24062024-ATR-01.qxd 6/24/2024 12:43 AM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY ENSURE SUSTAINABLE DEV, RETAIN HARMONY WITH NATURE MALERKOTLA VEGGIE GROWERS TO JOIN FARMERS’ PROTEST SONAKSHI, ZAHEER ARE OFFICIALLY WIFE & HUSBAND! Planting and preservation of trees that are life-givers is crucial to combating weather aberrations: Residents. P2 Office-bearers and activists of Farmers Federation of Malerkotla have announced to join ‘kissan morcha' from Monday.P2 Sonakshi’s bridal dress was an all-white affair with a touch of ivory, while Zaheer’s sherwani was also white. P4 » » » MAX 40°C | MIN 29°C YESTERDAY MAX 41°C | MIN 29°C SUNSET MONDAY 7.39 PM SUNRISE TUESDAY 5.27 AM MONDAY | 24 JUNE 2024 | AMRITSAR Police party attacked in Tarn Taran village, 1 held Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, June 23 A team of the Sarhali police was attacked by a resident of Jallewala village when it went there to probe a complaint against a miscreant here on Saturday. Inspector Kashmir Singh, SHO, Sarhali police station, said he along with the police party went to the village on Saturday evening to investigate the complaint against Bakhshish Singh. He was busy in his fields when a Punjab Home Guard jawan Lakhwinder Singh went to him. When the Home Guard jawan called Bakhshish Singh to come near him, he talked rudely, slapped him and tore his uniform. When Inspector Kashmir Singh came to the rescue of the Home Guard jawan, Bakhshish Singh also misbehaved with the SHO and threatened to kill him too. The accused was arrested on the spot and booked under Sections 307, 332, 353, 186, 509 and 506 of the IPC. 3 associates of US-based smuggler held with 200-gm heroin, weapons Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 23 The three associates of USbased smuggler Sarvan Singh, alias Bhola Havelian, were sent to two-day police custody here on Sunday. The suspects —Karanjit Singh of Khalra in Tarn Taran, Akash Seth, alias Raghu, and Sukhdeep Singh of Rajasansi area here — were produced before the Duty Magistrate here on Sunday. During preliminary investigations, it was found that Akash Seth, alias Raghu, had smuggled around 15 kg of heroin in the last one month, besides making around ~1.5 crore of ‘hawala’ transactions during the period. A police official privy to the investigations revealed that the mobile phones of three suspects were sent for forensic analysis to identify their accomplices active in the border belt for trans-border smuggling of narcotics and weapons. “During the preliminary interrogation of the three smugglers, names of several drug peddlers active along the International Border have cropped up. Raids were on to arrest them and more recoveries are Amritsar-based family says his ship was anchored at Odisha’s Dhamra port Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service Three accused in custody of the Amritsar Rural Police on Sunday. likely to be made following their arrest,” said the official. He said Bhola had several criminal cases registered against him at different police stations in the state. Punjab Police in a joint operation with Central agencies had arrested the three associates and confiscated six pistols along with 10 magazines from their possession. Police teams recovered six pistols — including five .30 bore Star pistols and one 9mm Glock — along with six live cartridges and 10 magazines, 200 grams of heroin and one electronic weighing machine from their possession. Seventh Interfaith ‘Ride for Peace’ motorcycle rally to kick off today Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 23 More than 100 male and female bikers participated in the pre-event motorcycle rally held ahead of the Seventh Interfaith ‘Ride for Peace’ event being organised by the Diocese of Amritsar (DoA) and Church of North India (CNI) from June 24 to July 6, here on Sunday. The pre-event rally from Amritsar concluded at Baring College, Batala, where the DoA and CNI held an interfaith dialogue with people of other faiths. The interfaith dialogue witnessed the participation of Satinder Over 100 male and female bikers participate in the pre-event motorcycle rally held in Amritsar on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTO Kumar, Gurpreet Singh and Mohammed Hameed Kausar, Director, Jamat-e- Harjot’s kin want Odisha Govt, marine authorities to trace him Ahmadiyya, Qadian who presented their religious continued on page 2 Bhola Havelian is carrying a reward of ~2 lakh on his arrest. He is brother of infamous drug smuggler Ranjeet, alias Cheeta, and is wanted in a 532-kg heroin haul case, in which the latter was arrested in May 2020. He was the mastermind behind smuggling the contraband, which was seized by the Customs Department at the ICP Attari, in July 2019 and is , being investigated by the NIA. According to the police, Akash’s cousin Sanjam, alias Mathi, of Ajnala, who is at present lodged in Amritsar jail, introduced him to Bhola Havelian. 