20012024-ATR-01.qxd 1/20/2024 12:30 AM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune HONOUR FOR 29-YEAR-OLD SAHUNGRA SARPANCH NAYANTHARA APOLOGISES FOR ANNAPOORANI CONTROVERSY Actress Nayanthara has offered sincere apologies for hurting religious sentiments. P3 PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 16°C | MIN 6°C YESTERDAY MAX 16°C | MIN 7°C MANOJ TO HOST SECRETS OF THE BUDDHA RELICS Rajbalwinder has been serving the people of his village for long. He has already received six awards. P2 FORECAST Secrets of the Buddha Relicswill acquaint viewers with historical significance of Buddha’s relics. P4 » » SUNSET SATURDAY 5.53 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 7.29 AM » SATURDAY | 20 JANUARY 2024 | AMRITSAR Teenage girl abducted, three booked Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, January 19 Three residents of Mari Gaur Singh falling under the Bhikhiwind police station were on Thursday booked for abducting a teenage girl by luring her with a marriage proposal. Accused were booked by Bhikhiwind police on Thursday Sub-Inspector Gurbakhsh Singh told newsmen here on Friday that the accused have been identified as Ajaydeep Singh Ajay, his father Pargat Singh and Harpal Singh Bhala who have been booked under Sections 363 and 366-A of the IPC. In his complaint to the police, the father of the victim said the accused committed the crime on the intervening night of January 9 and 10 and the family came to know about the incident on the morning of January 10 and lodged a complaint with the police. Cold wave conditions persist, throw normal life out of gear SGPC protests govt move to set up unit on Train schedules, bus departures hit due to poor visibility gurdwara land Tribune News Service 5 drug peddlers held in search operation Tribune News Service More ops to be conducted in other rural areas Amritsar, January 19 The continuing cold wave intensified as sunlight remained elusive today. Dense fog disrupted the schedule of trains and buses besides upsetting the life of people. Keeping in view the cold wave sweeping through northern region of the country along with reduced visibility due to dense fog, the speed of trains and buses was reduced. Similarly, arrival and departure of buses, especially on long and inter-state routes, was also affected due to low visibility. The routine life of people was upset with most of them preferring to remain indoors. People were seen sitting near bonfires lit by the roadside for warmth. The Amritsar-Nanded Sachkhand Express, which departs from the local railway station at 5:30 am, was delayed by over five hours. Passengers were irked that the Amritsar-Howrah Mail, which usually departs at 6:25 Owing to dense fog, motorists drive vehicles with headlights on in Amritsar on Friday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR pm, was shown as leaving at 7:30 pm but was parked on platform number 5. Since the Amritsar-Howrah Express train was already cancelled in the foggy weather, the entire rush of passengers shifted to the Howrah Mail. Arrival of the popular Shane-Punjab was delayed by about five hours. Shan-ePunjab, which arrives at 2:15 pm and departs at 3:10 pm, arrived at about 7 pm and its departure was made possible at 7:30 pm. The departure of Amritsar-Bilaspur Chhattisgarh Express, at 4:10 pm, was delayed by about three hours. After some days of late departure, the Delhi-Amritsar Shatabdi, which arrives at 1:30 pm and departs at 4:50 pm and Amritsar-Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus train, which usually departs at 8:50 am, left at their right time. However, dense fog en route delayed continued on page 2 Garbage collection suspended after row over workers’ salary BSF recovers drone from field in Tarn Taran Work resumes after issue resolved by waste mgmt firm Our Correspondent Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 19 The workers of solid waste management company Averda suspended the collection of garbage in north and east constituencies following the nonpayment of salary in lieu of short attendance here yesterday. However, after negotiations with company officials, the workers resumed their work today. The protesting workers alleged that the company was not paying them salaries and other benefits, alleging that employees were absent from work. The workers claimed that they have been regular but the company was marking them absent. The company’s services were disrupted in north and east constituencies due to protest by the workers. A garbage dump at Joshi Colony in Amritsar on Friday. Atinder Singh, Delivery Manager, Averda, said, “There were a handful of workers who were demonstrating. They were not marking their attendance and the company imposed a cut on their salaries. Biometric attendance is compulsory before the start and end of work every day. If the employee starts work one hour late, then the