state government had announced a ban on singleuse plastic to reduce carbon emissions at a state-level function to mark World Environment Day on June 5. Municipal health officer said the use of single-use plastic would be stopped from July, for which he urged the sanitary inspectors and community facilitators to spread awareness about the ban on singleuse plastic among residents. Instructions were also issued regarding not to sell single-use plastic to traders and shopkeepers. Mayor Karamajit Singh Rintu also asked residents to cooperate with the MC to make the city clean, green and healthier. “The ban on single-use plastic will be imposed from July 1 to make the city healthier. The AAP government is committed to mak- A major fire broke out at Hotel Pannu International on the Court Road in Amritsar late on Saturday night. TRIBUNE PHOTOS dent. A car parked in the hotel was also damaged. Fire Department officials claimed that no one was hurt. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. The operation was led by Covid-19: Another death reported within a week District reports seven fresh cases Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 26 With the death of another patient due to Covid-19 on Sunday, the toll due to the disease in the district climbed to 1,684. The district health authorities have also reported seven positive cases on Sunday, with which the total count of infections from the district increased to 59,553. In the recent spate of infections, the district has reported two deaths in the past one week. The district health authorities have reported a total of 76 positive cases in the month of June so far. The district health officials said the recent deaths due to COVID UPDATE NEW CASES TOTAL CASES NEW DEATHS TOTAL DEATHS ACTIVE 7 59,553 1 1,684 47 the viral infection were a cause for concern. The district has reported a total of 1,684 deaths so far, of which 1,682 were reported before February 28. With the viral infection again starting to claim lives after a gap of nearly four months, the health authorities said the reasons for the recent increase in infections were being ascertained. The district at present has a total of 47 active cases. 3 ARRESTED WITH SEDATIVE PILLS Amritsar: Kathunangal police have arrested Malkeet Singh of Mattewal and Ravinder Singh of Bhilowal village with over 900 intoxicating tablets. ASI Jagjit Singh said the accused were held from Kaironangal village. They were travelling on a bike when they suddenly took a Uturn after seeing a police party. They were overpowered and during the search 910 tablets were recovered from them. A case under the NDPS Act was registered against them. TNS PAGE 3 SHAH RUKH GETS CANDID WITH FANS IN AN INSTA LIVE SESSION fire officials Anil Luthra and Ravinder Kumar. “Soon after getting the information, we reached the spot. Three of the hotel staff were inside. We rescued them. Then, we controlled the blaze to prevent it from spreading to nearby buildings. The reason behind the fire is unknown. The workers claim it might be due to a short-circuit,” a fire official said. The hotel witnessed major damage to the building and furniture. Panic gripped residents in nearby localities on Court Road as flames were quite high. The fire was doused completely around 2 am. Writers’ appeal — pass Library Act Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 26 Managing director of Punjabi Writers’ Co-operative Society Charanjit Singh Gumtala wrote to Speaker, Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Kultar Singh Sandhwan, and Sunam MLA Aman Arora urging them to pass the Library Act in the current Assembly session. Punjab is the only state in the country that has not enacted this law. Even the neighbouring state of Haryana passed such a law in 1983, 39 years ago. It was drafted in Punjab in 2012 by then Education Minister Seva Singh Sekhwan and he had said that the Punjab Government would issue an ordinance in this regard. “The governments has opened liquor vends, but no libraries, which shows that ❝The governments has opened liquor vends, but no libraries, which shows that they do not know that books are a source of knowledge and that there is a library in the primary school and there is a library period in every school in the United States and Canada. Every student brings a new book every week and returns the previous book. The AAP government is a very educated. Therefore, it should enact the Library Act on a priority. Charanjit Singh Gumtala, MD, PUNJABI WRITERS' CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY ❝Residents should to cooperate with the MC make the city clean, green and healthier. The ban on single-use plastic will be imposed from July to make the city healthier. The AAP government is committed to making the city clean, green and pollution-free. Efforts are being made in this direction. Residents and shopkeepers should cooperate with the MC to curb plastic menace. Karamajit Singh Rintu, MAYOR ❞ ing the city clean, green and pollution-free. Efforts are being made in this direction. Residents and shopkeepers should cooperate with the MC to curb plastic menace, the Mayor said. Single-use plastic is most commonly used for packaging and servicewares such as bottles, wrappers, straws and bags. Earlier, the government had imposed a ban on plastic carry bags, but there was no strict implementation of the orders. All kinds of polythene bags are available in the market. ❞ they do not know that books are a source of