24022024-ATR-01.qxd 2/24/2024 12:53 AM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 22°C | MIN 7°C YESTERDAY MAX 22°C | MIN 7°C WEEKLONG ‘RANGLA PUNJAB’ BEGINS AT KHALSA COLLEGE ACTRESS ZENDAYA DONATES $100K TO HER ALMA MATER SURESH WADKAR RECEIVES LATA MANGESHKAR AWARD Singer Sukhwinder Singh mesmerised audience on day one of the week-long ‘Rangla Punjab’ at Khalsa College. P2 Actress-singer Zendaya has donated $100,000 to her alma mater California Shakespeare Theater in Oakland. P4 Playback singer Suresh Wadkar has been honoured with the Gansamragini Lata Mangeshkar Award. P4 » » » SUNSET SATURDAY 6.23 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 7.03 AM SATURDAY | 24 FEBRUARY 2024 | AMRITSAR Ammunition, cash stolen from gunhouse Body of missing Jandiala Guru youth found in drain, two held Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 23 Unidentified miscreants decamped with 11 firearms along with ammunition and Rs 6 lakh in cash from the Royal Gun House located near Bhandari Bridge here on Thursday. The burglars, with their faces covered, gained entry by drilling a big hole in the wall from the neighbouring shop. Though the police have registered a case in this connection, they are yet to find any clues about the perpetrators of the crime. Ironically, this is the second case of burglary in the same shop within a period of seven months. Suresh Arora, owner of the shop, revealed that the accused took away eight guns of .12 bore calibre, three pump action .12 bore doublebarrel gun, 18 bullets and Rs 6 lakh in cash from the table drawer. He said that on Wednesday night, he closed his shop at around 10.30 pm. The next day, when he continued on page 2 Amritsar, February 23 Six days after a youth Akashdeep Singh (20) of Jandiala Guru was abducted by three persons, his body was found in a drain near Bandala village here on Thursday. The police have arrested two persons in this connection and added murder charges to the FIR. Those arrested were identified as Nishan Singh of Jandiala Guru and Paramjit Singh of Rampura village. Earlier, the police had booked Guramrit Singh, Raja Takkar and Deepak, all residents of Jandiala. The police have also nominated Shiva of Jandiala Guru in the case. According to the family, prime accused Raja Takkar used to suspect that Akashdeep helped his cousin Malkeet Singh in eloping with his (Raja’s) sister for marriage. Therefore, they kidnapped and murdered him for ‘honour’ and later dumped his body into the drain near Bandala. Two suspects in custody of the Amritsar police on Friday. ASI Rajbir Singh, investigating officer in the case, confirmed the arrest of two persons, adding that raids were on to nab the remaining culprits. Sukha Singh, father of the victim, told the police that Akashdeep, who worked at a shop, had gone to work in Jandiala on February 16, but did not return home. His mobile phone was also switched off. Initially, they thought he might have gone with his friends to some religious place, but next day also his phone was switched off. “We got worried and analyzed the footage CCTV cameras in the area and near his shop where they found that Guramrit Singh had taken him away on February 16 on a scooter. Guramrit was a relative of prime accused Raja Takkar,” said Sukha Singh. The police also found a CCTV footage in which the remaining accused were found keeping sharp-edged weapons in an SUV. The police said the accused allegedly took Akashdeep to Paramjit Singh’s tubewell where they thrashed and later killed him. Paramjit was a cousin of Raja Takkar. “We have added Section 302 of the IPC to the FIR registered under Sections 365 and 120-B of the IPC at the Jandiala police station on February 17,” said ASI Rajbir Singh. He said raids were on to arrest the remaining accused. Tribune News Service Brick kiln owners apprise a PSPCL official of their woes. Power cuts irk kiln owners in Tarn Taran Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 23 CIA staff confiscated 6 kg of heroin from three persons from a rural area in Ajnala subdivision here on Friday. The police also seized ~1.70 lakh of drug money from their possession. Satinder Singh, SSP Amrit, sar Rural Police, said the accused were identified as Lakhbir Singh, a resident of Bathinda, Mandeep Singh, alias Gora, and Hartej Singh of Chogwan in Lopoke. Lakhbir had been residing in Amritsar for the past few months. “The police got a specific input that the trio was involved in cross-border drug peddling and that they were