07022023-ATR-01.qxd 07-02-2023 00:29 Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY CHILL BACK, FARMERS HOPE COOL WEATHER LASTS MONTH HARRY STYLES, BEYONCE WIN BIG AT GRAMMY AWARDS PHULKARI WOMEN OF JALANDHAR HOLD WORKSHOP Residents woke up to a surprise on Monday morning as the mercury dropped due to rains. P2 Harry Styles took home three awards while Beyonce won her 32nd award, breaking a 26-year-old record. P3 Phulkari Women of Jalandhar held ‘Afreen - Celebrating the Beautiful You’ in Jalandhar recently. P4 » » MAX 24°C | MIN 9°C YESTERDAY MAX 24°C | MIN 12°C SUNSET TUESDAY 6.09 PM SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 7:19 AM » TUESDAY | 7 FEBRUARY 2023 | AMRITSAR INBRIEF FOUR HELD WITH NARCOTICS Amritsar: The city police have arrested four persons in separate cases and recovered 45 gm of heroin from their possession. Sikander Singhand and Kulde Singh of the Sandhu Colony were nabbed with 20-gm heroin while Arvinder Singh of Jhabal in Tarn Taran was held with 20-gm heroin. Besides, the police also arrested Bunty Kumar of New Preet Nagar with 5-gm heroin. TNS MOBILES SEIZED FROM JAIL INMATES Amritsar: The Amritsar Central Jail authorities found four mobile phones during a search operation in the jail premises yesterday. Two of the phones had been abandoned while two other phones were seized from inmates Mukesh Kumar of Hazipur in Bihar and Prince of Batala. Following complaints by the jail authorities, the police have registered three separate FIRs in this regard. TNS Anti-gangster team busts arms Traffic trouble on Fatehgarh Churian road irks residents smugglers’ gang, 3 arrested Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 6 Acting on a tip-off, the antigangster force of the city police today busted an interstate gang of weapon smugglers, including a jail inmate and confiscated three country-made pistols and two live bullets from their possession. Those arrested in connection with the case have been identified as jail inmate Mukesh Kumar of Haizpur in Bihar, and Sukhchain Singh and Jobanjit Singh, both residents of Majitha. Mukesh had been languishing in the Amritsar Central Jail. He was brought on a production warrant and arrested. Sukhchian Singh came in contact with him in prison when they planned to smuggle countrymade weapons to Punjab after coming out on bail. Mukhwinder Singh The accused in police custody in Amritsar on Monday. Bhullar, Deputy Commissioner of Police, (Investigation), said Sukhchain was arrested by the police and was in jail in connection with a case registered with the Majitha police station under the Arms Act in November 2022. He came out on bail in December 2022. He said the duo and Jobanjit Singh had planned to smuggle country-made weapons from Bihar to Punjab. Mukesh asked them to go Bihar and meet his accomplice for procuring weapons. During the investigation, it was found that the accused had been involved in throwing prohibited material, including mobiles, inside jail. Mukesh was operating the network from inside the jail complex with phone. Amolakdeep Singh, the incharge of the anti-gangster staff said the police have seized two .32 bore pistols from Sukhchain and a pistol from Jobanjit Singh. Mukesh had been in prison over kidnapping and murder. Besides, he also has around seven other cases registered against him over extortion and under the Arms Act. Sukhchain and Jobanjit had four and two criminal cases registered against them, respectively. The accused were produced in the court and brought on two-day police remand. Further investigation is under way. Amritsar, February 6 Residents of nearly 30 villages and around 10 colonies falling on the Fatehgarh Churian road have been facing traffic hassles for the past many years. Karamjit Singh, a local resident, said there was no scope for the ordinary commuters to pass through the road during the peak hours, stretching from 8 am to 4 pm. He alleged that the leading schools of the city did not have their own parking and vehicles coming to drop off students parked on the road leading to traffic jam. Narinder Singh who also resides in the area said buses and cars of different sizes remain stationed on the road. The scene gets repeated for long hours of the day, leading to traffic snarls. Nidhi Arora, a resident of Chand Avenue on Fatehgarh Residents of 30 villages and 10 colonies during a protest against traffic problem in Amritsar on Monday. TRIBUNE PHOTO Churian road, said traffic problem on the stretch has only been growing with the passage of time since they shifted here six years ago. Relatives avoid visiting them because of this. Alleging daily harassment on account of omission of parking facility within the school, a group of villagers belonging to a farmer orgnisation even held a protest recently. Their members alleged that it was not just the commoners who suffered, even an ambulance found it difficult to find space to move on the road. They also added that the school did not have its own parking. Encroachments removed Teachers protest govt move to lower retirement age Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 6 Officials of the Mandi Board and the police removed encroachments from roads and