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P4 » » SUNSET SUNDAY 5.29 PM SUNRISE MONDAY 7:02 AM » SUNDAY | 19 NOVEMBER 2023 | AMRITSAR Firing at BJP leader’s house in Bhoian village Rego bridge reconstruction gets nod, traffic curbs soon Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Kulwant Singh Bhail Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, November 18 Panic gripped Bhoian village after miscreants opened fire at the house of Kulwant Singh Bhail, a Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) leader. However, no loss of life was reported and only the gate of the house got damaged. A police party from Sri Goindwal Sahib led by DSP Ravisher Singh and Inspector Paramjit Singh reached the spot on Saturday and collected information of the incident. The BJP leader told the police that the miscreants cut off the power supply before firing at his house. He claimed that it was second such incident. Inspector Paramjit Singh said a case under the relevant section has been registered. Amritsar, November 18 The district administration has decided to stop the traffic movement over the Rego railway overbridge (ROB) for its reconstruction soon. The diversion plan for traffic is being prepared so that commuters would not face inconvenience during demolition and reconstruction work of the ROB. The Railway Authorities have written a letter to the district administration to ask closure of the bridge, so that the demolition of old bridge can be started. As soon as the administration would stop the traffic movement, the work of demolishing the ROB would begin. Railways have also completed the tender process for the reconstruction recently. The work order has been allotted to a Chandigarhbased private firm for demolition of the old bridge and its reconstruction. The bridge would be constructed at a cost of Rs 50 crore. The demolition work will be completed in the first six months and after that it will take about 1.5 years to construct it. A view of the Rego bridge in Amritsar on Saturday. PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR Notably, the bridge would be made four-lane to improve the traffic flow and a survey has been conducted for its construction. Though the Rego Bridge used to be termed as life line of the city, which connects the old city with civil line areas, the traffic system around the walled city is in bad condition. District administration is also keen to address the traffic issue in the city and officials are trying to stop the traffic movement on bridge to start Sky is the limit the construction of new bridge. A complete traffic plan is being made in this regard so that the traffic is diverted properly and people do not face any inconvenience. Meanwhile, the Railway authorities also made its plan as several trains would be disrupted during the construction of bridge. To avoid any untoward incident during demolition work, train movement would also be restricted during working hours. After the closure of this bridge, people coming from areas like Islamabad, Haripura, Dam Ganj, Dhapai, Nawa Kot, Kotkhalsa, Gurbaksh Nagar can go towards Ranjit Avenue, Ajnala Road, Majitha Road, Batala Road via Putlighar. Similarly, people from different areas of walled city including Bhagatawala, Hakima Wala Lahori Gate, Lohgarh Gate, Hathi Gate will be able to go through Bhandari Bridge to reach Ranjit Avenue, Ajnala Road, Batala Road and Majitha Road. Kitemaker Jagmohan Kanojia displays kites with photos of Indian cricket players ahead of the final match of the World Cup 2023 in Amritsar on Saturday. TRIBUNE PHOTO Amritsar, November 18 AAP leader Dimple Arora today accused the police of working under senior Congress leaders’ influence and not arresting the former Congress councillor Surinder Chaudhry and his son Pawan Chaudhry. Dimple Arora’s brother Rinku was allegedly shot at by Chaudhry’s supporters over a dispute over desilting of sewage pipes in Azad Nagar yesterday. Rinku was currently under treatment at a pri- vate hospital. He sustained injury in the thigh area. Dimple while talking to mediapersons outside the hospital today alleged that it was Pawan Chaudhry who had instigated his supporters to shoot. “I have an enmity with Chaudhry and not with their supporters. It was Pawan who had provoked his supporters to fire. Though the police have arrested Harman Hundal, the police were yet to nab the prime accused,” he alleged. He said senior Congress leaders were putting pressure on the police not to Trader gets extortion call from gangster Amritsar, November 18 Days after Batala police busted an extortion racket operated by gangster Harry Chattha with the arrest of his associate following a brief encounter near Balpurian village (Batala), another case has been reported wherein which a local trader received an extortion call from the gangster. Keshav Talwar, a dealer of cold drink brand having its agency in Aadampur in Jalandhar, told the police that he daily commutes between Amritsar to Aadampur for his business. He said around a week ago, he received a WhatsApp call, in which the caller identified himself as gangster Harry Chattha and demanded Rs 50 lakh as extortion. He said he had informed the police about the same. He said on Thursday night at around 10.14pm, he along with his family was present at home when he heard gunshots outside his house. He called the police and checked the CCTV camera footage. In the footage he saw two youth came on a bike and fired outside his house and fled away. During investigations, the police found an empty bullet shell from the spot. This is the third case registered with the police in past two days. On Thursday, Sanjiv Kumar of Kishan Kot area in Islamabad told the police that he got an extortion call from unknown person on his WhatsApp. The caller threatened to kill him or his family members if he did not give the extortion amount. On Thursday, Jatinder Sapra, a resident of Budhatheh village in Beas Police station area, got a call from an unknown number and the caller identified himself as Daljit Singh of Budhatheh. He said the accused demanded Rs 15 lakh as extortion from him. The police have registered a case under Section 387 and 506 of the IPC against Daljit Singh. Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 18 With four farm fires reported by the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre, the total count of farm fire incidents have increased to 1,539 on Saturday. In comparison to the last year, when the district had reported a total of 1,542 farm fire incidents during the entire paddy season, the district is soon going to cross the mark. A visit to the rural areas of the Amritsar and Tarn Taran district revealed that the farmers are still burning crop residue. However, they are trying to evade detection by the department by setting the crop residue on fire during late evening hours. On Saturday late evening, the crop residue was spotted burning at various places alongside the roads. The residents of the rural belt complained that the air pollution caused by the farm fires is a problem for them too. “It is not that only the cities have been choked. We in comparison are habitual of living in a better environment and even a little pollution causes breathing and chest related problems,” said Parshotam Singh, a resident of Cheema Khurd village in Tarn Taran. He said the government The district had reported a total of 1,542 farm fire cases during the entire paddy season last year. TRIBUNE PHOTO STUBBLE BURNING CONTINUES IN TARN TARAN ■ Though the administration had taken stern measures against stubble burning, the practice continues in the district. Several fields were seen under clouds of smoke on the Warianh the village infront of Naushehra Pannun. The farmers said as the delay in harvesting of the paddy will postpone the sowing of wheat crop and in the present circumstances they have no other choice, but to fire the paddy residue ■ There were reports of farm fires in Sarai Amanat Khan and Chohla Sahib too. The police said Avtar Singh, a farmer of Kaura Vidhana, has been booked under Section 188 of the CrPC on Friday should find a solution to the problem. “Only if a demand is generated for paddy residue, the farmers could be stopped from burning it. Besides, there is a need to take action against all those who cause air pollution.” He said that it seems that the government’s seriousness is only because of the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal orders. Even as the district administration has got atleast 19 FIRs registered against the farmers besides the 21 criminal complaints in the courts and nearly Rs 25 lakh in fine as environmental compensation, it so far has failed to pull a blanket ban on such incidents of farm fires which cause pollution. Azad Nagar firing: AAP leader Two snatching cases Arora alleges police inaction reported in rural belt Tribune News Service Tribune News Service District just three cases short of breaching last year’s farm fire tally arrest him. He alleged Surinder Chaudhry had 18 criminal cases against him. Sukhinder Singh, Station House Officer, said that Harman was arrested yesterday and the police had also cancelled his arms license. He added investigations were under progress and accused would be arrested soon. Arora gave an ultimatum of two days to the police and threatened to sit on a protest outside the cantonment police station in case Surinder Chaudhry and his son was not arrested. Amritsar, November 18 Unidentified bike-borne youth snatched a bag containing Rs 44,000 from a woman near Cheema Bath village, falling under the Beas police station, here yesterday. Ajmer Singh, a resident of Kot Mehtab, told the police that on Friday at around 2 pm he along with his wife Balwinder Kaur had gone to Punjab National Bank branch at Rayya and withdrew Rs 44,000 from the bank. He said while returning when they reached bear Cheema Bath village, a bikeborne youth snatched bag from his wife and fled. Meanwhile, in another incident two armed persons snatched Rs 7,800 from an employee of a dhaba located at Ram Tirath Road here. The victim was identified as Dharampal of Wadala Bhitewad village. He said on Thursday at around 8.30 pm the accused came on a motorcycle at the dhaba and demanded chapatis. He said the accused later took out a pistol like thing and threatened to shoot him. He said the accused then took out Rs 7,800 from his pocket and fled. — TNS Police arrest fifth accused in criminal trespass, mischief case Tribune News Service Members of the ministerial staff during a protest in Amritsar on Saturday. TRIBUNE PHOTO Pen-down strike brings work at govt offices to grinding halt Amritsar, November 18 Work in government offices was hit as employees of various departments are on pendown strike for the last 10 days. The employees are demanding payment of DA arrears and implementation of the recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission. Sukhjit Singh, a local resident, said, “I have to sell a residential plot but am unable to do so just because the sale deed registration of the properties has stopped due to the ongoing protest.” He said that the government should look into the issue and resolve it. The residents also require many certificates from various government departments. However, the issuance of legal documents has been delayed due to the protest. Jagtar Singh, a resident said, “I need a birth certificate for issuance of a passport but the same is c m y b being delayed as the employees at the office stated that they are on a pen-down strike.” Employees’ leader Jagdish Thakur said the government had pushed the employees towards holding the strike as it did not consider their justified demands. “What could be more justified than the fact that the government has not even cleared the dearness allowance arrears of the last four years,” he said. — TNS Amritsar, November 18 Four days after several armed persons barged into a house, indulged in ruckus and damaged the household goods including vehicles, the Maqboolpura police have arrested fifth accused in the case. Karandeep Singh, alias Kalu of Vallah village, was arrested yesterday on the charges of criminal trespass and negligent act endangering human life. Earlier, the police had arrested Sharanjit Singh of Rasulpur Kallar, Shubham, alias Chini, of Mohkampura, Akashdeep Singh, alias Ganja, of Maqboolpura and Gurminder Singh, alias Rabu, of Rasulpur Kallar. The police had booked over 12 persons in the case. Harjit Kaur, a resident of Verka, stated to police on November 14 that at around 4.30pm, Suraj, alias Raghu, of Vallah along with Surjit, Randev of Rana Garden, Kuldeep Singh of Maq- The accused in police custody. TRIBUNE PHOTO boolpura, Gurminde Singh, alias Rabu, of Rasulpur Kallar, Honey of Vallah and around eight unknown persons barged into her house after breaking open the door and damaged bikes and other household goods. She said when the police teams reached near her house, the accused fled away from the spot. She said her nephew had a fight with Raghu on Diwali and therefore they wanted to take revenge. Harjinder Singh, Assistant Commissioner of Police, (Headquarter), told that following the incident, the police had registered a case under Section 452, 427, 506, 336 of the IPC and Sections 25, 54, 59 of the Arms Act. He added the police arrested Sharanjit, Shubham, Akashdeep Ganja, Gurminder Singh and now Karandeep. They recovered three datars from their possession.