going towards Ajnala from Kotli Amb village. CIA staff laid a naka and arrested the trio who were riding two bikes,” he said. During search, the police seized 6-kg heroin and the drug money from their possession. They were produced in a local court and brought on police remand for further investigations. DSP Inderjit Singh said so far, the police did not find any FIR registered against them in past. The informer told the police that they had sneaked in several drug consignments in the past also. The drugs were apparently smuggled with the help of drones. “We are trying to establish their backward and forward links to smash the drug racket in cross-border drug smuggling,” he said. A case under Sections 21-C, 27-A, 25, 29, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against them. Tarn Taran, February 23 A deputation of the Brick Kiln Owners Association, Punjab, led by Satnam Singh Sarhali, block president of the Association, met Jasbir Singh Sursing, Director Administration, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (Powercom) here on Friday. The brick kiln owners apprised the PSPCL Director of the frequent power cuts and appealed to take necessary steps. The owners of the brick kilns apprised Sursing that most of the brick kilns were being run on electricity and the frequent power cuts badly affected their working, resulting in financial loss to the brick kiln industry. The PSPCL Director assured the brick kiln owners of the necessary steps. He also assured them that a meeting would be fixed with the Chief Minister to resolve their problems related to other departments. The Association presented a charter of their demands to Sursing. Amritsar, February 23 The second edition of the three-day cultural festival, Sacred Amritsar, began on Friday evening with a captivating ‘mehfil’ with eminent poets Swanand Kirkire, Sarbpreet Singh, Dr Sarbjot Singh Behl and Saumya Kulshrestha keeping the audience spellbound right from the moment it began. A celebration of poetry and expression that kept wandering from subtle romanticism to thought provoking interpretation of experiences — some personal, others shared — the evening set the ball rolling for two days of non-stop cultural and creative events that Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 23 On the call of the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), the local units of various farm organizations burnt effigies of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Haryana CM M L Khattar at Golden Gate here on Friday. The farmers and trade unions observed a black day. Protesting against the killing of young farmer Shubhkaran Singh at the Khanauri border, leaders and activists of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee burnt effigies of the Union Home Minister and the Haryana CM. They also raised slogans against the Centre and the Haryana Government. Gurdev Singh Varpal, leader of the Kisan Sangharsh Committee, said, “Our young farmer Shubhkaran Singh was shot would be hosted at Partition Museum, The Earth and Gobindgarh Fort. Swanand Kirkire and Kausar Munir presented their celebrated poems and spoke of their experience of writing for self and for films, while Sarbpreet Singh, whose latest book The Sufi’s Nightingale has managed to captivate readers globally, also shared some of his insights into the progression of Punjabi poetry and Sufi traditions. The later part of the evening had a performance by Karam Rajput, a popular name in Punjabi Sufi and folk music, who with his soulful performance did his guru, Padma Shri awardee Puran Chand Wadali, proud. Noted poet and writer Swanand Kirkire (right) and Sarbpreet Singh (centre) during the festival in Amritsar on Friday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR ETO announces ~2L granttoSathialacollege Amritsar, February 23 Cabinet Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO today participated in the Mahfil-e-Khas function at Sri Guru Teg Bahadur College, Sathiala, where he announced a grant of Rs 2 lakh for the college. He said that the grants for development and upgrade of schools and colleges in the state are being given under the large-scale reforms initiated in the field of education. “If we look at history, 90 per cent of the officers and teachers occupying high positions were all educated in government schools,” he Protest killing of young farmer Shubhkaran Singh at Khanauri Farmers during a protest in Amritsar on Friday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR dead at the Khanauri border. At the same time, some young farmers are also missing and some are in illegal detention of the Haryana Police and they are being tortured. Protesting against the police atrocities, farmers burnt effigies of the Haryana Chief Minister and the Union Home Minister across India. The farmers had asked for a place from the government to protest peacefully, but they are treating us like enemies.” “The government has been trying to depict the peaceful protest of the farmers as a communal issue. The propaganda is being made to turn the farmers’ agitation as Haryana vs Punjab or Hindu vs Sikhs. But we are aware of such tactics of the government. The MSP guarantee is necessary for all the farmers across India. Farmers from Punjab always lead the struggle whether it was against Mughals or British. Now Punjab is leading the fight to prevent the rights and survival of Indian farmers,” said Gurbhachan Singh, another farmers’ leader. “The Central Government betrayed the farmers in 2021. Even after the assurance of MSP Guarantee Act and promises to fulfil other demands, the government didn’t show any concern. Now they are trying to suppress our constitutional right to protest for demands,” said Gurdev Singh Varpal. 3-day Sacred Amritsar Lit fest dwells on portrayal of begins on poetic note Partition in Punjabi theatre 3 peddlers held with 6 kg of heroin, cash Three accused in custody of CIA staff in Amritsar on Friday. Farmers, trade unions hold protest, observe black day claimed, while stressing that government school education is not something to look down upon. He said that there has been a big change in the appearance of government school buildings, while various teaching techniques are being implemented to make the students abreast with new techdriven education system. ETO said the grant of Rs 2 lakh to the college will be used for repair and building management. MLA Baba Bakala Dalbir Singh Tong, along with other officials, was also present at the event. — TNS c m y b Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 23 Punjabi theatre has had a long and intimate association with the pangs of Partition, with many revolutionary thinkers, playwrights and artists born in the aftermath of one of the most brutal era of Punjab’s history. Revisiting that turbulent period, and to assess its impact on Punjabi theatre and cultural landscape, a special session was held at the ongoing Amritsar Literature Fest at Khalsa College, with dramatists Kewal Dhaliwal, Jatinder Brar, Atamjit Singh and others sharing the contribution of Punjabi theatre in this long, arduous journey. A detailed discussion about how and to what extent Punjabi dramatists presented the pain of 1947 in their plays, the stories that were born out of shared pain and personal experiences that remain etched in the memory of the people, was held on the occasion. “The Partition of the country affected the Punjabis more than the independence of the country in 1947, the pain of which is still carried by the old generation in their hearts. This pain appeared in every genre of Folk singer Padma Shri awardee Puran Chand Wadali and singer Kanwal Grewal at Khalsa College in Amritsar on Friday. SUNIL KUMAR Punjabi literature, but Punjabi drama has presented it prominently. Many of the plays adapted from stories of Manto, Amrita Pritam and others, who were stuck in mayhem in the aftermath of Partition, were presented with conviction, so that this brutal yet important aspect of our history gets retold, from generations to generation,” said Dhaliwal, whose play Pul Sirat, presented the story of Punjab’s pain from 1947 to 1984, through the lens of a Muslim girl. Later in the day, Padma Shri awardee Puran Chand Wadali and Kanwar Grewal, engaged the young audience as well as the older ones, in a poetic performance that tra- versed the famous love stories of Punjab to love for our cultural identity, urging the young to not leave their nest, never to return. “One must understand that the Punjab we knew was the one that had cultural and social harmony. It had a community kinship that still remains, only now, we are in a race to achieve more than the other, whether it is material or otherwise. There is nothing wrong in the Punjab of today, if only we, its citizens, try to imbibe and preserve the same values and traditions that our Gurus, peers and saints taught us,” said Kanwar Grewal, while addressing a huge crowd of students.
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