other areas of the Sabzi Mandi at the Vallah area on Monday. Anil Arora, secretary, market committee, Vallah, said over 300 vendors selling vegetables in retail were removed and they would be shifted to another location within the Sabzi Mandi. He said the harsh step was taken as the encroachers have not been heeding the announcement of moving out of the road for the past three days. He added that many of them created shops with twigs. A JCB was used in removing the encroachment while Amritsar, February 6 The district unit of the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers’ Union (PCCTU) today again took potshots at the state government over the slashing of the salary grant for teachers. PCCTU district president and state general secretary Gurdas Sekhon today called for dharna protests as college teachers from across various city colleges, including DAV College, BBKDAV College and others, joined them. A massive two-hour dharna was staged by the college teachers against the decision of the Punjab Government to lower the retirement age from 60 years to 58 years for the teachers working in non-govern- Man brandishes pistol to clear traffic, booked Amritsar, February 6 Day after a video of a man clearing traffic while brandishing a revolver surfaced, the city police have registered a case against unknown person in this connection. Video of incident went viral on social media “We have registered an FIR under Section 336 of the IPC and Sections 25/27/30/54/59 of the Arms Act at the Cantonment police station here. Efforts were on to identify the man,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police, Law and Order, Parminder Singh Bhandal. The incident occurred near the Islamabad railway crossing in Pultighar area. Though the man did not threaten anyone, he was seen streamlining traffic. As the video went viral in social media, the police started identifying the man. Bhandal said nobody was allowed to take law into their hands or create panic among the people by brandishing firearms. He said appropriate action would be taken and police would also cancel his licence as per law. — TNS Encroachments being removed at Sabzi Mandi in Vallah. over 20 police personnel aided the drive. Meanwhile, Sourav Kumar, a vendor, alleged about 400 poor people and their families have been uprooted in the drive. He said the board deployed heavy police force to remove them which would only help big commission agents. Cabinet Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal today visited the Sabzi Mandi and directed to improve its cleanliness and to buy the necessary equipment for cleaning. He also interacted with office-bearers of the All Fruit and Vegetable Traders Association. Congress accuses Centre of favouring business groups Tribune News Service Amristsar, February 6 Congress workers staged a protest outside main Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India on the Mall road here on Monday as part of the nationwide call given by the party against the backdrop of the controversy about the Adani Group over allegations of financial irregularities and market manipulation. Led by District Congress Committee Urban president Ashwani Kumar Pappu, the workers raised slogans and demanded action against the industrialist-businessman. Speaking on the occasion, Pappu said the LIC and other public banks had given undue favours to the business group due to its alleged proximity with the ruling BJP government. He said that a detailed investigation into how the Adani group managed to procure huge finances from the LIC and State Bank of India should be conducted. “The Bharatiya Janata Party government has Congress leaders block a road during a protest in Amritsar. compromised the economy of the country and public property such as airports and ports that have been sold to the business group that caters to their private interests,” said Ashwani, adding that the protests would be intensified in the coming days as per the programme announced by the party. Meanwhile, the protest on Mall road led to traffic chaos as the stretch from Kacheri Chowk to Custom Chowk was blocked by Congress workers. Commuters enter the dedicated Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) corridor meant for metro buses. However, as the BRTS is too narrow for commuting, it got choked soon. Metro buses were seen plying on the wrong side of the main road from Custom Chowk to Kacheri Chowk. Residents stated that protests on main roads should be avoided as it causes inconvenience to commuters. c m y b Teachers raise slogans at a college in Amritsar on Monday. mented in October 2022 after the delay of more than five years, Sekhon said. He added, “Clause 13 (ii) of the pay revision notification caused a lot of confusion and concern as it is being interpreted by the Audit Department that the retirement age of university and aided college teachers has been reduced to 58 years.” He noted that no government in the country since independence has reduced the retirement age or salary grant of any category of employee. “The Central Government retires its employees at 60 years. But, it appears that Punjab is moving in the other direction,” he rued. PFUCTO district