knowledge and that there is a library in the primary school and there is a library period in every school in the United States and Canada. Every student brings a new book every week and returns the previous book,” Gumtala said. “The Aam Aadmi Party government is a very educated government. Therefore, this government should enact the Library Act on a priority,” he said. According to Gumtala, in a letter to the Chief Minister, the DPI (Colleges) had sent a Continued on page 2 ■ Single-use plastic is most commonly used for packaging and servicewares such as bottles, wrappers, straws and bags ■ Earlier, the government had imposed a ban on plastic carry bags, but there was no strict implementation of the orders ■ Despite ban, all kinds of polythene bags are available in the market INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST DRUG ABUSE AND ILLICIT TRAFFICKING Smugglers’ property worth ~9.56 cr attached in 5 yrs Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 26 The financial investigation unit of the Special Task Force (STF) has frozen moveable and immovable assets worth over ~9.56 crore of different smugglers nabbed by it in the past five years. Rashpal Singh, AIG, STF , said special emphasis has been laid on freezing properties of smugglers which they made with the help of the illgotten money from illicit drug trade. “We are in the process of verifying the details of ‘benami’ properties and land holdings of these smugglers and more would be frozen in the near future,” he said. Since its conception in 2017, the STF had seized 347-kg heroin besides over 8-kg charas and 39-kg opium. It also confiscated over 90-kg of intoxicating powder and drug proceeds worth ~1.97 crore, gold and silver ornaments weighing around 183gm and 186gm, respectively. It registered as many as 458 FIRs and arrested 941 smugglers and their accomplices during the period. ❝Special emphasis has been laid on To mark International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Special Task Force AIG Rashpal Singh narrates the achievement of the STF in the past five years. SUNIL KUMAR Talking about the latest trends in smuggling, he said gangsters based in Punjab and who fled abroad have joined hands with antinational entities in the neighbouring country for smuggling of drugs, arms and ammunition. The role of gangsters had come during investigation of rackets busted in the recent past. The police were also investigating the role of Pak- istan-based militants, who were adopting new ways to disrupt the peaceful atmosphere of Punjab. “Along with drugs, crossborder smugglers were also sending weapons to be used in case police teams tried catching them while retrieving and further delivering the same to their next accomplice,” Rashpal Singh said. He said during the past seizures, the STF was also c m y b freezing properties of smugglers which they made with the help of the ill-gotten money from illicit drug trade. We are in the process of verifying the details of ‘benami’ properties and land holdings of these smugglers and more would be frozen in the near future. ❞ Rashpal Singh, AIG, STF shot at by smugglers. Besides contraband, the STF has also confiscated four improvised explosive devices (IED), five AK-74 rifles, 31 pistols, 212 live cartridges, nine magazines and two revolvers till now. With the change in tactics by the smugglers, the Punjab Police, including STF , was also devising new ways and equipping themselves to nail these drug traffickers, he pointed out. Youth dies of ‘drug overdose’ Amritsar: At a time when International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is being observed all over the globe, a local youth, identified as Lovepreet Singh (22) of Bhuregill village, allegedly died of drug overdose here on Saturday. Ironically, the family demanded no action and did not even allow the police to conduct the post mortem of the deceased. Nevertheless, the police have registered a case under Section 304 (culpable homicide) of the IPC against unidentified persons in this connection. Investigating Officer ASI Kuldeep Singh said the police got a tip-off that Lovepreet had died of drug overdose. When they approached the family, they did not agree for his autopsy. They also did not name anyone who could have given the drugs to him. The police have registered an FIR and launched further probe. He said Lovepreet was survived by his two brothers and parents. He used to work as a farm labourer. TNS Awareness raised on harmful effects of drugs Amritsar: To mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, various functions were organised by different institutes to raise awareness about the harmful effects of drugs. A workshop was organised by the district Health Department at the outpatient opioid assisted treatment (OOAT) centre here. Deputy medical commissioner Dr Gurmit Kaur said drug addiction does not only harms the body of the addict, but also creates trouble for his or her family members and society. She said 43 OOAT centres were helping drug users to shun addiction with the help of medical care. She said self- Artistes perfom a play to raise awareness on International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking at the Attari-Wagah border Joint Check Post on Sunday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR motivation to shun drugs was the foremost task for a drug addict and a drug user can easily abandon his wrong habit if he is motivated enough to do so. Continued on page 2