07052023-ATR-01.qxd 5/7/2023 12:15 AM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY TEACHERS’ UNION MEETS CM, DISCUSS PENDING ISSUES SINGER LIONEL RICHIE ATTENDS KING CHARLES’ CORONATION STARRING ADITI, RABB SE HAI DUA CROSSES 100 EPISODES A delegation of the Democratic Teachers’ Front apprised CM Bhagwant Mann of demands. P2 Several pictures of the celebrities attending the ceremony has gone viral on social media. P3 Aditi Sharma, who plays the character of Dua in it, says the aim is to make audience connect with the story. P4 » » MAX 35°C | MIN 20°C YESTERDAY MAX 36°C | MIN 21°C SUNSET SUNDAY 7.14 PM SUNRISE MONDAY 5:39 AM » SUNDAY | 7 MAY 2023 | AMRITSAR INBRIEF FOUR OF FAMILY BOOKED FOR THEFT Amritsar:A local resident has accused his wife and her family of stealing jewellery. The Division B police on Saturday booked four members of his in-laws' family, including his wife, after they decamped with gold jewellery and ~5 lakh. Those booked were identified as Gurneet Kaur, Narinder Kaur, Amarjit Singh and Harshdeep Singh, all residents of Shahjahanpur in UP. Complainant Shakardeep Singh said Gurneet Kaur was his wife. He alleged she along with her family took away gold jewellery worth several lakhs and the cash along with important documents. They went to Australia without informing him. The police have registered a case. TNS Fire in Children’s Park restaurant No casualty reported, but electric gadgets, wooden furniture, eatables destroyed Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 6 A fire broke out in a restaurant inside the Children’s Park complex in the historic Ram Bagh (Company Bagh) in the wee hours of Saturday. Residents who had come for a morning walk in the garden witnessed flames and raised the alarm. On being informed, a Fire Brigade team reached the spot and started operation to control the fire. The Fire Brigade controlled the fire, but the electronic equipment and food items lying in the restaurant were burnt to ashes. The goods that was perished in fire at the restaurant in Children’s Park in Company Bagh in Amritsar on Saturday. TRIBUNE PHOTO Three nabbed with 2.4-kg heroin Amritsar, May 6 The city police confiscated 2.4kg heroin reportedly smuggled from Pakistan at Muhawa village located near the International Border here on Saturday. The police have arrested three persons – Jobanjit Singh, Akashdeep Singh and Amardeep Singh — all residents of Muhawa border village falling under the Gharinda police station in Amritsar rural police district. They were produced in a court and brought on threeday police remand for further investigations. Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Prabhjot Singh Virk said they were yet to ascertain the source of the contraband, but the possibility of its being smuggled from across the border could not be ruled out. A case under Sections 21, 29, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act was registered against them in this connection. Virk said a police team of the Guru Ki Wadali police chowki Farmer ends life by suicide Our Correspondent The canteen was being run by a private firm near the historic watch tower in the Children’s Park area. During the fire incident, wooden furniture, electric equipment like fridge, oven and mixer and eatables kept inside the canteen were gutted in fire. Fortunately, the flames did not spread towards the centuriesold trees in the same park premises. Despite the open space around the canteen, the firefighters took time to bring the fire under control. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. A short-circuit inside the canteen was cites as the reason behind the fire. Had the fire erupted in the daytime, it could be fatal as hundreds of children visit the spot and the restaurant used LPG cylinders to cook food. During the SAD-BJP tenure, after bypassing the Municipal Corporation, the Amritsar Improvement Trust had handed over a major land chunk of Company Garden to a private firm to run Children’s Park. Violating the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Archaeological Survey of India and the MC, a restaurant is being run there by the private firm. MC cracks whip on illegal constructions Officials partially demolish 10 hotel buildings for violating byelaws Tribune News Service The three accused in custody of the Amritsar police on Saturday. was on patrol in the area when they signalled two persons travelling on a bike to stop. However, the accused tried to take a U-turn and flee the spot, but they slipped and fell down. They were overpowered by the police team. They were later identified as Jobanjit Singh and Akashdeep Singh. During the search, the police recovered 400-gm heroin from their possession. During preliminary investi- gation, they revealed that they had procured the contraband from Amardeep Singh. Following this, a raid was conducted and the accused was arrested. His interrogation and disclosure led to the seizure of 