software does not allow him to mark attendance. As per the compa- ny policy, there would be cut in salary in case of more absence than sanctioned leaves. There are some employees who did not mark attendance for 15 to 17 days in a month. How can the company pay them for a full month? Otherwise, we are paying salaries to all the regular workers.” Company officials claimed that issue was sorted out yesterday and workers resumed their job today. The company has been facing regular criticism due to irregular lifting of garbage and poor sanitation in the city. However company officials claimed that all the vehicles are functional and garbage is being collected from all constituencies regularly. “No one appreciate for clean roads but everyone criticize us for some specific areas, ” said Atinder Singh. Tarn Taran, January 19 The police and the BSF in a , joint search operation conducted in the field of a farmer, Satnam Singh of Amishah village, recovered a drone here on Thursday evening. ASI Lakhwinder Singh, posted at the Khalra police station, said the farmer was working in his wheat field when all of a sudden a drone coming from the Pakistan side fell down in the field of the farmer. The farmer informed the Khalra police who further apprised higher authorities of the development. They contacted the BSF personnel of which searched the field and the drone was recovered. The police registered a case under Sections 10, 11 and 12 of the Aircraft Act on Thursday. AAP alliance, Sidhu factor weigh on Gurdaspur Cong leaders’ mind Ravi Dhaliwal Tribune News Service Gurdaspur, January 19 Senior Gurdaspur Congress leaders maintain that their party is hard pressed to commence its campaign for this parliamentary seat until some clarity emerges on the issue of the party joining hands with the AAP even as rival parties are moving full throttle ahead. Partap Singh Bajwa, Leader of Opposition, said, “The logistics of campaigning can be worked out only after we know whether we have AAP as our ally or our rival.” He is the sitting MLA from Qadian and has also remained an MP from the Gurdaspur parliamentary seat. “Partap has been in active politics for the last four decades. It will be imperative for the party to seek his views regarding the pros and cons of such an alliance. His experience and expertise simply cannot be CONG YET TO HOLD A SINGLE RALLY To the Congress' surprise, the BJP has already started its crusade with senior leaders like Amit Shah, Meenakshi Lekhi, Arjun Ram Meghwal and Vijay Rupani having addressed rallies. On Monday, PM Narendra Modi held a video-conference with Gurdaspur farmers. For AAP, Arvind Kejriwal and CM Bhagwant Mann have held a rally where a development package worth Rs 1,854 crore was announced for the area. But the Congress has not held even a single rally. ignored,” said an ex-minister. The Gurdaspur parliamentary constituency is seen as a BJP stronghold with the party winning five of the last seven elections. Much to the chagrin of the Congress, the BJP has already started its crusade with senior leaders like Amit Shah, Meenakshi Lekhi, Arjun Ram Meghwal and Vijay Rupani having addressed rallies. On Monday, PM Narendra Modi held a video-conference with Gurdaspur farmers. For AAP , Arvind Kejriwal and CM Bhagwant Mann have held a rally where a development package worth Rs 1,854 crore was announced for the area. In contrast, the Congress has not held even a single rally. The Congress is ruling the roost in six out of the total nine Assembly segments of this Lok Sabha seat. The party’s star campaigners are Partap Bajwa, ex-Dy CM Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, ex-ministers Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa and Aruna Chaudhury, sitting MLA Naresh Puri and ex-MLA Amit Vij. However, none of them have made their presence felt yet. The three main civic bodies of Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat —- Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Batala —-are all controlled by the Congress. Municipal councillors, however, are averse to asking for votes because they say there is no leader whose guidelines they can follow. Political observers say yet another issue on which the party is awaiting transparency not only on the Gurdaspur seat but on all the remaining 12 seats is the Sidhu factor. “We have reports from Ground Zero that say a majority of senior leaders will keep away from campaigning if he is retained in the party,” said a Delhibased leader. Senior Congressmen say it will be good riddance if the high command expels Sidhu “because of the fact that he pulled the party down from 78 to 18 seats.” c m y b Amritsar, January 19 The SGPC has protested the Punjab Government’s proposed move to set up a Punjab Agro Food Processing unit on a piece of land in Tarn Taran. SGPC secretary Partap Singh said the project was planned to be set up on two and a half acres of land at Sangatpur village in Tarn Taran. “According to government notifications of 1928 and 1934, around 11 acres of land was declared to be property of Gurdwara Dharamshala Sangatpura. Now, the government is planning to establish a food processing unit on a portion of the land under the Shyama Prashad Mukherjee Rural Mission. This was nothing but undue interference and grabbing of the gurdwara property,” he said. He said the Tarn Taran DC was approached in this regard but in vain. “At least six letters were written to the DC, Tarn Taran, by the SGPC expressing its objection over the site of the unit, but to no avail,” he added. Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 19 The Amritsar Rural Police on Friday carried out a Cordon and Search Operation in Manawala village falling under the Chatiwind police station area here on Friday. During the search operation, the police seized 370 gm of heroin and arrested five persons in this connection. Those arrested were identified as Arshdeep Singh of Manawala Kalan village, Baljit Singh alias Mota of Alampur village in Sangrur district, Jashanpreet Singh, Ram Singh and Rajiv Singh of Manawala Kalanv village. The police seized 270 gm of heroin from Jashanpreet, Ram Singh and Rajiv Singh while Arshdeep and Baljit were held with 55-gm and 45gm contraband, respectively. Superintendent of Police Gurpartap Singh Sahota said three separate cases under Three drug peddlers in custody of the Amritsar rural police on Friday. TRIBUNE PHOTO the NDPS Act were registered against the arrested drug peddlers by the Chatiwind police. They would be produced in a court and brought on police remand for further probe to smash the entire network by identifying their backward and forward links. Satinder Singh, SSP Amrit, sar Rural Police, said the search operation was part of the police campaign against anti-social elements, especially drug traffickers and gangsters active in rural areas. He said the surprise CASO would also be conducted in different parts of the rural belt in the future. Youth ends life, 2 booked for abetting suicide Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 19 The Ajnala police have booked four persons on charges of abetment to suicide after a youth committed suicide by hanging himself in his house in at Teda Rajputa village here. Those booked were identified as Tarlok Singh of Pakka Dalla village and Jodha Singh and two unidentified persons in Man linked to gangster Landa shot in Tarn Taran village Tarn Taran, January 19 Three unidentified car-borne armed assailants shot dead a man at his farmhouse in Gulalipur village falling under Sadar police station here today. The incident seems to be a case of intergang rivalry, the police said. A police party, led by SubInspector Naresh Kumar, reached the spot and collected first-hand information of the incident. The police said the deceased had been identified as Sukhpreet Singh Sukh, a resident of Harike. He was close to Canadabased gangster Lakhbir Singh Landa who was recently declared terrorist by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The deceased was declared a proclaimed offender (PO) in the murder case of fish contractor Mukhtiar Singh of Harike. The police said Sukhpreet was living with his aunt (father’s sister) in Gulalipur village and used to stay at the farm house of his friend Kalu to evade his identity. The police said the carborne assailants opened fire at him killing him on the spot. The assailants fired three gunshot at him and thereafter managed to flee from the spot. Kalu, the friend of the deceased, has been missing since the incident. It is feared that Kala might have given the information of Sukhpreet Singh to the rival group of gangsters. this connection. No arrest has been made in the case till now. The family members of the deceased, identified as Manpreet Singh (20), alleged that the accused harassed and thrashed him as he had taken some money from them. He used to work as a helper with them. Balwinder Singh, father of the victim, said he works as a labourer and has three sons and three daughters. He said Manpreet Singh used to work as a labourer and for the past 15 days he was working as a helper with Tarlok Singh’s canter. He said the deceased took some amount as advance from the accused a few days ago. Owing to some reasons, he could not go to work. He alleged two days ago his son went to Dalla Raputa village on his bike and returned at around 9pm. He said he told that Tarlok Singh and his brother Jodha Singh and two other persons had beaten him up. They took his bike and mobile phone in their possession and asked to return the amount he took as advance and then take his belongings back. He said yesterday the family was away to some work and when they returned at around 4pm, they found him hanging from the iron girder of the room.
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