07092023-ATR-01.qxd 9/7/2023 12:30 AM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune EXHIBITION MARKS BIRTH ANNIV OF SG THAKUR SINGER JOE JONAS, SOPHIE TURNER FILE FOR DIVORCE After four years of marriage, singer Joe Jonas and actress Sophie Turner have filed for divorce. P3 MAINLY CLEAR MAX 37°C | MIN 26°C YESTERDAY MAX 36°C | MIN 25°C DALLAS ACTRESS GAYLE HUNNICUTT DIES AT 80 The IAFA observed the 124th birth anniversary of celebrated artist SG Thakur Singh today. P2 FORECAST Gayle Hunnicutt, best remembered for her roles in Marlowe, has passed away in London. P3 » » SUNSET THURSDAY 6.47 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 6.09 AM » THURSDAY | 7 SEPTEMBER 2023 | AMRITSAR Roadways bill clerk held for taking bribe Project report to clean Tung Dhab drain to be sent for govt approval Tribune News Service DC says green belt, cycle track part of the revamp plan Amritsar, September 6 The Vigilance Bureau (VB) on Wednesday nabbed a bill clerk, Hardyal Singh, posted at Punjab Roadways office, Amritsar-2, while accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000 from a driver Sahib Singh. A Vigilance Bureau official said that Sahib Singh, a resident of village Harike in Tarn Taran district, lodged a complaint saying he had availed LTC leave from June 12 to June 23 this year with permission from the department. He alleged that the accused bill clerk demanded Rs 10,000 as bribe to send the bill for LTC leave to the treasury. After repeated requests, he agreed to send the bill if he (complainant) was paid Rs 5,000 for the work. After preliminary investigation of the complaint, the official said that a VB team laid a trap and arrested bill clerk Hardyal Singh while accepting the money in the presence of official witnesses. A case under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against bill clerk Hardyal Singh at the Vigilance Bureau police station, Amritsar Range. Tribune News Service Amritsar, September 6 The project report prepared to overhaul, treat and restore the Tung dhab drain, as directed by the state government, will be sent for approval by September 30. Deputy Commissioner Amit Talwar, who held a meeting in this regard today, said that all efforts will be made to clean the drain, which has now turned into a site for dumping toxic industrial waste. Looking at the drawings prepared by the Sewerage Department, which includes fixing the drain and laying sewage lines on both sides, Talwar said that waste water from the adjoining colonies and industries should reach the sewage treatment plant. “If possible, different pipelines would be laid, so that it is easy to treat the dirty water. In today’s proposal, with advice from subject experts, the department has made provision for a green belt, parking area, bicycle track and a wide track for walking on both sides of the drain, which is about 10.81 km long,” he said. Apart from this, water Auto drivers block roads, commuters a harried lot Were demanding the release of impounded auto-rickshaws Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Deputy Commissioner Amit Talwar (right) during a meeting with officials in Amritsar on Wednesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO WILL NOT LET SEWAGE BE DUMPED IN DRAIN ■ The Deputy Commissioner said that dung from 107 dairies in the vicinity will not be dumped in the drain or sewage and will be given to a compressed bio-gas producing company, which will build its plant on the outskirts of the city. ■ Different pipelines would be laid so that it is easy to treat dirty water ■ Efforts will be made to clean the drain, which has now turned into a site for dumping toxic industrial waste. purification plants would be installed in industrial units and by making them operational, this water will be sent through sewage to the treatment plant of the Municipal Corporation. Before sending the project to the government, the DC instructed that the subject experts examine the drawing in depth and said that the proj- ect should be finalised by September 30 so that the work can begin soon. Over the years, the Tung Dhab drain, also known as Gumtala drain, passing through the city outskirts, has become just a sewage discharge nullah carrying millions of litres of waste and unchecked industrial effluents. Amritsar, September 6 On the call of various unions of auto rickshaw operators, auto drivers and their supporters blocked roads at Bhandari Bridge, the bus stand and the railway station here on Wednesday. The demonstration started in the morning and continued till late evening. They parked their auto rickshaws on roads and blocked vehicular traffic. They were demanding the release of their impounded autos and stopping of the drive against diesel autos. The protests by the auto rickshaw drivers threw life out of gear. The roads leading to Bhandari