03092023-ATR-01.qxd 9/3/2023 12:18 AM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY TARN TARAN SCHOOL STUDENTS’ SHINE IN ZONAL TOURNAMENT SELENA GOMEZ REVEALS HER 'STANDARDS' FOR BOYFRIEND ACTOR & MODEL NAVNEET MALIK GAINED 10 KG FOR THE FREELANCER Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School students showed remarkable performance in a tournament organised by the PSEB. P2 Actress-singerSelenaGomez,whopreviously romanced Justin Bieber, said contrary to popularperception,sheis‘worthatry’. P3 Navneet Malik didn’t think twice before adding 10 kilograms to his body weight for the role in The Freelancer. P4 » » » MAX 37°C | MIN 26°C YESTERDAY MAX 36°C | MIN 26°C SUNSET SUNDAY 6.52 PM SUNRISE MONDAY 6:07 AM SUNDAY | 3 SEPTEMBER 2023 | AMRITSAR Man killed over family dispute, four booked Amritsar, September 2 A 45-year-old man identified as Bikram Singh was killed by three persons with sharp weapons at Jethuwal village falling under the Kamboh police station here yesterday. The suspects were close relatives of the victim. There was a family dispute among them for the past couple of years, said the police. Kulwant Kaur, mother of the deceased, told the police that her son had four children, including three girls, while his wife had expired years ago. She said yesterday noon, the suspects, identified as Karam Singh, alias Kalu, Ghugga and Balwinder Singh, alias Minta, came to him and entered into heated arguments over an issue. She said the people of the area intervened and sent them to their homes. She said in the evening, Bikram was sitting on a wall in front of the house when the trio attacked him. They hit Bikram with sharp weapons which led to his death on the spot. The suspects fled from after committing the crime. Manmeetpal Singh, investigating officer, said as per preliminary probe, the suspects had a family dispute with the victim. He said the sharp weapons inflicted a fatal injury on deceased’s neck killing him on the spot. He said the suspects were still at large. He said a case under Sections 302 and 34, IPC, was registered in this connection and raids were on to nab the trio. — TNS Youth dies of drug overdose, four booked Amritsar, September 2 A youth identified as Gurpreet Singh, alias Gopi, of Gaggomahal village falling under the Ramdass police station died of drug overdose here today. Following a complaint filed by his wife Arshdeep Kaur, the police have booked four persons, including a woman, on charges of culpable homicide and under the provisions of the NDPS Act. They were identified as Lovepreet Singh, Baljit Kaur, Balraj Bawa and Paramjit Singh. The police arrested Lovepreet and Baljit Kaur while raids were on to nab remaining two alleged drug peddlers. Gurpartap Singh Sahota, SP , said the suspects were arrested after the family alleged that Gurpreet had bought the contraband from them. — TNS MC seals four buildings, stops construction work at 15 sites Tribune News Service Amritsar, September 2 The officials of the town planning wing of the municipal corporation (MC) visited several illegal construction sites and sealed four buildings in the walled city areas on Friday evening. The MC team also stopped work at 15 sites, where illegal construction was going on without approval. On the instructions of MC Commissioner Rahul, Assistant Town Planner (ATP) Arun Khanna, building inspector Nirmaljit Verma, demolition staff and the MC police visited Katra Ahluwalia, Jalebiwala Chowk, Gali Sitaram, Ramanand Bagh and Jallianwala Bagh areas and inspected the under construction buildings. Khanna said that the con- Employees of the municipal corporation seal a building in the walled city area of Amritsar on Saturday. TRIBUNE PHOTO ❝The MC would keep a check on sealed buildings and police cases would be registered for violating the rules. ❞ Arun Khanna, ASSISTANT TOWN PLANNER Multipronged strategy to counter drug abuse in Punjab, says DIG PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, September 2 With the government announcing to make Punjab a drug-free state in a year, the Punjab Police have been working on a multipronged strategy to deal with the rampant drug abuse, especially in the border belt areas. While coordination with the Border Security Force (BSF) has been increased, the police have also formed village defence committees (VDC) to nail drug peddlers involved in cross-border smuggling through drones. Narinder Bhargav, DIG (Border Range), said the Punjab Police would not only try to cut down supply chain by cracking on drug traffickers but would also lay emphasis on spreading awareness in order bring down the drug demand. “We would seek public cooperation to make the youth aware about harmful effects of drugs by holding ❝We would seek public cooperation to make the youth aware about drugs and their harmful effects. We would also come up with plans to rehabilitate drug abuse victims by providing them treatment. ❞ Narinder Bhargav, DIG (BORDER RANGE) meetings and gatherings. We would also come up with plans to rehabilitate drug abuse victims by providing them treatment,” he said. Recently, senior officials led by Punjab DGP held a meeting with the police personnel and discussed steps to be initiated to counter the drug addiction in the border state. Bhargav said the police