11012024-JTR-01.qxd 1/11/2024 12:42 AM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune CIVIL SURGEON INSPECTS EMERGENCY AND MATERNITY WARDS AT HOSPITAL Civil Surgeon inspected Sub-Divisional Health Hospital and interacted with patients in Nakodar on Wednesday. P2 » WILLEM DAFOE HONOURED WITH HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME STAR Actor Willem Dafoe has become the first celebrity to be honoured with a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 2024.P3 » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 14°C | MIN 6°C YESTERDAY MAX 12°C | MIN 6°C ANUPAMAA TOUCHES MANY CHORDS, REFLECTS REALITY: SUKIRTI KANDPAL Sukirti Kandpal, who plays the role of Shruti in the show Anupamaa, says that the show has touched many chords. P4 SUNSET THURSDAY 5.41 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 7:20 AM » THURSDAY | 11 JANUARY 2024 | JALANDHAR INBRIEF 1 BOOKED FOR STEALING BIKE Phagwara: The Shahkot police have booked an unidentified person on the charge of stealing a motorcycle. Rahat Sood, a resident of Pati Akalpur, Malsian village, complained to the police that he had parked his motorcycle (bearing registration No. PB-67-A-4755) at Malliwal village on January 6 evening from where it was stolen. Investigating officer Jagtar Singh said a case under Section 379 (theft) of the IPC had been registered against unidentified suspect. OC MAN BOOKED FOR BREWING LIQUOR Phagwara: The Lohian Khas police have booked an unidentified villager on the charge of brewing illicit countrymade liquor. Investigating officer Bhajan Singh said the police recovered 600 kg of lahan (raw liquor) and utensils for brewing liquor from dhussi bundh of the Sutlej river near Ismailpur village, but the suspect managed to flee from the spot. A case under Sections 61, 1 and 14 of the Excise Act was registered against the unidentified suspect in this connection. OC TWO ARRESTED ON CHARGE OF THEFT Nakodar: The city police have arrested two thieves on the charge of stealing cash and jewellery. Station House Officer (SHO) Satpal Sidhu said the suspects were identified as Vikram, alias Bachi, and Gurbachan Singh, alias Dain, both residents of Shadhanwali Basti, Moga. The SHO said ~4,560 cash, silver and gold jewellery were recovered from the possession of the duo. A case was registered against both the suspects. OC HOUSE BURGLED IN SARABHA NAGAR Phagwara: Unidentified miscreants reportedly burgled a house in Sarabha Nagar on Wednesday night. Isha Sharma, owner of the house, told the police that the suspects entered the house after breaking doors and disconnected the CCTV cameras first before taking away goods worth lakhs. She was away at the time of burglary. The suspects also took away the DVR of the CCTVs. The police registered a case under Section 457 and 380 of the IPC and initiated probe into the matter. OC Highway robbers’ gang busted, four held with weapons, ammo Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 10 Four members of a gang, who robbed people at gunpoint on highways, were arrested by the Jalandhar (Rural) police here today. The gang members had recently pulled off robberies by terrorising people, hitting their cars, looting valuables and snatching their vehicles at gunpoint on highways. Mukhwinder Singh Bhullar, SSP (Rural), said the four gang members, all Amritsar residents, were arrested with two stolen Brezza cars, a .32 bore pistol, four .32 bore magazines and seven live rounds. During investigation, the police found that a gang of six members had been robbing people on highways. The gang members were identified as, Ajay Pal Singh, alias Ajay, alias Raja Amabarsariya, a resident of Lahorimal village at Gharinda in Amritsar; Rahul Gill, a resident of Garhwali Gate in Amritsar; Satnam Singh, alias Shamu, a resident of Chheharta in Amritsar; Shiva, a resident of Thatthi in Amritsar; Rahul, alias Chuha, a resident of Chheharta in Amritsar; and Satinder Singh, alias Sunny, a resident of Kale village in Amritsar. The suspects in custody of the police in Jalandhar. TRIBUNE PHOTO Satnam Singh, Satinder Singh, Rahul alias Chuha and Shiva were arrested by the Jalandhar (Rural police) on Wednesday from Amritsar. The police recovered a .32 bore pistol, a magazine and two live rounds from Satnam. From Rahul, a .32 bore pistol and two live rounds were recovered. From Shiva, a .32 bore magazine and two live rounds were recovered