15012023-ATR-01.qxd 1/14/2023 11:52 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY CHALLANS ISSUED TO 30 UNDER ANTI-TOBACCO DRIVE RRR FILMMAKER RAJAMOULI MEETS STEVEN SPIELBERG MADHURI DIXIT REMEMBERS LATE PANDIT BIRJU MAHARAJ Around 22 shopkeepers and eight individuals were issued challans for violation of COPTA. P2 “I just met God,” said RRR maker SS Rajamouli after meeting Steven Spielberg at West Hollywood. P3 At Indian Idol, Madhuri Dixit shares how late Pandit Birju Maharaj choreographed a song for her. P4 » » MAX 14°C | MIN 2°C YESTERDAY MAX 16°C | MIN 1°C SUNSET SUNDAY 5.48 PM SUNRISE MONDAY 7:30 AM » SUNDAY | 15 JANUARY 2023 | AMRITSAR INBRIEF MOBILE PHONE FOUND IN JAIL Amritsar: Amritsar Central Jail authorities confiscated a mobile phone from a jail inmate identified as Inderjit Singh of Rasulpur Kalan village, while an unclaimed battery was also recovered. Similarly, the jail staff seized 115 bundles of bidi, three packets of tobacco, a pack of cigarette, two mobile chargers, a headphone set, a heater spring and two data cables in the jail complex. The same was apparently thrown from outside the jail by unknown persons, said jail authorities. Two cases have been registered in this regard. TNS GOODS STOLEN FROM SCHOOL Amritsar: An unidentified person decamped with cash and LCD from a private school located in Mohan Nagar in Verka here on Friday. Ajnay Kumar Sharma, the complainant and school principal, told the police that he runs Saraswati Model School in Verka. He said an LCD, DVR, Wifi broadband and cash to the tune of Rs 13,000 was found missing from the school. A case was registered and further investigation is under progress. TNS KMSC to lift dharnas outside DC offices, toll plazas today Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 14 With the protest of the farmers under the banner of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) held outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office here completed 50 days on Saturday, the organisation announced that they would lift the dharnas from outside the DC offices and the toll plazas on Sunday. The union leaders stated that as per the initial programme, protests at toll plazas were announced for one month, which would end on January 15. They stated that huge gatherings would be organised at the Deputy Commissioner’s offices across the state on Sunday and the new programme would be announced. KMSC general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher said the protests outside the DC offices in the state had started on November 26 and the protests at 18 toll plazas in nine districts had begun on December 15. He said their new action plan would be announced on Sunday. KMSC leaders stated that the figures of suicide in the Will announce new programme Amritsar, January 14 The police have booked two persons for allegedly duping a local resident of Rs 15 lakh on the pretext of settling their bank loans. The accused were identified as Gurwinderbir Singh Sodhi of Ajit Nagar and Nutan Chopra. Manjinderpal Singh, a resident of Park Avenue here, had lodged a complaint with the police on Thursday. Following the initial probe, the police have booked the duo under Sections 420, 406, 465, 466, 468, 471 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code, though no arrest had been made so far. The victim told the police that his relative, Tejinder Kaur and Prabhjot Singh of Jujhar Avenue, had taken a loan of Rs 40 lakh from the Central Bank of India for running their publication house and as housing loan. He said as they could not repay the same, their loans PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Farmers stage a protest outside the DC office in Amritsar. FILE state had increased during the last few years. “Many of those who had committed suicide in the past few years were well-educated unemployed youth. The current circumstances are leading to depression in them and being under depression they start taking drugs or commit suicide,” claimed Pandher. The KMSC leader stated that considering the economic condition of poor people in the state, the government should ensure employment on all 365 days of the year under MGNREGA instead of the present surety of 100 days. He also demanded that per day wages for the workers under the scheme should be increased. To generate more employment opportunities under the MGNREGA scheme, Pandher suggested that farm work in the fields of farmers with less than five acres of land should be brought under the ambit of the scheme. He said this would not only help the marginal farmers, but also the labour class. He demanded that one third of the panchayat land should be reserved for poor labourers and it should be given to them on lease at subsidised rates for cultivation. Man duped of ~15 lakh, two booked Tribune News Service Bank branch manager among 3 officials booked for ~38L fraud were declared as a non-performing assets (NPA) by the bank authorities. He said Sodhi was known to him and used to claim to have links with senior bank authorities. He used to work for settling the bank accounts which were declared NPA by the banks. He said they talked to him about their case and he assured to get the loan settled under the one-time settlement scheme. He said a few days later, he handed over a letter to him and said their loan would be settled by paying Rs 15 lakh under the one-time settle- ment scheme. He took the amount on different occasions. They transferred the amount through net banking. He alleged a few days later, when they did not get a no due certificate from the bank, they tried to approach him but he did not respond to the