had formed VDCs in border villages which helped in countering drug smuggling through drones. “The strategy has helped in a couple of seizure of drones and drugs in recent days,” he said, while adding that, “We have planned to reach out to the public through meetings, rallies and seminars, besides working with the NGOs and other departments to bring down the drug demand and provide treatment to victims.” “We have asked the officials to identify drug hot spots in their jurisdictions and plan accordingly to make these drug free,” the DIG said. “We will also rope in different departments, including sports, health and education, to hold awareness programmes,” he said. The police officials had also been asked to investigate the backward and forward links of the arrested drug peddlers to bust the entire supply chain, he said. Man loses bike, cellphone to robbers Tarn Taran, September 2 Three masked miscreants robbed motorcycle and mobile phone from one Sandeep Singh, a resident of Baghiari village, on gunpoint yesterday. Sandeep was going to nearby Sohal village on his bike. When Sandeep reached near Dode village, robbers stopped him and threatened to kill him if he resisted. The Chabal police on the victim’s statement registered a case against three suspects. —OC struction work of 15 buildings in these areas was stopped and tools and goods seized. The shuttering was also removed from an illegal under-construction building. He said four under-construction structures were sealed for violating the building bylaws. A building in Jalebi Wala Chowk had already been sealed but builders broke it and restarted construction. The team sealed the building again. Khanna said building inspector had been asked to file an FIR against the owner of the building for breaking the seal. The MC would keep a check on sealed buildings and police cases would be registered for violating the rules, he said. Officials said that no one would be spared and residents should get approval from the MC before starting the construction work. Used plastic carry bags, bottles stored at 22 No. fatak seized Amritsar, September 2 The health wing of the municipal corporation (MC) seized a huge quantity of used plastic carry bags and plastic bottles stored under the railway overbridge (ROB) at 22 No. fatak in the Islamabad area here today. A scarp dealer had stored these plastic goods, which were collected by rag pickers. The MC officials also issued challan for unhygienic conditions and occupying government land to the scrap dealer. Municipal Commissioner Rahul and Joint Commissioner Hardeep Singh received a complaint that a large quantity of inflammable plastic carry bags were lying under the ROB. Someone had encroached upon the MC land and stored plastic bags on it. The filthy carry bags were scattered all around. The complainant informed that several trains passed along the plastic heaps and it could Plastic material kept under the railway overbridge at 22 No. fatak in Amritsar on Saturday. TRIBUNE PHOTO lead to some untoward incident. On the other side of the rail track are two schools and the residential area. In case a fire breaks out under the ROB, it could cause huge damage. Reacting on the complaint, the MC Commissioner instructed the health and estate departments and the civil wing to take action and remove plastic bags stored under the ROB. A team led by Municipal Four held with 770-gm heroin Cold store owners yet to pay ~1 crore dues, say farmers Amritsar, September 2 The vegetable growers from the Jandiala Guru area here have alleged that a cold storage unit at Tagra village near here had defrauded them of Rs 1 crore. The farmers said the manager of the cold storage unit purchased peas and potato crop from them last year and its dues were still pending. All India Kisan Sabha state vice-president Lakhbir Singh Nizampura and Vegetable Growers Association president Bhupinder Singh Tirathpura said the manager on the directions of the unit owners had been purchasing vegetables from farmers for the past many years. “This year when farmers asked the unit owners to clear their pending dues of the last year, they were told that the manager had purchased vegetables without taking them into confidence,” said Nizampura. He said the owners were trying to shift the onus of making payment to farmers on the manager. While appealing to the civil and the police administration to take action against owners and manager, the farmer leaders threatened to lock the unit till their dues were cleared. The leaders said owners had committed fraud with farmers by claiming that the manager had purchased vegetables without their knowledge. — TNS Health Officer Dr Kiran Kumar seized plastic bags lying under the ROB. The police were also called on the spot as the scrap dealer entered into argument with the team. Dr Kumar said land worth crores had been encroached upon by the scrap dealer. Despite warnings, the encroacher did not leave the spot. He said even a minor fire under the ROB could spread all around. — TNS Stagnant water has become a breeding ground of mosquitoes at Sunder Nagar in Kot Khalsa. PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR Awareness can prevent spread of dengue: Expert Tribune News Service Amritsar, September 2 The district Health Department