2-kg heroin from him. Virk said the police got three-day police custody of the accused. They did not have any previous record and apparently was new entrant into the illegal trade. — TNS Tarn Taran, May 6 Baldev Singh (40), a farmer of nearby Rureassal village, committed suicide by consuming a poisonous substance on Thursday fearing land grab by some influential persons of the village. The deceased was in depression as influential persons of the village had installed water pipes from his fields. He consumed a poisonous substance and was found dead in his house. Inspector Gurcharan Singh, SHO, Sadar, visited the spot and collected evidence. Sapinder Kaur, Rajwinder Singh, Gurmej Singh, Satnam Singh, Kirat Singh, Jatinder Singh and Manjit Singh have been named as the accused on the basis of the statement of Sukhdev Singh, elder brother of the victim. The police have booked them under Sections 306 and 120-B, IPC. Amritsar, May 6 The Municipal Town Planning wing of the Amritsar Municipal Corporation took action against illegal constructions around the Golden Temple area here on Friday. Teams of the Estate Wing and Civil Wing were involved in the 10-hour operation in the Central Zone. The teams were led by MC Joint Commissioner Hardeep Singh, Municipal Town Planner Meharban Singh, ATPs Vijay Kumar, Arun Khanna and Wazir Raj. MC officials claimed that they took action against 10 illegal buildings, including those at Sheran Wala Gate, Ghee Mandi, Godam Wali Gali, Katra Ahluwalia, Jalebi Wala Chowk and Lakkar Mandi area. The MC staff along with a ditch machine and other electric tools removed illegal structures in hotels situated An illegal building being razed in Amritsar on Saturday. TRIBUNE PHOTO in the markets around the Golden Temple. The hotels were being constructed by violating the Building Bylaws and Amritsar Walled City Act. Some of the illegal buildings were sealed. The MC faced a protest from building owners and heated arguments were witnessed at three different spots. Two former councillors of the Municipal Corporation intervened to shelter an illegally constructed hotel. The councillors and the protesters alleged that ille- gal constructions were being conducted at every corner of the city, why the MC adopted a pick-and-choose policy. Despite the ban on construction within the walled city area, more than 800 illegal hotels have been constructed around the Golden Temple during the past few years. A number of hotel owners have constructed multistorey buildings in narrow streets of the walled city where no fire safety measures were adopted. Most of the hotels do not have parking space and built projects by violating the bylaws. The buildings sealed by the MTP wing in the past have been completed by breaking the seals, but no action has been taken against the violators. MC Commissioner Sandeep Rishi said the drive against illegal buildings would continue and no violators would be spared. Swaraag — the fusion band Slain Hindu religious Ranjodh Singh snatching gang from Rajasthan making waves leader’s brother Brij eliminated, claim Batala cops Founded in 2014, the band performed in city recently Members of the fusion band which performed recently in Amritsar. TRIBUNE PHOTO Amritsar, May 6 A chance encounter at a live folk music concert and a common purpose of taking folk music to the mainstream audience made Pratap, an IT professional, and Arif Khan, a folk artiste from Rajasthan, found Swaraag. Like its name, the indie music band has, since its inception in 2014, been creating music that stems from the traditions of earthy folk tunes, the raw versatility of artistes and enhancing its experience through the use of technology. Swaraag performed in Amritsar recently and the members found a common ground in Punjabi audience through Sufi music. “It was indeed a delight performing in Punjab as the audience here is quite familiar with Sufi and folk music. It’s also a pressure to perform here as folk traditions are quite strong here,” said Pratap, co-founder and member of Swaraag. The band mostly performs Rajasthani folk and Sufi, but lately has been trying to blend in different folk instruments in their live concerts. “When we started, we only wanted to expand the scope of folk music to the mainstream, live performances. Not many folk artistes rely on the technology or marketing to commercialise their music. Also, instruments usually got treated as side acts in live concerts. So, we wanted to put the spotlight on fusion of instruments and genres of music to create our own unique sound,” said Pratap. Instruments such as sitar, tabla, guitar, saxophone, drum, murchang, Khartal, etc, are an integral part of Swaraag’s performances. Their first song Ghoomar got a good response from audience and since then, they have been on several music tours across the country. Their latest single Yun Swarana was released last month. Though they have grown in popularity and performances over