calls. Later, he called from another mobile number and said the certificate would reach them through a courier. However, they didn’t get it and the courier tracker number was also found to be fake. He said when they went to his house. Sensing that they continued on page 2 Amritsar, January 14 The Cantonment police have booked a branch manager of Central Bank of India, an assistant branch manager and an officiating officer of the bank on charges of fraud. They were booked following a probe conducted by the Assistant Commissioner of Police (West) after a complaint was filed on September 2021 by the regional manager of the bank. A case under Section 420 of the IPC was registered on Thursday against branch manager Upkar Singh, assistant branch manager Ritu Jaita and officiating officer Manjinder Singh. Upkar Singh was already placed under suspension in Biker robbed of purse, phone at gunpoint Tarn Taran, January 14 Four unidentified robbers targeted a person in Chabal area here on Thursday. The victim, Kirandeep Singh of Bhaini Mattooan, was on way to Bhojian village on his motorcycle. When Kirandeep reached near Bhojian village, the robbers, who were riding on two motorcycles, appeared on the spot. They parked their motorcycles in front of his bike and pointed their weapons at him and took his purse and phone. The robbers fled towards Bhojian village side after the incident. Kirandeep said he informed the Chabal police about the incident. ASI Sukhwinder Singh recorded his statement and registered a case under Sections 379-B (2) and 34 of the IPC. The police said after registering a case, further proceedings had been initiated to locate the robbers. — OC Mining Dept team attacked Two die in mishaps Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 14 The police have booked two persons, including a sarpanch, for allegedly entering into a scuffle and stopping a government employee from discharging his duties. The incident occurred in September last year, while a case was registered on Friday. Those booked were identified Tribune News Service Police book two persons, including sarpanch as sarpanch Kala and Partap Singh, both residents of Kot Sidhu village here. Sub-Divisional Officer Rahul Jain had lodged a com- plaint with the rural police in October 2022, while the incident occurred on September 17 last year. He alleged that continued on page 2 Amritsar, January 14 Two persons identified as Raju Masih and Harpal Singh died in separate road mishaps on Batala Road here on Friday. Both were run over by rashly driven trucks. Ravi Masih, brother of Raju Masih, told the police that 84 dogs sterilised in 1st week of MC drive Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 14 In the first week of dog sterilisation drive, 84 dogs were operated at the Animal Birth Control Centre of Municipal Corporation in the Nariangarh area. MC Health Officer Dr Kiran Kumar said 122 dogs had been caught from different areas of the city by the dog capture team under the drive started last week. Of these, 84 dogs have been sterilised till Friday evening. After the operation, the dog is kept in a dog kennel made in the centre for three days. After this, they are rereleased in the areas from where they were captured. Dr Kumar said along with other medicines, they also gave anti-rabies vaccine to all dogs caught for sterilisation. The officer said the rate of sterilisation would be increased in the coming days. The MC has hired a company for sterilising 20,000 dogs. c m y b after meeting their uncle on 88-Foot Road, they were going towards Batala Road on separate bikes. He said when they reached near Sun City turn, a speedy truck (PB13-BG-4749) hit Raju’s bike from behind, killing him on the spot. The police have registered a case against unidentified truck driver in continued on page 2 Following plaints, the probe conducted by ACP (West) led to disclosure this connection. As per information, in 2021, the bank got written complaints from five persons regarding loans, amount of which was credited to their accounts without their applying for it. The bank also identified several persons who were given loans far in excess of the amount they had applied for. One of the victims, Lal Bahadur Shukla, told the bank that a loan of Rs 8 lakh was issued against his bank account and out of which Rs 1.80 lakh and 1.20 lakh were withdrawn by the suspects. He said he had never applied for the loan. Similarly, anoth- er victim, Kanika Malhotra, approached the bank with a complaint that Rs 5 lakh loan was issued against her name without her knowledge. Likewise Annie Gupta, another victim, told the bank that a loan of Rs 5 lakh was sanctioned against her account. Saurabh Gupta, another victim, told that he had applied for a loan of Rs 5.50 lakh, but the bank authorities sanctioned him a loan of Rs 8.50 lakh. Similarly, Megha Khindri told the bank authorities that she was sanctioned a loan of Rs 8 lakh, but she had applied for a loan of Rs 4 lakh. Besides, the police also found two more victims during the probe and they were identified as Baby and Raj Kaur. A probe was carried out by the ACP (West) who found that bank officials did not follow the norms while issuing these loans. No physical verification was done during the process. The official also found that many of the firms, the documents of which were shown as deposited for taking loans, did not exist. The loan was passed by Upkar Singh while these were recommended by Ritu Jaita and Manjinder Singh. Prabhjot Singh Virk, Additional Commissioner of Police, City-II, said after the registration of an FIR, a probe was on and raids were being carried out to nab the suspects.