11072024-ATR-01.qxd 7/10/2024 10:22 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FARMERS, LABOURERS LEAVE FOR SHAMBHU BORDER A large number of farmers and labourers under the banner of the KMSC, Punjab, left for the Shambhu border. P2 » ACTRESS POOJA HEGDE COMPLETES UPCOMING MOVIE DEVA SHOOT Actress Pooja Hegde has completed filming for her upcoming movie Deva,scheduled to be released in theatres on October 11.P4 » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY AFTER HECTIC SHOOT OF MAHARAJ, SHALINI HAS SOME TIME TO UNWIND Afterthe hecticshootscheduleofMaharaj, ShaliniPandeyhassometimetounwind beforeshebeginsworkingonBandwale.P4 » MAX 38°C | MIN 32°C YESTERDAY MAX 37°C | MIN 31°C SUNSET THURSDAY 7.37 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 5:34 AM THURSDAY | 11 JULY 2024 | AMRITSAR Villager booked for molesting married woman Tarn Taran, July 10 The Goindwal Sahib police on the complaint of a married woman, a resident of Kajiwal village, have booked a man of the same village on the charge of molesting her. Investigating officer (IO) ASI Jasbir Singh said the suspect was identified as Gurlal Singh. He said the suspect entered her house after scaling the wall when her husband and other members of her in-laws family were sleeping on the intervening night of July 7-8. She said the suspect tried to rape her. The victim said when she raised an alarm, the suspect fled from her house. The victim was injured when she resisted the suspect’s attempt to rape her. The police registered a case under Sections 74, 331 (4), 115 and 351 of the BNS on Tuesday. The suspect was yet to be arrested, the IO said. — OC Two held with illegal weapon Amritsar, July 10 The police have arrested two persons for allegedly possessing a country-made weapon. Those arrested were identified as Akashdeep Singh and Karanbir Singh of Kale village. According to the authorities, the Chheharta police had laid a naka near the BSF gate near Pear Garden when cops intercepted two bike-borne persons. During search, the police recovered a countrymade pistol along with two live bullets from them. They could not give any satisfactory answer and show documents regarding the weapon to the police. A case under Arms aAct was registered against them. — TNS 29 needy kids to get financial aid Tribune News Service Amritsar July 10 The monetary aid under the child protection scheme for destitute, orphan and needy students has been enhanced from Rs 2,000 per month to Rs 4,000 per month per child. Mission Vatsalya scheme supports children through non-institutional care under private aided sponsorship wherein interested sponsors (individuals/institutions/companies/banks/industrial units/trusts) can provide assistance to children in difficult circumstances. A foster care approval committee has been formed at the district level to identify beneficiaries and recommend financial benefits for them. Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori, who is the chairperson of the committee, approved funds for 29 children today. Thori said according to the guidelines of sponsorship and foster care scheme, those families belonging to the urban areas whose annual income was less than Rs 96,000 and those families whose annual income was less than Rs 72,000 in the rural areas could be considered for the scheme. “Today, financial aid has been approved for 29 children. The money will be credited directly into their accounts”, he said. Gun houses under scanner as cops find 20 more fake licences Officials comparing records of Deputy Commissioner’s office & Sewa Kendra PK Jaiswar/Gurbaxpuri Amritsar, July 10 A day after the fake arms licence racket was busted, the Tarn Taran police have found 20 more licences which are not on the official record of the district administration here. The total figure of fake licences found till now stands at 44. The Tarn Taran police busted the racket with the arrest of three persons on Tuesday. The police recovered 24 fake arms licences from their possession. Many gun houses have also come under the police scanner. The prime suspect, district manager of the Sewa Kendra, is still out of the reach of the police. Officials are scrutinising records of the district administration and comparing it with the Sewa Kendra record to ascertain the number of arms licences issued so far. “We have found 20 more fake arms licences. Their number could swell further as the scrutiny is still in progress,” Weapons and fake arms licences recovered by the police in Amritsar on Wednesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO recovered seven weapons, including .32 bore ❝The city police havebarrel rifle, from the suspects involvedsix the armspistols and revolvers and a double in racket. These weapons have been issued by gun houses. Their owners would be questioned during the investigation. Dr Darpan Ahluwalia, ADDITIONAL DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF POLICE, AMRITSAR ❞ said Prabhjit Singh, CIA incharge. “We will also involve those persons in investigation who got their licences through the racket,” he said. As per information, Suraj Bhandari was promoted as district manager of Sewa Kendra around four months ago. Earlier, he was working as assistant district manager. The police are analysing the record since he joined as the assistant district manager. Among those arrested in the racket include Pawandeep Singh, alias Mantri, a resident of Mallia; Shamsher Singh, a resident of Jhander, and Gurmeet Singh, a resident of Jodhpur. The absconding gang members are Raghav Kapur of Jaspal Nagar, Sultanwind, Amritsar, and