has appealed to residents to observe every Friday as Dry Day as the number of dengue and chikungunya cases continue to rise. The department has reported a total of 247 cases of dengue and 233 cases of chikungunya so far. The health officials said the district had a total of 25 dengue and 54 chikungunya cases at present. Civil Surgeon Dr Vijay Kumar said that health teams were visiting different areas of the city every day to monitor the condition. He said that the spread of diseases could easily be prevented by checking breeding of mosquitoes. The health experts stated that flower pots, refrigerator trays, tyres and coolers should be emptied every week. The Civil Surgeon said that the residents should use mosquito repellent creams and wear full body clothes to save themselves from mosquito bites. In case of fever, people should go for check-up at the Aam Aadmi Clinic or the nearest government hospital, take medicine and get a free test done, said Dr Vijay Kumar. District Epidemiologist Dr Harjot Kaur said awareness regarding dengue and chikungunya could help in preventing the spread of the disease and managing it better in case one got infected. Amritsar, September 2 The Amritsar (Rural) police have seized 770 gm of heron in two separate incidents and arrested four persons in this connection. Those arrested were identified as Manpreet Singh, alias Manna, of Bange Kalan village, Bikramjit Singh of Harsha Chhinna village in the Rajasansi area, and Jugraj Singh and Malkeet Singh, both residents of Khairabad village. Sub-inspector Jasbir Singh said the police got a tip-off that the suspects had links with Pakistan-based smugglers and used to smuggle the contraband through drones. Later, they supplied drugs to their clients. The informer told the police that the duo were present near Mode village sports grounds waiting for a client on their bike. The police team raided the spot and arrested Manpreet and Bikramjit. During search, the police seized 470 gm of heroin from them. In the second incident the police laid a naka at the Kamboh chowk and intercepted a bike coming from Dhaula village side. Jugraj was driving the bike while Malkeet was riding pillion. The police confiscated 300 gm of heroin from Malkeet. A case under the NDPS Act was registered against them and futher probe initiated into the matter. — TNS Choked sewer lines add to woes of Ward No. 77 residents WARD WATCH WARD NO 77 AMRITSAR Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Amritsar, September 2 The residents of Ward No. 77 are at receiving end due to the choked of sewer lines. The manholes can be seen overflowing and sewer water gets accumulated in streets. The ward comprises the Islamabad, Indrapuri and Kot Khalsa area. Water accumulated in the Indrapuri area of Amritsar. SUNIL KUMAR The residents of Indrapuri have been deprived of sewerage and water supply for the past several years. During the last five years, the area coun- cillor made efforts and made sewer lines functional in the area. The sewer lines were laid under Rs 100-crore Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA) project in 2015. However, the sewer lines are non-functional due to poor workmanship. Due to inappropriate level of sewer lines in the area, the waste water does not drain from the area. The municipal corporation (MC) has made efforts to repair sewer lines but to no avail. Although all the MC wards in the South Constituency face the problem of choked sewer, the situation is worse in the Indrapuri area. The area residents have held regular demonstrations against the MC and the government for clean drinking water. Surinder Kumar, a resident said, “We have been demanding clean potable c m y b water for the last several years but the government is unable to provide it. Now, the sewer lines have got choked. We have asked the MC for desilting the lines but no one shows concern.” Veer Singh, another resident said, “Besides contaminated potable water supply and sewer water accumulation on roads, sanitation is one of the major issues of the ward. The solid waste management company is not collecting garbage regularly. The company vehicle visits the area once a week. The residents are forced to dump garbage on vacant plots or corners of streets. Due to poor sanitation, there are patients of dengue, high fever and eye flu in almost every house.” Participants at the Khedan Watan Punjab Diyan season-2 in Ajnala on Saturday. TRIBUNE PHOTO Block-level games commence in Ajnala Tribune News Service Amritsar, September 2 Block-level games under Khedan Watan Punjab Diyan season-2 commenced at Ajnala on Saturday. Under the championship, competitions in various sports disciplines were held. Cabinet Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal attended the inaugural function as he was a chief guest on the occasion. While addressing the participants, Dhaliwal said that sports competitions would inspire the youth to become physically and mentally strong. They would be in a position to contribute to the progress of the state and the country, he added. He exhorted schoolchildren to participate in these games. He congratulated all school heads for participating in the block-level games. Dhaliwal said the winners of the competition would be awarded cash prizes of Rs 7 crore.