12062024-ATR-01.qxd 6/12/2024 12:33 AM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune WASTE BURNING IRKS VISITORS AT NEHRU SHOPPING COMPLEX NEERU BAJWA PRAISES HER JATT & JULIET 3 CO-STAR DILJIT Says he has elevated the status of the Punjabis globally and contributed significantly to every generation. P4 MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 45°C | MIN 27°C YESTERDAY MAX 44°C | MIN 27°C FINDING EDGAR & THE MONSTER WITHIN A large heap of garbage lying in the parking area of the market for the last few days was set on fire. P2 FORECAST Eric, the web series, knocks off prejudices we associate with those living in society’s underbelly. P4 » » SUNSET WEDNESDAY 7.26 PM SUNRISE THURSDAY 5:19 AM » WEDNESDAY | 12 JUNE 2024 | AMRITSAR Teenage girl abducted, one booked Paddy sowing begins in district Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, June 11 A teenage girl, studying in Class XII, was abducted by a youth of a nearby locality in Patti town after luring her with marriage promise recently. The incident occurred on the intervening night of June 6 and 7 and a case was registered on Monday by the Patti (city) police. The father of the victim in his statement to the police stated that the family as usual went to bed on June 6 and at midnight he found that his daughter was not there on her bed. He lodged a complaint against Deep Karan of Ward No.9 in the town. He said the accused abducted his daughter after luring to marry her. The police have registered a case under Sections 363 and 366-A of the Indian Penal Code in this regard. Drug cartel busted; 3 held with 8-kg heroin, weapon Tribune News Service A field where paddy transplantation has started near Amritsar on Tuesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 11 The transplantation of paddy in the fields has started on a slow note owing to shortage of labour and water required for puddling of the fields. Farmers say paddy sowing is expected to pick up pace within the next few days as issues related to labour and irrigation would be streamlined. However, it could be termed as a token start as only a few fields have seen paddy trans- plantation so far. The canal water has not yet been released. Furthermore, the electricity department is yet to start the assured eight-hour supply of power for tubewells. “The transplantation activity would gain momentum after June 15. At present, even workers have not formed their teams. As soon as it rains, the transplantation would automatically pick up pace as fields would be inundated with water,” said Harnam Singh, a farmer. He said in most vil- lages, farmers and workers have not yet reached a consensus regarding the transplantation charges. Farmers stated that the labour cost had reached around Rs 4,000 per acre last year and this season, it would go up further. With paddy cultivation expected to exceed 1.80 lakh hectares in the district, agriculture officials stated that they are promoting the DSR technique, which does not require manual labour. Amritsar, June 11 The police on Monday busted a trans-border narcotic smuggling network with the arrest of three drug smugglers and recovery of 8-kg heroin from their possession. Those arrested have been identified as Gursahib Singh, a resident of Jhanjoti village in Amritsar, Sajan Singh of Bhakna Kalan village in Amritsar and Satnam Singh of Kot Khalsa in Amritsar. Apart from recovering the heroin, police teams also recovered one .30 bore pistol, 26 live cartridges of .30 bore from their possession and impounded their Maruti Swift car and Splendor motorcycle. DGP Gaurav Yadav said the CI wing (Amritsar) received intel inputs that some drug The seized contraband in Amritsar on Tuesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO smugglers had retrieved a huge consignment of heroin dropped via a drone from Indo-Pak border near Dharamkot Pattan village and intended to further deliver this consignment to drug supplier Satnam Singh near Kot Khalsa opposite Khalsa College in Amritsar. Acting swiftly, police teams led by DSP , Counter Intelligence, Amritsar, Balbir Singh laid a special naka at Adda Khusro Tahli and apprehended Gursahib and Sajan who were riding a motorcycle and seized 7.5-kg heroin and 16 live cartridges from their possession, he said. He said later police teams laid a trap and arrested drug supplier Satnam Singh from Kot Khalsa area and seized 500-gm heroin and one .30 bore pistol along with 10 live cartridges from his possession and impounded his Swift car. The DGP said as per preliminary investigations, the accused were directly in touch with a Pakistan-based drug smuggler and were supplying heroin across the state after importing it from Pakistan. The probe revealed that the Pakistan-based drug smuggler had used drones to deliver this drug consignment from across the border, he said, adding that further investigation is going on to find out his backward and forward linkages to unveil the entire network. An FIR has been registered under Sections 21, 25 and 29 of the NDPS Act and