28102023-ATR-01.qxd 10/28/2023 12:38 AM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 30°C | MIN 17°C YESTERDAY MAX 31°C | MIN 16°C SVEEP CYCLE RALLY SPREADS VOTER AWARENESS IN CITY BEYONCE TO HOLD PREMIERES OF HER CONCERT FILM IN LONDON MOUNI RECALLS DITCHING HER HUSBAND SURAJ ON TREKS Under the SVEEP campaign, a cycle rally was organised from School of Eminence, Chheharta, to India Gate on Friday. P2 Singer Beyonce is holding two premieres for her concert film Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce. P3 Actress Mouni Roy is all set to embark upon a new journey at the heart of Coorg's forest with chef Ranveer Brar. P4 » » » SUNSET SATURDAY 5.44 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 6:43 AM SATURDAY | 28 OCTOBER 2023 | AMRITSAR Doctor’s house burgled, cash, jewellery stolen Tarn Taran, October 27 Cash and jewellery were stolen from the residence of Dr Manmohan Singh, a senior medical practitioner of the town. Dr Singh had gone to visit his son in the USA on September 6. He had given the responsibility of looking after his home to his employee Jaswinder Singh. Dr Singh said Jaswinder informed him on October 5 that thieves had stolen cash and gold jewellery by breaking open lockers in the home. Dr Singh said he informed the police through an SMS but no action was taken in this connection. Dr Singh said after returning home, he requested the police to register a case. Finally, the case was registered on October 25 after much delay. The police have registered a case under Sections 457 and 380 of the IPC. — OC Contrary to expectations, pollution level falls to 107 Two farmers booked for burning paddy stubble Neeraj Bagga Amritsar, October 27 A case under Section 188 was registered against two farmers Jaswant Singh and Hardeep Singh, both residents of Khasa village, for the violation of Section 144 imposed by Deputy Commissioner for not burning paddy stubble today. It was the first case registered for burning crop residue in the district. After receiving inputs from the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre, a joint team of the Agriculture Department and the police visited the spot and confirmed that the paddy straw was set on fire on an area of 4.5 to 5 acres. In the absence of any economical alternative for the disposal of paddy stubble, the farmers do not refrain from burning it. Farmers argue that the measures offered at the government level were practically unviable and put extra financial burden on them. They demanded that a policy should be made by the government to start a scheme to lift crop residue from fields so that it can be used as raw material in the industry. Chief Agriculture Officer Jatinder Singh Gill said till date, their teams visited 834 places after getting information about farm fires out of Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 27 Contrary to expectations, the pollution level in and around the holy city came down if the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) data is anything to go by. During Dasehra celebrations in the evening, the air quality index (AQI) was 107. It was 123 during festival celebrations in 2022. The AQI value below 100 is categorised as satisfactory and above it as unhealthy. The AQI is divided into six categories. As per the PPCB data, the pollution level fell under the unhealthy category during the past two Dasehra celebrations. Similarly, contrary to expec- A screen installed by the PPCB outside the Golden Temple shows pollution level in Amritsar. SUNIL KUMAR tations, the average pollution level decreased in the holy city from October 1 to October 24 in comparison to the corresponding period last year. The average AQI was 134 last year and this time it was 89 till October 24. Environment engineers of the pollution control board say its reason was less farm fires this year. As per the PPCB, 1,073 farm fire cases were reported in October 2022 and its number came down to 925 till October 26, 2023. Only 91 cases were reported on October 26. There were 1,139 farm fires during the corresponding period in 2022, 956 in 2021 and 883 in 2020. Land acquisition: Farmers told to apply for compensation Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 27 Following the visit of Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, the process for acquiring land for the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra express highway has got a fillip. Gadkari while supervising the project here had asked Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to speed up work in the state. Under the project, a major portion of the highway passes through Punjab. Today, the district administration appealed to farmers and own- ers whose lands comes under the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra express highway and Bharatmala project to file applications for compensation. “Farmers can submit their application at the office of Sub-Divisional Magistrate 2 located on the ground floor of the District Administrative Complex here for compensation,” said SDM Nikas Kumar. He said the government had already issued notification for