06022024-ATR-01.qxd 2/6/2024 12:32 AM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR ‘RIDE FOR CANCER’ BIKE RALLY ARRIVES IN CITY FROM GURUGRAM YOUNG SINGER APURVA SHARMA LAUNCHES SONG TERIYAN JUDAIYAN THE JAMIE LEVER SHOW IS BLEND OF LAUGHTER, IMPERSONATIONS In an endeavour to create awareness about disease, ‘Ride for Cancer’ bike rally from Gurugram reached here on Monday.P2 Apurva says, she loves Indian music. “I’ve always been interested in Sufi songs. I started doing riyazwhen I was in school.”P3 One of the most talented & versatile comedians & actors, Jamie is set to embark on India’s inaugural one-woman show.P4 » » » MAX 17°C | MIN 5°C YESTERDAY MAX 16°C | MIN 4°C SUNSET TUESDAY 6.03 PM SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 7:10 AM TUESDAY | 6 FEBRUARY 2024 | AMRITSAR Man electrocuted Tarn Taran, February 5 A man was electrocuted at Chackwalia village falling in the Khemkaran area on Monday. The deceased was identified as Lakhbir Singh (50). Harjinder Singh, son of the deceased, said his father had gone to fields for irrigating the wheat crop. The deceased was electrocuted as soon as he touched the switch of a tubewell. He was rushed to a private hospital in Bhikhiwind where doctors declared him brought dead. The police have initiated proceeding under Section 174 of the CrPC. — OC 2 POs arrested Amritsar, February 5 The Sadar police have arrested two proclaimed offenders (POs). Baljinder Singh, alias Sunny, aka Bathinda, a resident of Mustafabad, was declared a PO by the local court in two cases. A case of theft was registered against him in January 2021 while another case of snatching was registered against him in 2018. Similarly, Sonu Masih, who was booked for theft in October 2020, was declared a PO by the court. He was arrested by the police yesterday. — TNS Youth shot dead as dispute over flying kite turns ugly Three suspects involved in the incident arrested from Ludhiana Bedi, Shamsher ❝AdityaJugraj Singh have Bedi and Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 5 A minor dispute over flying kite turned ugly when two groups clashed in the Azad Nagar area on the Sultanwind road here last night. A youth died of gunshot injury he received in the clash. The deceased, was identified as Harmanjit Singh (22), a resident of the Sultanwind road area. He had come to his relatives in the Azad Nagar area for flying kite. The incident led to a panic and tension in the area when the clash was followed by firing. Harmanjit suffered a bullet injury in the waist critically wounding his vital organs. He was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared him brought dead on arrival. Gurinderbir Singh Sidhu, Assistant Commissioner of Police (East), said as per the Harmanjit Singh who was shot dead on Sunday. FILE PHOTO probe, a quarrel over kite flying on Sunday led to the incident. Among those booked were identified as Parminder Bedi, his brother Aditya Bedi, father Shamsher Bedi and Jugraj Singh. Their remaining accomplices were yet to be identified. They were booked under different sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act for opening fire and murder. The suspects worked as bouncers. Police Commissioner Gur- been arrested in connection with the clash and murder on the Sultanwind road. The cops, who arrested suspects within 12 hours of the incident, will be rewarded. ❞ Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, POLICE COMMISSIONER preet Singh Bhullar said the police had arrested three persons Aditya Bedi, Shamsher Bedi and Jugraj Singh in connection with the clash and murder on the Sultanwind road last night. He said the suspects were nabbed from Ludhiana. He said the policemen, who arrested the suspects within 12 hours of the incident, would be rewarded suitably. According to information, while flying kite on Sunday, Harmanjit, Robin, Amritpal and others had snapped the kite of other group led by Parminder Bedi. They had allegedly passed some comments. This enraged the Parminder Bedi group who also threatened them on WhatsApp. Before clash in the evening, both the groups had entered into a verbal duel twice. In the evening, both the groups came face to face. The verbal exchange soon turned into heated arguments followed by clash. One of the group allegedly fired from a weapon and the bullet hit Harmanjit Singh on his back. He was rushed to the Civil Hospital from where he was referred to a private hospital where doctors declared him brought dead on arrival. Sidhu said raids were on to arrest the remaining suspects who were absconding following the incident. Arrested drug peddler has links with Pak-based smuggler Rana, say police The employees protest at the DC office in Tarn Taran on Monday. DCofficeemployeesburn effigy to protest transfers Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, February 5 The employees of the office of the Deputy Commissioner (DC) staged a dharna and burnt his effigy here today. The protesters also waved black flags. The employees were protesting against the large-scale transfers effected by the administration under which 67 employees were shifted recently. The