08072022-ATR-01.qxd 7/7/2022 11:55 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar TRIBUNE HERITAGE FORGOTTEN: AMRITSAR FAST LOSING ITS OLD CHARM PAGE 2 Fast-paced modernisation has compelled people to move to newer places, leaving behind rich architectural heritage. FORECAST CLOUDY SKY INBRIEF FIRE BREAKS OUT AT FURNITURE STORE Amritsar: A major fire broke out at a wooden furniture store at main bazaar Chheharta on Thursday. No causality was reported in the incident. The fire broke out around 1.30 pm when some traders witnessed smoke emitting out from the roof of the building. They informed shop owner Vijay Kumar Dhawan. According to Dhawan, repair work was going on at the top floor of the building. There is a storeroom, where spirit for wooden polish and furniture was stored. Short-circuit or spark from machines may have caused the fire. A number of furniture items lying on the top floor gutted in the fire. TNS SEDATIVE PILLS, ILLICIT LIQUOR SEIZED Amritsar: The anti-narcotic cell of the Amritsar rural police have arrested Lakhwinder Singh of Amarkot village and recovered 4,995 intoxicating capsules from his possession. In another case, the Jandiala police arrested Vishal Singh of Gehri Mandi and Mandeep Singh of Bhangwa village for allegedly possessing 15 gm heroin and 550 sedative pills. He was held from Devidaspura village. Meanwhile, the Lopoke police have busted an illegal still at Kohala village. The police arrested Mangal Singh who had installed an illegal furnace for brewing liquor. The police seized 200 kg lahan and over three litres of illicit liquor. It also arrested Satwinder Singh of the same village with 400 kg lahan. TNS ONE HELD FOR TAXI DRIVER’S MURDER Tarn Taran: The district police have solved the murder of taxi driver Shera Masih (30) of Khemkaran who was shot in the Valtoha area on Tuesday by two unidentified persons. Bhikhwind DSP Preetinder Singh said one of the main accused identified as Sajan Singh of Khemkaran had been arrested and three others involved in the murder were yet to be arrested. Two other accused have been identified as Arun of Rudarpur (UP) and Rohit. He said accused Sajan had illicit relations with the wife of Masih. Sajan contacted his friend Arun, who sent Rohit and another from UP man to assist Sajan to kill Shera here. On the directions of Sajan, Rohit and his associate hired Masih's taxi from the Khemkaran taxi stand to go to Amritsar. Rohit and his associate shot Masih on the way to Amritsar in the Valtoha area and escaped from the crime site. OC PAGE 3 PRE-WEDDING FESTIVITIES START FOR PAYAL ROHATGI Payal Rohatgi and Sangram Singh are set to tie the knot on July 9. Their pre-wedding celebrations have already started. MAX 35°C | MIN 28°C | YESTERDAY MAX 38°C | MIN 28°C SUNSET FRIDAY 7:38 PM Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 7 The Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT) has quashed the tender of Rs 41.73 crore to construct a four-laned bypass to link the UBDC road with Bhagtanwala Grain Market through private fields. Deputy Commissionercum-AIT Chairman Harpreet Singh said, “The tender has been cancelled as it didn’t fulfil the pre-condition of the tendering process. The land was not transferred to the AIT and the Municipal Corporation also not declared the road as public street. Moreover, it has jumped the deadline to get materialised.” The AIT was planning to DIDN’T FULFIL PRE-CONDITION: DC The tender has cancelled as it didn’t ❝pre-condition ofbeentendering process. Thefulfil the the land was not transferred to the AIT and the MC too didn’t declare the road as public street. ❞ Harpreet Singh, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER-CUM-AIT CHAIRMAN The four-laned bypass was to link UBDC road with Bhagtanwala Grain Market through fields construct a four-laned bypass to link the UBDC road with the Bhagtanwala Grain Market through private fields. It had got the approval to construct a railway under-bridge from the Indian Railways and a tender was floated to construct the road without Kalyan smuggled drugs for Bishnoi, Bhagwanpuria gang acquiring the land. The trust was to spend Rs 41.73 crore on the project on the private road as property owners reportedly offered the land to the AIT free of cost for the road construction. However, in September 2018, when the AIT wrote to the Amritsar Municipal Corporation, requesting it to declare the proposed road as a public street, then MC Commissioner Malwinder Singh Jaggi denied the permission. Instead, he submitted a detailed report to the Director, Local Government, about the alleged mala fide intentions behind the project. Local activists had alleged that it was a scam of Rs 400 crore as land mafia patronised by political leaders bought land from farmers at Rs 30 lakh per acre and they would sell it for Rs 3 crore per acre by developing a private colony. The mafia had managed funds from the AIT to develop a four-laned road for a private colony. FRIDAY | 8 JULY 2022 | AMRITSAR DG’s commendation disc for Police Commissioner, 3 cops Tribune news Service Amritsar, July 7 Police Commissioner Arun Pal Singh along with three other police officials have been felicitated with the Director General’s commendation disc for their commendable work during the Operation Bluestar anniversary period which passed off peacefully. Besides the Police Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and order) Parminder Singh Bhandal, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Special Branch) D Jatinder and SHO Galliara police station Sub-Inspector Paramjit Singh have been awarded. The police have been on high alert following the seizures of IEDs and hand grenades smuggled from Pakistan. Intel- Awarded for services during Op Bluestar anniv ligence agencies had warned that unscrupulous elements could create law and order trouble. Heavy police force was deployed a week ahead of the Ghallughara Diwas in order to thwart any untoward incident during the event. Meanwhile, the Police Commissioner detailed about its achievements during the past one week, at a press conference here on Thursday. The police have arrested around 79 drug peddlers in 71 cases registered with different police stations here in which it has confiscated over 1-kg heroin, 4,168 sedative pills, over Rs 1 lakh drug money and 1-kg opium from their possession. Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 7 At the 19th edition of the Punjab Theatre Festival at the Virsa Vihar here, an hour-long play “Adakaar — Aadi Antt Ke Saathi” was staged on the sixth day of the fest on Thursday. The festival that features plays by noted playwrights, performed by renowned theatre groups, including alumni of the National School of Drama, will go on till July 8. An actor’s job or skill depends on how well he brings a script alive on stage. While he does so, the impact that each character has on his The police also recovered three pistols, six magazines, 13 bullets, six bikes, two scooters and a car from them. The police also arrested a murder accused, Honey Mattu of Haripura area, in a sixmonth-old case. The police also arrested five persons with three illegal weapons along with 11 cartridges, a car and a motorcycle. The police nabbed Sunny of Guru Nanak Pura area with a country made pistol. His interrogation led to the arrest of two more persons Sandeep Singh of Dera Nehang Wala and Harjinder Singh of Malluwal village. The police seized a pistol and three bullets from them. They had procured the weapons from Sunny. The police also arrested four proclaimed offenders in the past one week. Vigilance gets four-day remand of Bassi PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 7 Gangster Sajan Kalyan used to smuggle drugs for notorious gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria gang. This came to light during Kalyan’s interrogation who along with his three accomplices was held on July 4. The police had confiscated three pistols along with magazines and bullets from their possession. The investigations carried out, so far, revealed that he was main supplier of drugs in the Faizpura locality and its adjoining areas near Rattan Singh Chowk. Besides Sajan Kalyan, alias Daddu, a resident of Navi Abadi Faizpura, the police nabbed Amarjit Singh, alias Mithu, of Sanjay Gandhi Colony; Navkaran Singh, alias Nav Pandori, of Pandori Waraich village; and Manjit Singh, alias Jojo, of the Khandwala area. The police recovered a Pakistan-made pistol besides two country-made pistols procured from Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan from their possession. The police confiscated 13 live cartridges and a Hyundai Verna car in which they were travelling. A fresh case under Sections 21, 22, 25 and 29 of the NDPS Act, Sec- Sajan Kalyan tions 25(8), 54 and 59 of the Arms Act and Sections 411 and 414 of the IPC was registered against them. Kalyan was declared a proclaimed offender by the court in two NDPS cases registered with Majitha Road and Division B police stations here. Kalyan was having around 20 cases of heinous crimes, including attempt to murder, robbery and kidnapping, registered in Amritsar City, the rural belt and the Jalandhar areas. The police said through Jaggu Bhagwanpuria gang, Kalyan had developed links with cross-border smugglers who were involved in trafficking of heroin from Pakistan. Besides Bhagwanpuria, his pictures were also found with Lawrence Bishnoi, Sampat Nehra and Saraj Sandhu, alias Mintoo, establishing his links with them. Kalyan had been evading arrest for the past couple of years. His family members were also indulged in drug peddling. Former AIT Chairman Dinesh Bassi on court premises on Thursday. Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 7 Former chairman of the Amritsar Improvement Trust and Congress leader Dinesh Bassi was today produced in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, which sent him to four-day police remand. The vigilance has sought six-day police custody from the court. However, after listening to the arguments from both sides, the court granted a four-day police custody. Bassi was booked by the vigilance under Section 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. He was booked following a complaint by Deputy Commissioner-cum-Chairman of the Amritsar Improvement Trust to the Vigilance Bureau after alleged irregularities were brought to his knowledge by a law officer of the improvement trust. The case pertained to allotment of a property in the posh Ranjit Avenue locality to a beneficiary in fraudulent manner contrary to the orders passed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2020. Bassi on the other hand had claimed that he was being falsely implicated in the case. He said he was being targeted by the vigilance as he was a loyal Congress worker. He said this was happening in the entire state. “I am standing with my party and will fight the legal battle,” he said. He questioned why the action was not taken when he was unceremoniously removed from the post six months ago. A vigilance official said Bassi would be questioned about several files which went missing during his tenure. The corridor