the years, they have remained stuck to their original purpose. “Versatility is mandatory for live performances. We need to create more awareness regarding folk music, folk instruments among audience. Though it’s a challenge with most commercial music now being digitally-dependent, I feel that no particular ‘trend’ in music lasts long,” shared Pratap. — TNS booked for firing in air Amritsar, May 6 A day after Brij Mohan Suri, brother of slain Hindu religious leader Sudhir Suri alleges terror attack, the police have booked him on charges of rash or negligent act endangering the safety and life of general public. A case under Section 336 of the IPC and Sections 27, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act was registered against him. SubInspector Parshotam Kumar, in charge Shivala Bhaiya police chowki, said that on Thursday evening, they got information that Brij Mohan Suri had got a threatening call. Following which he along with the police party reached his house. He said he was talking to the cops deputed to guard them when Suri came out of the house and entered the park located outside his house. He said he then fired a gun shot in air and the other at the Karambhumi express train stationed at the railway tracks thereby endangering the life of the general public. Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Abhimanyu Rana had yesterday told that the claims of firing by unknown persons at him from railway tracks could not be verified during the initial probe. He said fur- c m y b ther investigations were under progress. Suri had alleged that some unidentified persons fired outside his house on Thursday night. He termed it a terror attack as he said he was getting continuous terrorists threats from international numbers. He had alleged that they had given the numbers of the police which have failed to take any action. Suri said on Thursday there was movement of suspicious elements on the railway tracks after they got a threatening call from unknown number. He had accused the police of inaction which led him to take action himself. “On Thursday night he got a call in which unknown callers said that they had reached outside his house. I informed security personal and went towards railway tracks for finding the ‘attackers’. They fired at me and I retaliated,” he told the media while alleging that the police did not take any action on his complaint. — TNS Ravi Dhaliwal Tribune News Service Batala, May 6 After studying its modus operandi for nearly a month, the Batala police finally claimed to have decimated the infamous Ranjodh Singh snatching gang which had created terror among the city residents, particularly women. The cops nabbed two of the gang members today taking the total number of arrests to nine. Seven of the nine members had been nabbed in the recent weeks. With this, police officials say, the gang stands completely neutralised. Five pistols, an equal number of magazines, two cars and five motorcycles were seized by the police. Residents heaved a sigh of relief when news spread that the entire gang had been marginalised. Such was the terror of the gang that women feared going out alone. A total of five FIRs had been registered against the offenders at various police stations of the Batala police district. Three of the FIRs carried attempt to murder charge (307 IPC) against the members. The police had launched a concerted drive against snatchers and robbers for the last one month. SSP Ashwini Gotyal, whose penchant for arriving at the scene of crime to personally The two cars and the five motorcycles which were seized by the Batala police in the Ranjodh gang snatching case. supervise the operations, is being appreciated by residents, formed a team which was led by Gurpreet Singh, SP (Investigation). An officer said the police studied the gang’s modus operandi before finally giving contours to its operation. “They had a set-up in which at least three members were involved in every snatching. They used to have a watcher, rider and snatcher. The watcher would update the other two about the target and the exact location on a particular street. In a majority of the cases, motorcycles were used because of their ability to easily make their way through crowded locations. Once the crime was committed, the watcher would then proceed to the spot to see if the police were being called or not. He would also mislead the victim and the witnesses by giving wrong directions in which the snatchers had fled,” disclosed an official engaged in the operation. Meanwhile, even as the police were targeting the gang of snatchers, they stumbled upon certain clues relating to the blind murder of one Sarwan Singh and arrested the accused Sukhraj Singh. He had nine FIRs registered against him at various police stations in Punjab and Delhi. “This should act as a warning to other criminals operating in the city. Our aim is to make Batala a crime-free city,” said SSP Gotyal.