28-yr-old dies of drug overdose Tarn Taran, June 23 A resident of the local Gokalpur locality died of drug overdose here on Sunday. The deceased has been identified as Manmohan Singh Mani (28), who was a labourer in the local grain market. Kulwant Singh, a relative of the victim, said he started indulging in drugs months ago and syringes were recovered near the body. He said Gokalpur, Muradpur, Nanaksar and others were among the infamous localities of the town where the contraband is easily available round the clock. The body was cremated without any intimation to the police. DSP Tarsem Masih said the police were not informed of the addict’s death. — OC Amritsar, June 23 The family members of 29year-old Harjot Singh, who has been missing, have been making representations to the Odisha Government and marine authorities to help trace him as his ship was anchored at Odisha’s Dhamra port. A night before his birthday, on June 17, he went missing. The lone brother of three sisters, Harjot was a bachelor. So they sent representations to Bhubaneswar District Magistrate, Incharge of Port Authority Paradip, and others to trace Harjot and rescue him. His sister Rajwinder Kaur and her husband are camping near Dhamra port to know his whereabouts. Harjot’s father, Kuldeep Singh, said he received a call from an official who identified himself as Shaurya from an offshore location on the intervening Missing Merchant Navy officer Harjot’s parents, Kuldeep Singh and Jasbir Kaur, show his picture in Amritsar on Sunday. VISHAL KUMAR night of June 16 and 17. “The officials asked me if Harjot knew swimming. He told me that my son had slipped into the sea.” A sobbing father, who drove a taxi for over four decades for a living and to fund quality education for his children, said he had been employed in the Merchant Navy for nine years. He said during this time he rose from a cadet to the rank of Second Officer. “One joins the Merchant Navy only after attaining a quality level of swimming.” Harjot’s tense-looking mother, Jasbir Kaur, remembered those days when he Traders urge MP Jindal to get trade through Attari resumed Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 23 Members of the World Sikh Chamber of Commerce (WSCC) felicitated industrialist and Lok Sabha MP from Haryana Naveen Jindal during his visit to the Golden Temple here on Sunday. They urged him to raise the issue of opening of trade through the Attari-Wagah joint check-post. Rajinder Singh Marwaha of the WSCC said the opening of trade through Attari would benefit traders a lot as well as local population. He said thousands of workers who were SGPC officials honour Lok Sabha member Naveen Jindal along with his wife during their visit to the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Sunday. earlier engaged in loading and unloading of cargo have been rendered unemployed. Even most of the local transporters have suffered huge losses as they are unable to get work, he said, adding that continued on page 2 had packed his luggage with joy before proceeding to join duty on the ‘Jal Vaibhav’ ship on January 10. In a shivering voice, she prayed to ‘ Waheguru’ to extend help to locate his only son. She added that he rang up his father on Father’s Day, June 16, to greet him. He also told his father to stop driving a taxi, adding that he should take the family out for recreational activities as his Canada-based sister had returned home. Harjot is the youngest of his siblings. His eldest sister is a teacher at a government school. His other sister, Rajwinder Kaur, is a manager at the Partition Museum. Harjot’s brother-in-law, Rajinder Singh, said the private merchant Navy company officials had not given them proper information on the situation. The family in a huddle at their house in Akali colony on the Sultanwind Road is waiting for positive news to reunite with their son. Teenage girl abducted, one booked Tarn Taran, June 23 The Kacha Pakka police on Saturday registered a case against an unidentified person who abducted a teenage girl from Dialpur village here on June 19. The father of the victim girl in his statement to the police stated that she had gone to the village market along with her friend, but never returned home. The girl is a student of Class XI. The victim’s father said the girl was already in touch with the accused. ASI Jai Gopal, investigating officer, said on the statement of the victim’s father, a case was registered against the accused. — OC 16-yr-old girl raped, youth booked Farmers of 10 villages protest, say Visitors to passport office at receiving end canal water not reaching them Demand certain basic facilities for them, accompanying relatives or friends Tribune News Service Our Correspondent Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 23 A 16-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her boyfriend in a hotel room two days ago. The incident came to light when the victim’s health deteriorated and she was hospitalised. Though the police have registered a case, the accused is still at large. The