Bridge, the bus stand, the GT Road, Valha, Verka and Daburji witnessed long traffic jams. Thousands of commuters, travelling on city roads, got stuck in long traffic jams for hours. The auto rickshaw drivers also blocked the Golden Gate road, the main entrance to the city from the Jalandhar side. The vehicular traffic com- Auto-rickshaw operators block traffic during their protest at the Bhandari Railway Overbridge in Amritsar on Wednesday. VISHAL KUMAR ing from the Jalandhar side was diverted towards Bypass Road, where construction work is going on near Vallah Chowk. Commuters heading to Sri Guru Ramdass Jee International Airport to get a flight were worst sufferers. Ironically, administration and traffic police personnel were missing from the bypass road where commuters were standing in long queues. With the help of Google maps, commuters took the route towards Kahnkot village, but got stuck in narrow village streets, which were dug for laying sewer lines. A number of social and religious organisations supported the demand of auto rickshaw unions and held a large gathering at Bhandari Bridge. The protesters raised slogans against the state government and the Aam Aadmi Ward number 49 cries for cleanliness Old pension scheme: Front to hold rally in Sangrur on Nov 5 WARD WATCH WARD NO 49 Party asking them to let them earn their livelihood. Senior police officials tried to pacify the protesters and offered to have negotiation with officials concerned, but they kept demanding the release of their impounded autos. The auto rickshaw operators’ union is also planning to sit on an indefinite protest against the government till their demands were met. Earlier, the office-bearers of auto rickshaw union met the MC Commissioner on Friday, but didn’t get a favourable response. MC officials are trying to convince the drivers to replace the diesel and petrol auto rickshaws with e-autos. Gurdeep Singh, a leader of Diesel Auto Rickshaw Union, said, “The government is discriminating against poor drivers. A 15-year-old car or truck of the MC can run on the city roads, but auto rickshaws are banned. First, the government should stop the movement of diesel vehicles being operated by government departments then they should ban our auto rickshaw.” Anticipatory bail of former AIT law officer rejected Tribune News Service AMRITSAR Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Amritsar, September 6 Ward No.49 is one of the most prominent wards in the city. It boasts of the Darbar Sahib Complex, Galiara, Katra Ahluwalia, Heritage Street, Partap Bazar, Katra Jaimal Singh, Tahli Sahib Bazar, Bijli Wala Chowk, Katra Baggian, Telephone Exchange, Katra Moti Ram, Bombay Wala Kho, Passian Wala Chowk, Guru Bazaar. Several major religious and historical sites also exist in the ward. Thousands of devotees visit the area every day. Ironically, the area under Ward No.49 is facing the issue of cleanliness. Heaps of Garbage lies scattered near the telephone exchange in Amritsar on Wednesday. PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR Members of the Purani Pension Prapti Front hold a demonstration in Amritsar on Wednesday. garbage can be seen on various streets and corners in the ward. Owing to improper lifting of garbage in the area, a small dumping yard has been developed in the telephone exchange area. Residents and visitors are a disturbed lot. With no de-silting work carried out in sewer lines, areas in Ward number 49 witness stagnant water on roads and in streets due to choked sewers. Sunil Sharma Kounty, a local leader and husband of former councillor Mitanjali Tribune News Service Sharma, said, “Earlier, we had a team of four sewer men in the area to address the complaints of sewer blockage. As the MC House was dissolved in January, we do not have the powers to hire workers. Now, MC officials are not taking care of the area. Most of the sewer lines get blocked as the rainwater chambers are not cleaned properly. The iconic Heritage Street gets flooded after moderate rain.” “Volunteers of Kar Sewa Festive fervour Dera Bhuri Wale conducts cleanliness of the Galiara and streets leading to the Darbar Sahib. Other streets are not even properly swept by the MC. Former area councillor Mitanjali Sharma claimed that she replaced the old sewer lines with new ones in several streets and addressed the issue of blockage of sewer lines. More than 1,800 LED lights and eight tubewells have been installed in the ward. Amritsar, September 6 The Purani Pension Prapti Front (PPPF), a group of retired and serving government employees, has accused the state government of not showing seriousness in meeting their demand of reviving the Old Pension Scheme in state. While staging a demonstration today, the PPPF alleged that instead of implementing the Old Pension Scheme, the Punjab government has merely formed