of Nehru Shopping Complex is encroached upon by a restaurant. PHOTOS: VISHAL KUMAR Activists: Remove encroachments that surfaced in AIT ex-chief’s tenure Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 7 Activists and residents today sought removal of encroachments that came up during the tenure of Amritsar Improvement Trust’s (AIT) former Chairman Dinesh Bassi. A number of illegal kiosks were installed in the green belts of Ranjit Avenue, Nehru Shopping Complex and New Amritsar, all areas being administrated by the AIT. The corridors of Nehru Shopping Complex have been encroached by a themebased restaurant franchise and other shopkeepers. An illegal kiosk came up in the corridor of the Nehru complex, which blocked the entry of stairs and lift to the upper ILLEGAL KIOSKS CAME UP IN GREEN BELT ■ A number of illegal kiosks were installed in the green belts of Ranjit Avenue, Nehru Shopping Complex and New Amritsar ■ The corridors of Nehru Shopping Complex have been encroached by a theme-based restaurant franchise ■ An illegal kiosk in the corridor of the Nehru complex blocks entry of stairs and lift to the upper floors of the building floors of the building. Suresh Sharma, former district president of AAP and RTI activist, alleged, “Bassi encouraged encroachers during his tenure. The corridor of the Nehru Shopping Complex is encroached upon by a ‘Adaakar’ represents life of an actor on & off stage Covid infections on PUNJAB THEATRE FEST PAGE 4 Anjana Sukhani is all set to impress the audience as an ideal bahu in the new web series, Saas Bahu Aur Achaar Pvt Ltd. SUNRISE SATURDAY 5:32 AM AIT cancels ~41-cr tender to construct bypass on pvt land Charanjit Singh Teja ANJANA SUKHANI TALKS ABOUT HER NEW WEB SERIES ON ZEE5 psyche and personal life is seldom talked about. The Punjabi play, penned by celebrated playwright Dr Swarajbir and directed by Shiromani Natakar Kewal Dhaliwal, staged today revolves around an actor and how each character he lives on stage affects his personal life. The hour-long play that was a solo act by Saajan Kohinoor, begins with an actor (Kohinoor) narrating to the audience about all characters he has played. While reminiscing about each character, he also describes how relevant each character and story was to society and him as an artist. The play taught the audience how theatre works, An artiste enacts a play in Amritsar on Thursday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR especially in a time when revival and survival of drama and theatre is under question due to the socio- economic impact of pandemic. While the protagonist of the play was sharing how his life as an actor is c m y b directly connected to his onstage role play, the creative process an actor has to go through to prepare for a particular performance, it also highlighted how livelihood of artistes are dependent on audience or lack of it. As expected from the pen of Dr Swarajbir, the story was thought provoking, sensitive and relevant to the times. By creating a dialogue between the actor and audience, the play attempted to make the audience, their reaction a part of the narrative. Several eminent writers and artistes, including Kulbir Singh Suri, Punjabi actor Hardeep Gill and others were present in audience. the rise in district Amritsar, July 7 The number of Covid positive cases is on the rise again as the district reported 62 positive cases in the past seven days. In March, April and May, the district had reported merely 43, 20 and 59 cases, respectively. The recent spurt in Covid19 cases was first witnessed in the third week of June. In June the total number of cases was more than those reported in the previous three months. In June, the district reported 105 positive cases and two deaths. Covid infections further increased in the current month. Nearly 83 per cent of Daily average of 3.5 in June increases to 8.8 in 1st week of July the district population has received the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. Meanwhile, nine positive cases were reported on Thursday. Of these, eight are new cases and one is contact of a positive patient. The district health department has also reported recovery of six patients with which the total recovery count has increased to 57,897. The district at present has 60 active cases. — TNS Rajasthani restaurant. An illegal Verka booth has also been set up there. The authorities should take action against these encroachments as it is not in the interest of the city.” Besides, several footpaths and sidewalks have been encroached upon by vendors at Ranjit Avenue. “The authorities should take strict action on politically patronised encroachments conducted during SAD-BJP and Congress tenures. Verka booths were illegally set up in Rambagh, Guru Nanak Hospital and Medical College during the SAD government. The house line of Lawrence Road was encroached by a prominent sweet shop owner,” said advocate Kuljit Singh of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Virasat Manch. I-T sleuths raid Bansal Sweets Amritsar, July 7 Income Tax officials raided the famous Bansal Sweets on the Lawrence road here today. The sleuths of the I-T department also raided the residence of the owners on the Maqbool road and a few other properties. One of the famous sweets manufacturers and sellers in the city, Bansal has outlets at other places too. Heavy police force was deployed at all raiding sites and mediapersons and general public was not allowed inside the stores during the raids. Department officials remained tightlipped and refused to divulge any details. — TNS