acquiring land for the Bharatmala project under which roads and express highways were being constructed in the country. He said notification was issued for acquiring land for the Bharatmala project in villages that included Varpal, Pandori, Bohad, Jheeta Khurad, Kharpar Kheri, Mehma, Mandiala, Ibban Khurd, Basarke Bhaini, Guruwali, Gumanpura, Mulla Behram, continued on page 2 Tribune News Service Paddy straw set on fire at a farm in a village on the Fatehgarh Churian road in Amritsar district on Friday. PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR ❝Our teams visited 834 placesofafter getting cases, information about farm fires out which in 334 ~8.37 lakh has been charged as environmental compensation from the violators. ❞ Jatinder Singh Gill, CHIEF AGRICULTURE OFFICER which in 334 cases, Rs 8.37 lakh was charged as environmental compensation (EC) from the violators. He said the government was offering subsidy on five kinds of machines available for cutting paddy straw. These machines were Zero Till Drill, Happy Seeder, Super Seeder, PAU Smart Seeder and Surface Seeder. A farmer was given 50 per cent subsidy on the purchase of any one of the machine. Besides panchayat, cooperative society, farmer producer organisation and farmer groups get 80 per cent subsidy Sarpanch held for embezzlement Doc duped of ~2.85L Thai girls working at by online fraudster spas in city being Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, October 27 The sarpanch of Khawaspur village owing allegiance to the Congress was arrested by the Goindwal Sahib police on Friday on the charge of embezzling grants worth Rs 12.52 lakh that were released to the panchayat by the previous government. The suspect was identified as Jagroop Singh. An inquiry in this regard was conducted by the BDPO, Khadoor Sahib, and complaint was lodged by him. Ramanjiit Singh Sikki, former Khadoor Sahib MLA, alleged that the embezzlement was a story concocted by the Panchayat Department at the behest of the ruling party just to appease political bosses. Tribune News Service Congress workers protest against the police in Goindwal Sahib. The Congress workers lodged their strong protest in front of the Goindwal Sahib police station in this connection today. They raised slogans against the police and the state government. The activists warned the AAP leaders to restrain from propagating the vendetta pol- icy, which they said could prove dearer one day. Sikki claimed that Jagroop Singh had unearthed the sand mining trade of the close relative of the area MLA. He said a case was registered just to suppress the voice of the opponents by the ruling party. Amritsar, October 27 An unknown online fraudster duped a local woman doctor of Rs 2.85 lakh by posing as an Army man for consultation regarding treatment of a woman. The complainant, Dr Seema Gupta, a resident of Race Course Road, works in a private hospital as gynaecologist. She lodged a complaint with the cybercrime cell on August 22 while a case was registered on Wednesday. The doctor told the police that she got a call from a man, who impersonated as an Army man. He asked her that he wanted a checkup of an Army woman and held a dis- cussion about it with her. The doctor said later, she got messages of five transactions worth Rs 2.85 lakh from her bank account within an hour. The doctor said she immediately rushed to the bank to get the account freezed and approached the cybercrime cell for lodging a complaint. A probe was carried out by Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP), cybercrime cell, which recommended registration of an FIR. The police registered a case under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 66 (D) of the Information and Technology Act against unidentified person in this connection. Choked sewers, open garbage disposal add to residents’ woes A road dug up for carrying out development work; and (right) broken street in the Tung Bala area of Amritsar on Friday. PHOTOS: VISHAL KUMAR WARD WATCH Amritsar, October 27 Residents of various localities on the 88-feet-road and in the Tung area are facing several civic issues as the zone is deprived of basic amenities. Falling under Ward No. 14, the area faces problems of clogged sewers and insanitation as the municipal corporation (MC) looks the other way. The irregular lifting of garbage is another major problem in the ward. Residents are forced to dump garbage on vacant plots. Some vacant plots have turned into garbage dump. Balwinder, a local shop owner said, “The door-to-door lifting of garbage has failed. The waste collection vehicles come to the ward once or twice a week. So, people dump garbage in streets or on vacant plots. The MC should streamline door-to-door garbage collection to save residents from diseases.” Some areas in the ward have been dug up for development works. Roads and streets are yet to be recarpeted in these areas. Waterlog- ging and encroachments are other issues that irk residents. Almost all localities on the 88-feet-road are unauthorised. Due to unplanned development, the MC is also struggling to provide basic amenities. “Drug addiction