committees in the name of formulating SOPs. “The restoration of the alleged Old Pension Scheme in Punjab is being falsely propagated for political gains. CM Bhagwant Mann had announced that his government will revive the scheme as employees had objections to the New Pension Scheme,” said Atinder Pal Singh, convener, PPPF . The state committee of the PPPF strongly condemned the imposition of restrictions on government employees by invoking ESMA. He said that the Front will hold a rally at Sangrur on November 5. While the Old Pension Scheme has been revived in Himachal Pradesh, the AAP government in Punjab is merely dilly-dallying, the PPPF members alleged. The Old Pension Scheme has already been implemented in Himachal, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, they said. Three fake travel agents booked for fraud Had duped local resident of ~20 lakh on pretext of sending his son abroad Tribune News Service Students of a private school dressed as Krishna to celebrate Janmashtami in Amritsar on Wednesday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR Amritsar, September 6 Chatiwind police have booked three persons, including a Patiala man, for allegedly duping a local resident of Rs 20 lakh on the pretext of sending his son abroad. The accused sent his son to Baku, Azerbaijan and then to Indonesia from where he had to return twice on his own expenditure. Those booked were identified as Jatinder Singh of Cheta village in Banga (Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar), Joga Singh Dhariwal of Patiala and Sukhbir Singh of Gujjarpura village in Ajnala subdivision here. A case was registered after c m y b ACCUSED FAILED TO PRODUCE DOCUMENTS The complainant, Amardeep Singh, of Mandiala village had lodged a complaint on December 9, 2022. During investigations carried out by the DSP (Special Branch), the accused failed to prove their innocence or produce any documents in their favour following which he recommended the registration of a case against them. nine-month-long investigations. The complainant, Amardeep Singh, of Mandiala village had lodged a complaint on December 9, 2022. During investigations carried out the DSP (Special Branch), the accused failed to prove their innocence or produce any documents in their favour following which he recommended the registration of a case against them. Amardeep told the police that he came in contact with Jatinder Singh through his relative who is sarpanch of Cheta Singh village. He said Jatinder told him that he sends youth abroad. He said he talked to him about sending his son Gurkirat Singh abroad. He said the deal settled for Rs 35 lakh and the accused asked them to deposit Rs 20 lakh for completing the formalities. He said through his bank account, he deposited the amount in different accounts given by Jatinder Singh and Joga Singh. He said Joga Singh kept his son Gurkirat in Patiala for several days and later took him to Delhi and via Dubai he sent him to Baku in Azerbaijan in July last year. He alleged his son lived there for a month on his own expenditure. Later, he was brought back. After 15 days he was then sent to Indonesia and there again he stayed for a month and returned. The police said efforts were on to nab the suspects while a case under Sections 420 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code was registered against them. Amritsar, September 6 The court of Additional Sessions Judge Randhir Verma on Wednesday dismissed the anticipatory bail petition of former law officer of the Amritsar Improvement Trust Gautam Majithia, who was booked by the Vigilance Bureau under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act on July 4. He had been evading arrest since then. While dismissing his bail petition, the court pointed out that there were serious allegations against him and on account of this he was not entitled to discretionary relief of pre-arrest bail. “The custodial investigations of the accused is necessary for complete and effective investigations,” it pointed out. Even after a lapse of two months, the Vigilance Bureau failed to nab Majithia. He had allegedly taken a bribe for releasing compensation to Jatinder Singh, a resident of Partap Avenue, who owned land in the New Amritsar area which was acquired by the AIT. The court had directed the Trust to release 20 per cent more compensation to him. He had approached then law officer Majithia who had allegedly demanded Rs 20 lakh from him for getting the compensation released. Vigilance Bureau SSP Varinder Singh said raids were on to arrest the accused who had been absconding since the registration of the First Information Report. Jatinder Singh told the VB that Majithia allegedly took Rs 7 lakh from him for releasing the compensation. He said Jatinder Singh said that he had 6.6 acres (20 bigha) Continued on page 2