employees from the DC offices of other districts too joined the agitation. Tejinder Singh Nangal, state president, DC Office Employees Union, Punjab, and other union leaders including Narinder Singh Cheema and Karwinder Singh Cheema, said the trans- fer of employees was against the set norms of the state government . The leaders said the mid-term transfers had an adverse affect on the performance of employees which was mentioned in their service record. The leaders demanded the cancellation of transfers without any delay. The strike by employees is affecting normal work at the DC office, besides causing harassment to the public. The leaders warned the administration that in case their transfers were not cancelled, the agitation would be intensified and they would seek the transfer of the Deputy Commissioner, besides writing to the Chief Minister and the Election Commission. Amritsar, February 5 Rajwinder Singh, alias Goldy, a drug peddler arrested by the Amritsar (Rural) police, has contacts with Pakistanbased drug smuggler Rana. “We have got some virtual numbers from the mobile phone recovered from Goldy which has been sent for forensic examination,” said a police official privy to the investigation. He said the police were trying to ascertain the quanti- ty of drugs smuggled by Rajwinder, a resident of Hardo Rattan border village, in the past five months or so. He and his accomplice Ranjit Singh was booked by the Gharinda police in September last year for drug trafficking through drone. He was currently on police remand for interrogation. The case was registered following specific input that Rajwinder and Ranjit had links with Pakistan-based nar- cotic and arms smugglers. They used to retrieve drug consignments smuggled from across the international border through drone. The police had recovered a drone from agricultural fields in Hardo Rattan village at that time. Meanwhile, Onkar Singh of Bhindi Aulakh Kalan village, who was held with 265 gm of heroin, was sent to one-day police remand for further probe. — TNS Five booked on girl's complaint for violation of child marriage Act Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, February 5 Marrying off a teenage girl, a resident of Kotli Saru Khan village, has landed the parents of the girl and members of her alleged in-laws’ family in trouble. Five members from both the sides were booked by the Verowal police on Sunday. The victim, who is three months pregnant, had lodged a criminal complaint with the Verowal police on Sunday. Sub-inspector Mandeep Kaur recorded the statement of the victim. The police said the suspects, who had been nominated in the case, were Parminder Singh and Parveen Kaur, parents of the victim, residents of Kotli Saru Khan village, and Kuldeep Singh, his father Balwinder Singh and mother Sawinder Kaur, residents of Muchhal village. The girl told the police that she was married to Kuldeep Singh on November 5, 2023, and was now three months pregnant. The victim said she was not 18 years of age at the time of her marriage of which both her parents and the groom’s side were aware. She said even then, both the sides knowingly violated the law. The police said the five —- Kuldeep Singh, Balwinder Singh, Sawinder Kaur, Parminder Singh and Parveen Kaur —had been booked under Sections 9, 10 and 11 of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006. Massive fire at restaurant, book store destroys goods, stationery Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 5 A major fire broke out at Bansal Sweets restaurant on Lawrence Road early in the morning today. The Fire Department of the municipal corporation got information of blaze around 4 am. Soon, firemen along with fire tenders reached the spot to control the blaze. After four hours efforts, the fire was brought under control. However, the reason behind fire, which started from the kitchen of the sweet shop and quickly spread to the restaurant, could not be ascertained. Four fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames. A large number of goods, furniture and infrastructure was destroyed in the fire. Owners of Bansal Sweets restaurant have violated the building bylaws as they have covered the open space outside their establishment. The MC ignored the violations and allowed restaurant own- Fire at Bansal Sweets restaurant on Lawrence Road in Amritsar. ers to do business from the open space which led to road congestion. During the fire incident, firemen and commuters faced inconvenience as restaurant owners had encroached the road. Another fire broke out at a book store in Gali Bal Chaudhary, near Bheera Bazaar, Katra Khajana, during wee hours today. On seeing fire, a group of devotees returning from Vaishno Devi shrine raised an alarm around 5 am. Nearby residents gathered on the spot disconnected the power supply to the store. They started dousing flames with water buckets. Later, volunteers of Sewa Society from Dhab Wasati Ram and firemen from Beri Gate fire station reached the spot and brought the blaze under control. The timely action of residents and volunteers prevented the spread of fire to nearby buildings. A