and from Satinder Singh, a .32 bore pistol magazine and one live round was recovered. The SSP said on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday, Ankur Raja, a resident of Luharu in Una, Himachal Pradesh, had informed the police that he was looted by a highway gang of five to six men between 2.30 am and 3 am. Ankur with two of his friends in his car (bearing registration No. P19F1594) was going to the Golden Temple, Amritsar. When they reached near Jashan Dhaba at Khurdpur, five to six men in a Brezza car (bearing registration No. PB08-CU0082) hit their vehicle and took out their weapons. Ankur and his friends panicked and their car veered off the main road and overturned. After this, gang members looted gold chains, rings and iPhones from Ankur and his friends. A case under Sections 379 of the IPC and Sections 25, 27, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act was registered at the Adampur police station in Jalandhar in this connection. In another incident, five to six men snatched a Brezza car Three held for extortion, robbery Jalandhar, January 10 Tightening the noose around anti-social elements, the Jalandhar Commissionerate Police on Wednesday busted a three-member gang involved in extortion, threatening and robbing people. Divulging details, Commissioner of Police (CP) Swapan Sharma said the police received a tip-off that a gang was involved in extorting money from people by staging fake accidents. After receiving information, police parties were constituted to nab culprits. Sharma said after scrutinising various CCTV footages and gathering other evidence, police teams laid a trap and succeeded in busting the three-member gang by arresting Ajay Kumar of Mandi, Jalandhar Cantt, Rahul of Dasmesh Nagar and Rahul of PAP Complex here. (bearing registration No. PB08DX1122) at the Udesian petrol station in the early morning hours on the Jalandhar-Hoshiarpur Highway from a man identified as Vivek Choda, a resident of Vasant Vihar, Adampur. Before fleeing with car towards Jalandhar, the robbers thrashed and injured Vivek and also opened fire at him. A case under Sections 379 B II, 307 and 34 of the IPC and Sections 25, 27, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act was registered on Tuesday at the Adampur police station in this connection. The Brezza car (bearing registration No. PB08-CU0082) used in the Khurdpur robbery was recovered by police on the KartarpurAmritsar highway. Another snatched Brezza car (bearing registration No. PB08DX1122) was also recovered by the police. During investigation, it came to the fore that the Brezza car (bearing registration No. PB08-CU0082) was used by the gang in various snatchings incidents. The same gang had snatched this car from Ankur Dogra, a resident of Top Khana Bazaar, Jalandhar Cantt, on the intervening night of January 4 and 5, near the SBI Bank ATM at the BSF Chowk. ~1.11 crore bottle crushing machines lying non-functional Tribune News Service The suspects in custody of the Jalandhar police on Wednesday. Sharma said the gang was involved in extortion, threatening and robbing people. He said an FIR under Sections 387, 341 and 34 of the IPC was registered at the Rama Mandi police station. The police said the suspects had confessed to extorting money from people by staging fake accidents. The police said they were involved in multiple criminal activities in various areas of the city. The CP said one Toyota Inno- va (bearing registration No. PB08-DG-8120) and some cash was recovered from the gang. He said the gang had been operating in densely populated localities and was involved in crimes at PAP lights, Paragpur, around Mariton hotel and other places in the city. The CP said further investigation in the case was in progress. More details would be revealed in the coming day once the suspects were interrogated thoroughly, he added. — TNS Jalandhar, January 10 Even as the BJP leadership has taken up the issue of alleged Rs 100 crore Smart City scam in Jalandhar, there were several projects initiated with funds from the Centre which got started, but did not remain functional. One such project is of 10 reverse-vending machines which were installed for crushing pet plastic bottles at a cost of Rs 1.11 crore two years ago in January 2021. A contract was signed with an Ahmedabad-based firm for the operation and maintenance of the machines for five years, but it remained