Section 25 of the Arms Act at the State Special Operation Cell in Amritsar. Body of man missing for three Two of arms smuggling gang arrested days found from UBD canal Two sisters thwart robbery attempt Tarn Taran, June 11 The Chabal police have found the body of a person, believed to be a resident of Panjwar Kalan, from the Upper Bari Doab Canal near Dode village on Tuesday. The man was missing for the last three days under mysterious circumstances. The motor-cycle of the deceased was also recovered near the body. The family members of the deceased and residents of the area staged a dharna in front of the Chabal police station after the body was found. Residents alleged that negligence on the part of police was the reason for the death and said that had the police taken required steps on time, his life could have been saved. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Tarn Taran, Tarsem Masih said the deceased has been identified as Lakhwinder Singh (55). The Tarn Taran, June 11 Two courageous sisters thwarted the attempt of two persons to rob them near Kallha village here on June 7. The women, identified as Jaspreet Kaur, a resident of Verowal Bawian, and her sister Harpreet Kaur of Darapur village were on their way back from Tarn Taran on a Moped. When they reached near Kallah village, two motorcycle-born persons appeared from the rear and drove parallel to their moped. One of the robbers made an attempt to snatch the bag hanging on a shoulder of Harpreet Kaur who was riding pillion. Harpreet resisted but fell down on the road. Both sisters warned the robbers who ran away from the spot. The Goindwal Sahib police have registered a case in this regard. — OC Tribune News Service Residents during a protest; and (inset) victim Lakhwinder Singh in Tarn Taran on Tuesday. PHOTO: GURBAXPURI DSP said Lakhwinder Singh left home on June 9 at 12.30 pm after receiving a call from someone and at 2 pm, his phone was found switched off. The DSP said that the family lodged a complaint with the police and a Daily Diary Report (DDR) was lodged the same day. He said that the police was collecting mobile call details and further investigations were on. Arashdeep Singh, son of the deceased, said someone informed about the body lying in the UBD canal near Dode village today and the family went to the spot for identification. The body was that of his father Lakhwinder Singh. The agitating residents condemned the alleged lapse on the part of police and demanded action. — OC Amritsar, June 11 Amritsar rural police have busted an inter-state illegal arms smuggling racket backed by gangster Lawrence Bishnoi with the arrest of its two operatives, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav on Tuesday. The arrested accused have been identified as Harshdeep Singh of village Ratoke in Tarn Taran and Shubham Kumar of Guru Nanakpura in Amritsar. Police have also recovered three pistols, including two 9mm Glock pistols, a .30 bore pistol along with 13 live cartridges and two mobile phones from their possession. The police also impounded their Toyota Fortuner car (KA 42 M 5357). DGP Gaurav Yadav said that Amritsar rural police have also booked another The two accused in custody of the Amritsar police on Tuesday. Rajasthan-based operative in the racket, identified as Bhupinder Singh, who is said to be a close aide of Lawrence Bishnoi and used to supply weapon consignments to the arrested accused for further delivery to criminal elements. Police teams are conducting raids to nab the accused Bhupinder Singh, he said. Perti- nently, the accused Harshdeep Singh and Bhupinder Singh, who have a criminal background with cases pertaining to NDPS and Arms Act registered against them, became known to each other while lodged at Ferozepur Jail. Sharing operation details, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Amritsar Rur- City school teacher uses art works to promote harmony Congress ready for Assembly bypoll: Warring Field fires damaging tree trunk along highways, link roads Miscreants out to kill rival gang members held Our Correspondent Losing strength, many of them are vulnerable to fall Tarn Taran, June 11 The Congress party has made all preparations for by-election to assembly seats in Punjab which have been vacated by MLAs elected as Lok Sabha members in the recently held General Election. This was revealed by Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from Ludhiana. Raja Warring was in the area on Tuesday to pay obeisance at Gurdwara Bir Baba Budha Sahib Thatha along with a number of party leaders. He said the hard work of party workers brought about the remarkable performance for Congress in the state in the Lok Sabha elections. He called upon party workers to be ready for elections to the civic bodies and panchayats. Raja Warring was addressing party workers in Khairdinke at a meeting arranged by party leader Karanbir Singh Burj. Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 11 The city police claimed to have averted a revenge killing by nabbing two armed miscreants in Gate Hakima area. The arrested accused have been identified as Gurpreet Singh alias Deepu and Harpreet Singh alias Sonu, residents of Anngarh area. Police officials claimed that the accused Gurpreet Singh alias Deepu and Harpreet Singh alias Sonu were associates of hardened criminal Jasbir Singh, lodged in Hoshiarpur jail. He has a criminal history with more than 35 FIRs. Due to his notoriety, he has been transferred from one jail to another many times, having been shifted from Kapurthala to Amritsar and then to Gurdaspur, again to Amritsar, Bathinda and Hoshiarpur since 2017. On June 10, a police team was on patrolling duty. They intercepted the accused. When the miscreants tried to flee upon being rounded up on the basis of suspicion, police detained them and during a search, found a 0.32 bore pistol with two live cartridges from their possession. — TNS Amritsar, June 11 Fire from the wheat fields lit by farmers to get rid of crop residue has caused damage to a large number of fully grown trees alongside link roads and highways in rural areas. A drive on any of the roads leading outside the city is enough to gauge the damage caused to the green cover. A visit to Chabal from Sarai Amanat Khan revealed that the trunk of many a tree has been burnt by the fire. While these trees have lost a big portion of their trunk, and hence strength, they are vulnerable to fall when highvelocity wind blows. Though burning of crop residue in fields is banned, a large number of farm fires are reported every year. This wheat harvesting season, as the district administration was busy with elections, the farmers had used fire to clear the fields without any fear of the law. While farmers use fire in their fields, it often reaches the dry grass under the trees alongside Trees and grass alongside a road catch fire due to stubble burning at border village Mahava in Amritsar on Tuesday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR the road. In most cases, burning of dry grass also sets the tree trunks on fire. With flames from the field fires getting to these trees twice a year, after paddy and wheat harvesting, most part of their trunks has turned into charcoal. Sukhwinder Kaur, a resident, said, “The trees are dying slowly. Already a large number of trees have been cut to widen the roads. Thousands of trees on Chabal-Amritsar road were cut for laying the road. The ones left are being burnt with fire.” She said that farmers can at least ensure that fire from their fields does not cause any damage to trees. c m y b al, Satinder Singh said that following reliable inputs that the accused Harshdeep along with Shubham was going to deliver a weapon consignment, teams from the CIA staff laid a trap in the area under Gharinda police station and arrested both the accused when they were travelling in their Fortuner car and recovered a .30 bore pistol along with nine live cartridges from their possession. Later, police teams also recovered two 9 mm Glock pistols from the location pinpointed by accused Harshdeep, he added. He said that further investigations were on to trace the forward and backward linkages of the module. More arrests and recoveries are expected, he added. An FIR has been registered under Section 25 of the Arms Act at Gharinda police station in Amritsar rural police district. Neha Saini Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 11 If art has no language, then an artist has no religion. Amritsar-based Baljinder Singh Mann’s latest creation, a model of Shiv Linga made by toothpicks, is an interesting reminder of how art can be a positive social stimulus. Mann has been creating miniature as well as innovative art works by using toothpicks as a medium. This recent model of Shiva Linga, created by using 9,981 toothpicks took 20 days to complete and has entered the book of Unique World Records, in the category of creative art. According to the digital registry of Unique World Records, it is a world record book of Indian origin and a reference book published annually, to highlight the extraordinary out of ordinary. Mann who is also serving as a teacher at Government Middle School, Gumtala, Amritsar, shared that the model weighs 846 grams and is 7.5 inches in width and 10 inches in height. “Since I Artist Baljinder Singh Mann has entered record books with his delicate model of Shiva Linga in Amritsar on Tuesday. VISHAL KUMAR work with toothpicks, the structure is delicate as they are glued together to form a shape and structure. I had applied for the record last year and after months of evaluation, it was chosen under the creative art category,” said Mann. Many of his pieces have been celebrated, won awards on the national and international stage, embodying the vision of the artist while staying true to his roots as a Punjabi and as an Indian. “Recently, a lot has been said about Punjabis, especially Sikhs, and I wanted to bust this myth and misconception being spread by a few that we continued on page 2
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