victim in her statement to the police stated that she along with her sister had gone to meet her relatives at Mehta where accused Jatinder Singh used to come often. She said she befriended him. The accused gave her a mobile phone and both started chatting daily. She said on Friday, Jatinder came on a bike and offered to buy her a pair of juttis from a shop. She said she accompanied him, but the accused, instead of taking her to a shop, took her to a hotel room located on the MehtaJalandhar road where he raped her. She alleged they stayed there for an hour and later he dropped her outside continued on page 2 Tarn Taran, June 23 The farmers of as many as 10 villages around Dhotian have not been getting canal water to irrigate their paddy crop. The water had been released in the Sabhra branch canal on June 11. The canal water was to reach them June 11 onward. Kulwant Singh, zonal president of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, Punjab, said here on Sunday said that among the affected villages were Vein Poin, Dhotian, Rakh Sheron, Lalpura, Warana, Usman, Dugri, Jatta, Chambal etc. The farmer leader said that the department has been releasing water from June 11 as a matter of routine but the farmers of these villages were not getting water for irrigation. The farmer leader said that they have been demanding since the beginning of the change in season overhauling of the system by cleaning and repairing the canal and all distributaries but the Amritsar, June 23 With the day temperature hovering around 45°C these days in the city, visitors to the passport office face a lot of inconvenience as the authorities have failed to provide proper seating arrangements, sheds, drinking water and toilet facility to them. The Regional Passport Office, Amritsar, accommodates around 1,300 applicants daily. Applicants from Majha and several districts of Malwa visit the office daily. Generally, it opens for five days in a week. The passport office gives appointments for a particular time slot and allow the applicants to enter the office. However, the accompanying family members of the applicants are not allowed to enter the office. They have to wait out on the roadside where they have to face searing heat. Even the parking facility is not available near the building where applicants park vehicles properly. Most of the applicants are students who aspire to study abroad. Girl students often visit along with parents, who have to wait outside the passport Charanjit Singh Teja Farmers stage a dharna on Dugri bridge in Tarn Taran on Sunday. department overlooked their appeals. The irked farmers staged a dharna at the Dugri village bridge on Saturday and were pacified by Avtar Singh, SDO, Irrigation. SDO Avtar Singh, while talking to this correspondent on Sunday, said canal water must be released to the farmers from June 26 as the cleaning of canal and its distributaries was going on at a war footing and was to be completed in a few days. The SDO said that theft of canal water was a major reason behind its non-availability in tail-end villages. He said that the flow of water decreases by the time it reaches the tailend villages due to water theft. Avtar Singh, SDO, said that NREGA labour had been deployed for the cleaning of canal water. c m y b Visitors to the passport office on the Mall Road wait outside the office in Amritsar. VISHAL KUMAR office. Even the applicants who reach before the scheduled appointment have to wait for their entry outside the office where no seating arrangements have been made. The reception desk issues tokens to applicants as per their scheduled appointment. While waiting for their appointment, applicants brave extreme weather conditions outside the office. In the absence of proper arrangements, most visitors can be seen sitting on scooters parked outside the office or on the stairs of the nearby shops. Mansimran Singh, an applicant, said, “Getting a passport is not an easy task. The summer is at its peak, but not even a single fan is provided in the waiting area of the office for candidates or their accompanying near or dear ones. People have to wait for a minimum of one hour to get their work done. The applicants, who have applied for the passport, have to use their passport application forms as paper fans while standing in a long queue. Fans can only be seen over the officials sitting behind the counters. In this regard, arrangements should be made by authorities as there is always a huge rush.” Visitors have demanded to relocate the passport office to some other site where facilities can be provided. “Applicants from Muktsar, Ferozepur and other Malwa districts visit here. Youth can be seen sitting on the railing of the BRTS corridor. There is no toilet facility even for woman visitors. MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla should take up the matter with the authorities concerned and relocate the office,” said Saurabh Sharma, a resident.
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