partially workable only for a few months. continued on Page 2 Four nabbed with 330-gm heroin Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 10 The police have arrested four persons and recovered 330 gm of heroin from them. The police said a special campaign against drug peddling was launched in the city. The CIA staff received a tip-off regarding four persons involved in drug peddling. The police said, following the information Ashu, a resident of National Avenue, Rama Mandi here, was arrested. Commissioner of Police (CP) Swapan Sharma said the police recovered 200 gm of heroin from Ashu. An FIR under Sections 21, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act was registered against him at the Rama Mandi police station. The CP said after investigation, another suspect identified as Vijay Hans, a resident of Drug peddlers in custody of the police in Jalandhar on Wednesday. Ram Tirath Road, Amritsar, was arrested and 30 gm of heroin was recovered from him. The CP further said during the investigation of another case registered on November 29 last year, two more suspects identified as Kuldeep Singh, a resident of Chouhan village in Amritsar district, and Gurnam Singh, a resident of Pakka Shahidan village in Sirsa district, Sarpanch murder case: 6 arrested following encounter with police Tribune News Service Hoshiarpur, January 10 Six persons have been arrested after an encounter with the police last evening. The police was chasing the suspects involved in the murder of Dalit sarpanch Sandeep Kumar, alias Chhina (47), when the cross-firing took place. The sarpanch was gunned down on January 4 on the Tanda road while he was going for work. The police recovered a .32 bore pistol, three live cartridges, one knife, a Swift car and two bikes from the possession of the suspects. Surinder Lamba, SSP , Hoshiarpur, said a team had been constituted under SP Sarabjit Singh Bahia with DSPs Parminder Singh, Talwinder Kumar and Balwinder Pal. The SSP said the main suspect in the case was ❝ Our teams retaliated the fire and Anoop got injured. He is under treatment at the Civil Hospital. He has been booked under various Sections of the IPC and the Arms Act. ❞ Surinder Lamba, SSP, HOSHIARPUR identified as Anoop Kumar, alias Vicky, of Asalpur village. One co-suspect Rohit Kumar, alias Suraj, had already been arrested. The SSP said driver of Swift car (bearing registration No. PB-08-FB-3805) used in the crime was identified as Sanmant Khosla of Tanda. He said two other suspects identified as Gurpreet of Ghodewaha village and Mandeep Singh of Moha village had also been arrested. Civic body turns a blind eye as city roads in shambles MCofficialstoldtorelease Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 10 The deteriorating condition of several key roads in the city, including Cool Road, Urban Estate, Phase II road near MGN School, the Defence Colony road, and the road leading from PIMS Hospital to Garha Chowk and others has escalated distress among residents. Daily commuters often get frustrated while navigating on these hazardous roads. The state of roads highlights the poor quality of patchwork and inadequate supervision, resulting in temporary fixes that last barely a month. Commuters say despite several complaints, officials appear indifferent towards damaged roads which pose a serious threat to the safety of residents. Defence Colony residents recount a year-long ordeal, starting with a brief Potholes give a bumpy ride to commuters on Cool Road in Jalandhar. PHOTO: SARABJIT SINGH respite when the road was patched up during the Assembly elections only to be dug up again for the Surface Water Project. They said it’s been a long since the pipelaying work was completed, but the road had not been repaired yet. Cool Road has become another recurring grievance of commuters. “The road, ❝Customers avoid to coming to shops due the road's condition. This has adversely impacted our business. ❞ Sanjay Verma, SHOPKEEPER once in good condition, has been dug up for water pipe installation, but repair work is yet to commence leaving the stretch in a dilapidated state,” the commuters said. They claimed that the recently inaugurated flyover near Jalandhar Cantt railway crossing too had developed sizable potholes that endangered commuters. Residents have raised concern over the apparent negligence of development proj- c m y b ects, with issues ranging from broken roads