Suraj Bhandari of Kiri Shahi, Verowal. According to sources in the Police Department, the gang used to charge Rs 1.5 lakh for preparing fake arms licence for Punjab and Rs 2 lakh for the national-level arms licence. They also helped in renewing licences without clearance of any dope test by charging Rs 20,000. Today, the Amritsar police also claimed to have busted fake arms licence racket and arrested eight persons including Harpal Singh, an employee of the Tarn Taran Sewa Kendra, in this connection. Suraj Bhandari was the prime suspect in both the cases. Dr Darpan Ahluwalia, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, who is handling the probe of the racket busted by the Amritsar city police, said several gun house owners were under scanner as they sold weapons without verifying the credentials of the arms licences online. “The police have recovered seven weapons, including six .32 bore pistols and revolvers and a double barrel rifle, from suspects involved in the racket. These weapons have been issued by gun houses. Their owners would be questioned during investigation,” she said. Youth shot at, 12 booked for attempt to murder Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 10 A youth was shot at in Mahnia Kumara village falling under the Kamboh police station here. The police booked over a dozen persons on charges of murder bid and other relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita on Tuesday. The victim, identified as Sukhdev Singh of Bhoa Fatehgarh village, suffered bullet injury in the eye. His condition was stated to be serious. He was rushed to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital from where he was shifted to a private hospital. Though the police registered a case, the suspects were yet to be arrested. Among those booked included Akashdeep Singh, Arshdeep Singh, Lovepreet Singh, alias Murabba, Karan, aka Shabbu, and Dana, all residents of Jethuwal village, and Shinder of Mirachak village. Victim’s brother Hardev Singh of Bhoa Fatehgarh village told the police that he, along with his cousin Bachitar Singh, was returning home from Mahnia Kuhar village when they saw Sukhdev Singh run- ning in the fields. The suspects, who were armed with sharp weapons and pistols, were chasing him, he said. He alleged that the suspects surrounded and brutally thrashed his brother. He said when he tried to intervene, Akashdeep fired at him. However, he escaped while a bullet hit his brother Sukhdev Singh’s eye. He said on seeing people gathering, the suspects fled from the spot. The people called 108 ambulance which rushed Sukhdev to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, but owing to his critical condition, doctors referred him to a private hospital where he was currently under treatment, he said. About the cause behind the incident, he said his brother had a quarrel with Akashdeep Singh a few days ago. He said respectable people of the village intervened and Akashdeep and Sukhdev reached a compromise. Nevertheless, Akashdeep kept a grudge and attacked Sukhdev, he said. The police registered an FIR against the suspects under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The police said efforts were on to nab the suspects. Teachers transfer to District Institute Demand for revival of varsity admission quota for rural, of Educational Training draws flak border belt, 1984 riot-affected pupils grows louder Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 10 Government teachers have strongly opposed the Education Department’s move to transfer lecturers from various government senior secondary schools to District Institute of Educational Training (DIETs). Started under the Central Government scheme, DIETs impart training in upgraded pedagogies and learning methods to elementary/primary teachers. In a statement, the Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF) Punjab stated that transfer of 14 teachers without their consent at six DIETs in the state was unjustified. “The DIETs, which the state government now wants to revamp as Centres of Excellence, have been facing staff crunch and are yet to be upgraded since the past many years. Instead of filling vacancies in these institutes through fresh recruitments, transferring teachers from senior secondary schools would lead to staff crunch in government institutions and hit student learning,” said Vikram Dev Singh, DTF state president. The teachers, who were transferred, shared that government schools were already facing staff crunch, which would put pressure on education. “We were not intimated about our transfers and only came to know about it after our relieving orders were endorsed by the District Education officer,” shared one of the six lecturers from Amritsar, who was transferred to DIET, Verka. He said no application for the post of mentors at DIET were invited according to rules and no teacher was involved before taking decision in this regard. In the past, the issue of staff shortage in DIETs was raised by the teachers front. Last year, the state government transferred teachers on a large scale to resolve the issue. Dr Sukhdev Singh, Principal, DIET, Verka, said they were working with a teaching staff of four and one clerk over the past several years. “We have been facing shortage of teachers. Our student strength is close to 300. We have BEd students who are being trained by four mentors. We arranged more mentors through deputation to sustain our training programme. Now, with six new mentors, we can ease the pressure on teaching,” he shared. One of the reasons, he said, behind most lecturers