president Yadav said, “In higher education, due to various reasons, such as an increase in the number of years for attaining the required qualifications to teach in higher education, the UGC had first increased the retirement age to 62 years, and later raised it to 65 years but there is no justification for moving in the opposite direction and reducing it to 58 years. This move of the Punjab government has forced the college managements to relieve teachers at the age of 58 years and now it is also leading to unnecessary litigation in the courts causing trouble to all.” Sekhon has also demanded that teachers of non-aided colleges be treated the same way as the teachers of government. He stressed that they are entitled to retirement benefits, such as pension. ment private-aided colleges of Punjab under grant-in-aid scheme. This strike was also supported by the Punjab Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organisations (PFUCTO), management associations and the Principals association. A revision in the pay scale of university and college teachers in Punjab was to be imple- Delay in disbursing pension arrears to senior citizen ED raid on druglord’s properties: Weapons licensed, probe on to check how they got it Tarn Taran, February 6 The efforts made for seven long years by an elderly woman Surinder Kaur, a resident of Tarn Taran town, to get the arrears of her family pension of her husband from the Punjab National Bank, Tarn Taran branch, have been fruitless. Surinder Kaur’s husband Raghbir Singh who retired from the Punjab Roadways died on March 2, 2014. He was receiving 90 per cent provisional pension from the department through the bank. After the death of her husband, she was issued PPO (Pension payment order) by the Accountant General, Punjab, and had been getting the family pension since then. Surinder Kaur (72) who suffered from paralysis and is bedridden said here on Monday that she had been corresponding with the bank officials besides meeting them personally to get the arrears of the provisional pension of her husband but had received nothing. Ajit Singh Fatehchakk, district president, Pensioners and Senior Citizens Welfare Association, flayed the attitude of the bank officials. Sahil Mehra, senior manager of the bank, said he was not the competent authority to give his version in the case. — OC PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 6 The weapons confiscated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) during a raid at the residence of an alleged drug peddler and his family in Tarn Taran two days ago were licensed and the police have started a probe to check its veracity. “Though in police records, they were licensed, nevertheless, we are yet to get the licence for these weapons,” said Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Gurmeet Singh Chohan while adding that the police was still in the process of verifying it. However, this has also raised a question mark as to how, a man facing cases of drug peddling managed to procure the licence for the weapons or why it was not cancelled when the cases were registered against him as per law. Sleuths of ED confiscated over 2 kg of heroin besides approximately 14 kg of narcotic powder, two rifles and three pistols during day-long search at the properties of three allegedly notorious drug peddlers on Friday. The ED had conducted 10 LOCATIONS SEARCHED ■ Sleuths of ED confiscated over 2 kg of heroin besides approximately 14 kg of narcotic powder besides two rifles and three pistols during day-long search in a raid at the properties of three allegedly notorious drug peddlers on Friday. ■ The ED had conducted raids at 10 different locations including the residences of Sakattar Singh aka Laddi, Gajan Singh and Makhan Singh, their family members and associates at Sheron, Naushehra Pannuan and Bugha village in Tarn Taran raids at 10 different locations, including the residences of Sakattar Singh aka Laddi, Gajan Singh and Makhan Singh, their family members and associates at Sheron, Naushehra Pannuan and Bugha village in Tarn Taran. Their premises were searched under provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA 2002) The ED had seized heroin from the residence of Sakattar Singh and his family at Sheron village while 13.98 kg of narcotic substance was confiscated from his shop, M/s Baba Sidana Trading Company at Naushera Pannuan. The contraband was later handed over to the Narcotics Control Bureau. A rifle and two pistols were seized from the house of Sakattar Singh and a rifle and a pistol along with bullets was recovered from the residence of his brother Makhan Singh. The raids were conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA 2002) following an investigation into the dealings of Hardev Singh alias Rambo, son of Makhan Singh and his alleged associates, who was nabbed by the police in 2018 with 4 kg of heroin. He was currently lodged in Amritsar Central Jail. He has cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and Arms Act registered against him at various police stations. Senior Superintendent of police Chohan said the probe would also look into how they managed to get the licence for the weapons.