to malfunctioning streetlights, overflowing sewage and inadequate waste management. Kalpana, a resident, laments the absence of councillors or mayor since the dissolution of the municipal corporation House over a year ago leaving residents without a responsive authority. Business establishments near Garha Chowk have reported a decline in footfall due to the deteriorating road condition. One of the shop owners, Sanjay Verma, said customers were avoiding their stores due to the road’s condition that adversely impacted their businesses. “We demand urgent intervention of the MC and the district administration to address the pressing issues plaguing the city’s infrastructure and ensure safety and wellbeing of residents,” he said. The SSP said last evening, CIA staff Inspector Balwinder Pal had information about whereabouts of main suspect Anoop Kumar. He indicated him to stop on the Dholbaha-Dehra road while he was going on his bike. His bike slipped and he fired shots at police teams. “Our teams retaliated the fire and Anoop got injured. He is under treatment at the Civil Hospital. He has been booked under Sections 307, 353 and 186 of the IPC and Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act.” The SSP said the police had also arrested Manpreet Singh and Karan Kumar who were with him. The SSP said Anoop Kumar, Rohit Kumar, Karan Kumar, Gurpreet and Mandeep already had several FIRs lodged against them in police stations across Punjab. Woman dies of asphyxia, family hospitalised Non-functional streetlights on Damoria flyover. MALKIAT SINGH Avneet Kaur Haryana, were arrested with 100 gm of heroin. The CP said further probe into both the cases was on and details pertaining to it would be shared in the coming days. The CP said during the last one-week, the police recovered 399 gm of heroin and 399 intoxicant tablets. He said the antidrug drive would be intensified in the coming days and peddlers sent behind bars. outsourced staff salary Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 10 Municipal Corporation Commissioner Aditya Uppal today held a meeting with officials of the streetlights wing and asked them to ensure payment of outsourced employees who had not been doing maintenance work because of non-payment of their dues. Officials said on daily basis, several complaints regarding non-functional streetlights were received by the municipal corporation (MC). According to official figures, there are around 80,000 streetlights in the city. The MC Commissioner said officials of the streetlight wing had been asked to ensure early redressal of complaints and enhance response mechanism. Former Ward No. 78 councillor Jagdish Samrai recently handed over a memorandum to senior officials of the MC which highlighted several dark spots existing in the area where no streetlights had been installed. The memorandum was addressed to the MC Commissioner. Samrai said this was the 11th memorandum that he had submitted with the same request. Samrai mentioned exact 10 dates when he sent memorandums and letters to officials with a request letter being sent on December 5 last year. “I never got any solution or any answer to my queries. There are several mohallas in my ward where there are no lights. How can one live continued on Page 2 Jalandhar, January 10 A woman has died of asphyxiation after she inhaled smoke from an “angithi” (traditional brazier) kept in the room. Her family members, including her husband and two children, were admitted to a hospital for treatment The deceased was identified as Kajal, a resident of Mohalla Gobindgarh here. The incident occurred when the entire family, hailing from Nepal, closed their room and slept with the traditional brazier inside. As per information, Vishal, the deceased’s husband, called his food stall staff to their residence at 7 am, who found the family in a critical condition, with Kajal having suffocated to death. The two children, aged two-and-a-half years and oneyear-and-eight months, along with Vishal, were immediately rushed to a hospital by the staff and local residents. Their condition is reported as critical. After receiving information, the police reached the spot and sent the body for a post-mortem. The police said the woman reportedly died of suffocation after inhaling smoke forom “angithi”. They said further proceedings would be initiated once Vishal recovered and was fit to give his statement. — TNS