and street crime are major problems in the area. Many residents, who have constructed new homes are now c m y b facing the issue of waterlogging and mosquito breeding as garbage has piled up in the ward,” said another resident Suresh Kumar. The residents are now waiting for the beginning of the Tung Dhab conservation project work. The project would revive the presently filthy drain and help in making the nearby area cleaner. — TNS lured into flesh trade PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 27 Girls from Thailand are allegedly being lured, duped and pushed into flesh trade by traffickers under the garb of spa and massage parlours that have mushroomed in the city, if recent incidents are anything to go by. In the past one week, the police have rescued seven girls from Thailand while two girls were rescued in December last year. Earlier too, similar cases were reported in the city. In May this year, around five Thai girls were deported after they were rescued from a spa centre on the Loharaka road. During a preliminary probe, the police found that in majority of cases, they were lured to work at the spa centre and later pushed into immoral trafficking by the spa owners after taking their passports. In the recent incident, the CIA staff-3 rescued four girls, including three from Thailand, from a hotel where they were allegedly pushed into prostitution. Barinderjit Singh, CIA in-charge, carried out the raid following a tipoff. The racket was being run on the fifth floor of the hotel. The hotel did not have a spa centre or massage parlour. “Investigations have revealed that the girls were invited to work at the spa centre, but later lured into flesh trade,” said Barinderjit Singh. He said the police had arrested three persons in the case while their fourth accomplice managed to slip away. They were booked for immoral trafficking. Similarly, on October 21, the Ranjit Avenue police arrested CENTRES HAVE COME UP IN POSH LOCALITIES In the recent past, spa centres have mushroomed in posh localities besides other parts of the city, including the Sultanwind road and the Chheharta area. These centres hire girls from Thailand and states in the Northeast. In the absence of any checks, it has taken the shape of an organised racket. 17 persons, including four Thailand nationals, from a spa centre operating in the Dblock of the posh locality. The police also booked the Thai nationals under Foreigners Act in the case. Varinder Singh Khosa, Assistant Commissioner of Police (North), said in this particular case, the Thai girls were booked as they arrived here on visitors’ visa and later indulged in the sex racket. They were arrested and sent to jail. In December last year, two Thai girls were rescued from a spa centre in Ranjit Avenue area. They had evisas, but even then they were employed in the spa. They were later deported to their native country. Similarly, in January 2020, eight Thai girls were rescued while in July 2020, two women from Uzbekistan were held in a sex racket being run from a spa centre on the Mall road. In the recent past, spa centres have mushroomed in posh localities besides other parts of the city, including the Sultanwind road and the Chheharta area. These centres were hiring girls from Thailand and states in the Northeast. In the absence of any checks, it has taken the shape of an organised racket. for purchasing machines. Cost of Zero Till Drill machine in the market was Rs 60,000 to Rs 70,000, Happy Seeder Rs 70,000, Super Seeder 2.65 lakh to Rs 2.8 lakh and Surface Seeder (PAU) Rs 80,000 to Rs 1 lakh. Super Seeder was the most sought after machine as it mixed paddy straw in the soil while sprinkling manure and seeds of wheat, besides cutting the crop residue. The Agriculture Department had approved 1,067 applications to buy 1,281 machines this season. As many as 559 machines had been procured till now. 2 drones, drug recovered from border villages Amritsar, October 27 Two small drones that entered into the Indian airspace and fell on ground were confiscated by the Punjab Police during the past 24 hours. Besides, the BSF recovered a plastic bottle containing 360 gm of heroin from the border village. Three separate cases against unknown persons were registered by the police in this connection. Gurinderpal Singh Nagra, DSP Attari, said the police , got a tip-off that drones were flying in Bharopal and Daoke border villages following which police teams were rushed to the spot. During search operation, the police recovered a drone from the fields of Jajbir Singh in Daoke village. A small drone recovered from fields in Daoke village. Similarly, another drone MAVIC 3 Classic was recovered from the fields of Sukhwinder Singh of Rorawala Kalan village. The Village Defence Committees (VDC) had informed the police about drones that had fallen in fields. The police registered two separate cases under Sections 10, 11 and 12 of the Aircraft Act and launched probes. The BSF also confiscated a yellow plastic wrapped bottle containing 360 gm of heroin from Daoke border village. A case under the NDPS Act was registered in this regard. — TNS