not willing to work in DIETs, was the working hours and functioning of these institutes. “Our working hours stretch from nine to five. Our salaries and wages are decided according to the Central government rules,” he said. Teachers, however, said salaries of staff in these institutes were delayed due to fund crunch. DIETs receive grants from the Central Government. These are specialised training institutes for teachers, which focus on upgrading teaching methods and learning pedagogies. Over the years, due to a large number of vacant posts in schools and DIETs across Punjab, these institutes seem to have lost their purpose. — TNS Amritsar, July 10 Student organisations — Sath and United Sikh Students Federation — held a peaceful rally in support of their demand for the restoration of reservation abolished for students from the rural and border areas and 1984-riot victims in admissions at Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU). Representatives of the student organisations today gathered at the university campus to devise a strategy for the restoration of reserved quota in the admission for students. “Till 2017, seven per cent seats were reserved for rural students, three per cent for the border area and two per cent for pupils from 1984 antiSikh riot affected families in the university admissions. Since 2017, the university abolished the three reserved quotas. This reservation has been converted to ex-servicemen quota. We are demanding that the quota be revived as it impacts a large number of students, who fail to get admissions and are forced to The campus of Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar. FILE PHOTO 2017, seven reserved ❝Till area and twoper cent seats werefrom 1984for rural students, three per cent for the border per cent for pupils anti-Sikh riot affected families in the university admissions. Since 2017, the university abolished the three reserved quotas. This reservation has been converted to ex-servicemen quota. Jaskaran Singh Zira, SATH VICE PRESIDENT ❞ take admission in universities across Punjab,” said Jaskaran Singh Zira, Sath vice president. Officials of the university said the quota was abolished on the basis of notifications of the Punjab Government. They said the organisations were demanding that the university should increase seats for 10 per cent rural students, three per cent for those from the border areas and two per cent for pupils from 1984 anti-Sikh riots affected families on the lines of Punjabi University, Patiala. “Apart from this, the hike in admission fee by the university this year should be withdrawn. Regarding these two issues, a meeting was held today by student organisations. If the university does not pay attention to these demands, students will start an agitation on a largescale,” said Jaskaran. Overflowing sewer, burning of garbage irks Piddi village residents DIG urges teachers to hold Tarn Taran, July 10 Residents of Piddi village have lodged a strong protest against overflowing sewer on the National Highway No. (NH) 54 which passes from the front of their village. They have also condemned burning of garbage of the District Administrative Complex (DAC) and district courts in fields which is spreading pollution in their village. Fateh Singh Piddi, state leader of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, Balwinder Singh, Tajinderpal Singh Rasulpur and other residents of the village said the pipes for draining sewer water of the DAC and the court complex in nearby Sheron village seminars to educate students on ill-effects of drug addiction Tribune News Service Sewer water overflows on the national highway; and (right) garbage dumped on the truck parking site at Piddi village. GURBAXPURI had developed cracks. They said due to perforation in pipes, sewer water overflowed on the NH-54. They said foul smell emanated from the sewer water. Residents said they had brought the issue of overflowing sewer into the notice of officials concerned many a times, but it was not resolved. Residents said an open space for the parking of trucks had been converted into a garbage dump. Garbage from the DAC office and courts was dumped in the parking lot. They said c m y b safai karamcharis set garbage on fire which spread pollution in the village. Residents also alleged that there was no check on peddlers who were selling drugs in the village. When contacted in this regard, Varinderpal Singh Bajwa, Additional Deputy Commissioner, said the issues were already in the notice of Sandeep Kumar, Deputy Commissioner (DC). Bajwa said the DC had discussed the issues with Simrandeep Singh, SDM, and these would be resolved soon. — OC Gurdaspur, July 10 DIG (Border) Rakesh Kaushal’s attempt to involve civil society activists to fight the scourge of drugs, particularly heroin, bore fruit as he presided over a packed house of parents and other stakeholders concerned at a meeting held in the Police Lines. Almost all officials of Gurdaspur police district, including SSP Harish Dayama, were present at the meeting. The battle against drugs in this border district is in full swing with cops identifying and subsequently raiding houses and other hideouts of smugglers. Last month, three young men were found dead after they injected an overdose of heroin in Deeda Sansian village, notorious for selling drugs. This development had triggered a series of raids in which substantial quantities of heroin were recovered from Deeda Sansian and its adjoining villages falling in Dinanagar police district. continued on page 2
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