large number stationery items and books in the store were gutted. No loss of life was reported in both the incidents. Closure of Partition Museum on Monday, public holidays riles tourists Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 5 Tourists are irked at the closure of the Partition Museum on weekdays and public holidays when there is maximum footfall of visitors. Sanjib Biswas, a tourist from West Bengal, said he and his entire family were dismayed at the museum being closed on Monday on account of the weekly off at the gallery. He said they halted at the holy city on their way to Jammu and Kashmir to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple. After learning that both Jallianwala Bagh and the Partition Museum were situated in the vicinity of the holiest Sikh shrine, they visited the historical garden. Later, on reaching the museum, they found it closed owing to the weekly off. Gesturing at a large number of tourists in the open courtyard of the museum, also known as the Town Hall building, he said all of them would return without going through the repository of stories, materials and documents related to the Post-partition riots that followed the division of the British India into two inde- The Partition Museum in Amritsar. PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR pendent dominions. He said his relatives, who had been in the holy city ear- lier, specifically told him to visit the museum as it shared the first-hand memories of those people whose lives were ravaged by the Partition. “My elders told me that similar gory tales were heard in Bengal during the Partition,” he said. A local resident Anil Vinayak, who recently took his relatives to the museum, was surprised that it was closed on Monday. He said caretakers of important historical sites should not close such venues on public holidays when the footfall of visitors could likely increase. The administration should take notice and deploy staff on holidays at the museum so as not to deprive visitors and tourists from having a glimpse of the past historical events. Rajwinder Kaur, manager of the museum said, “There is standard operating procedure for holidays at all museums in India. As per the procedure, such establishments remain closed once in a week on Monday and their employees avail three national holidays in a year. We, at the Partition Museum, are complying with these norms. Moreover, we have limited employees to look after the infrastructure at the museum.” Road dug up to lay water pipes, commuters a harried lot Cleanliness drive launched at Ram Bagh Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 5 The Batala road has been dug up to lay water pipes. The uneven surface and slush on the road causes minor accidents involving two-wheelers and e-rickshaws as these vehicles lose their balance easily. “During the last few days, intermittent rains have turned the loose soil into slush. This has led to increase in number of such accidents,” say shopkeepers. They said most accidents involved e-rickshaws as these vehicle had low width. “Erickshaws lose balance easily while plying on an uneven road. We see these vehicles Slush after intermittent rain has made commuting difficult on the Batala road in Amritsar. VISHAL KUMAR topple to one side almost every day,” said Avtar Singh, a trader who has a shop on the road. Traders say, “Residents avoid travelling on the road due to its poor condition. At places where the work of laying water pipes has been c m y b completed, the surface should be re-carpeted so that commuters can be saved from accidents.” The work of laying water pipes has been going on for the past two months. The slow pace of the work is troubling commuters. However, the elevated corridor of the BRTS buses has presently made commuting easier for residents. “The BRTS buses are off the road for the last six months. People are making full use of the elevated corridor as the problems on Batala road have increased manifold due to the ongoing work,” said Joginder Singh, a commuter. Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 5 Municipal Corporation (MC) Commissioner Harpreet Singh and Additional Commissioner Surinder Singh visited Ram Bagh, commonly known as Company Bagh, along with officials and sanitation staff of the health and civil wing and inspected the cleanliness in various parts of the garden. MC Commissioner instructed sanitation and civil wing staff to clean garbage and debris from corners of the garden. The residents, on a morning walk in the garden, applauded the cleanliness drive launched by the MC and thanked offi- An MC team lifts garbage at Company Bagh in Amritsar on Monday. cials concerned. They urged MC Commissioner to visit Company Bagh once in a month so that cleanliness could be maintained in the garden. Residents also demanded that streetlights must be installed on the walking route in the garden so that visitors can come for walk in the wee and late evening hours. MC Commissioner assured them that all their concerns would be addressed on priority. He also continued on page 2
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