17072024-ATR-01.qxd 7/16/2024 10:34 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 37°C | MIN 31°C YESTERDAY MAX 37°C | MIN 30°C POLICE BUST INTERSTATE ARMS SMUGGLING MODULE GROW FRUITS FOR NUTRITIONAL SECURITY: PAU VC TO FARMERS IN CONVERSATION WITH A CINEMATOGRAPHER Three .32 bore pistols, three magazines and six live cartridges recovered from the suspects. P2 An exhibition of mangoes and pears and Kisan Goshti were jointly organised at Dasuya. P3 Anay Goswamy says after Mr and Mrs Mahi, he is ready to sign on the dotted line for yet another love story. P4 » » » SUNSET WEDNESDAY 7.25 PM SUNRISE THURSDAY 5:33 AM WEDNESDAY | 17 JULY 2024 Rlys earns ~90K from 148 ticketless passengers State women’s commission chief inspects facilities at Central Jail Amritsar, July 16 During a daylong intensive ticket checking campaign conducted in three trains, the Railways held 148 ticketless passengers and recovered ~90,000 from them as fine. The campaign concluded here on Monday night. Ticket checking staff along with personnel of the Railway Protection Force carried out intensive checking for tickets from the passengers of three trains — the Amritsar Katihar Express, Kolkatta Amritsar Akal Takht Express and Superfast Express. In this ticket-checking campaign, some unauthorised persons were found travelling in reserved coaches. Senior Divisional Commercial Manager Paramdeep Singh Saini said travelling without a ticket was a legal offence. He appealed to the passengers to travel only with a valid ticket. He said such a special ticket-checking campaign would continue in the stations and trains of Ferozepur division. — TNS Amritsar, July 16 Chairperson of the Punjab State Commission for Women, Raj Lali Gill, today visited the Amritsar Central Jail to assess the conditions and facilities provided to women prisoners. During her visit, Gill emphasised the importance of regular medical check-ups and provision for legal, medical and educational services for the women inmates. She urged jail officials to continuously inspect and improve these facilities. Lending an ear to the concerns of women prisoners on issues including prolonged inaction in their cases, Gill said that by requesting for a detailed report to expedite the judicial process, the commission has made it a priority to find solutions to their problems. She also reviewed the products made by women prisoners, including suits, children’s toys and teddy bears, under the skill development initiative being run by the jail administration to boost the morale of Tribune News Service Woman among two killed in road mishap Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 16 Two persons were killed and five others injured in a car accident on Verka bypass here today. A pedestrian who was crossing the road was among the dead. He has been identified as Jaswant Singh of Verka village. The other person dead was a woman, who was travelling in the car. The car driver claimed that he lost control over the vehicle when a pedestrian suddenly came in front while trying to cross the road. There were seven family members from Himachal Pradesh in the vehicle, returning home after meeting their relatives in Amritsar. Gopi Chand, who was driving the car, stated that he along with other family members was returning to Kangra. Suddenly, a person came in the middle of the Search on for woman who abandoned toddler Amritsar, July 16 The city police have started searching for the unidentified woman, who left a 2-year-old girl on the premises of Darbar Sahib and left the place. Galiara police post in-charge SI Baljinder Singh received information that a woman abandoned her daughter alone at the Guru Ram Das inn at Darbar Sahib Complex. She left her and left. After completing the legal process, the girl was admitted to Pingalwara, Amritsar, for care by a police team. During investigation, the police examined the footage of CCTVs and found that the girl was abandoned by the woman. She was wearing a green T-shirt and black pants. The city police have sought information about woman and shared phone numbers (9781130205 and 98760-02621) of the EDivision police station for sending information about the woman. — TNS CAR OVERTURNS ■ The car driver claimed that he lost control over the vehicle when a pedestrian suddenly came in front while trying to cross the road. While trying to save him, the car overturned ■ The deceased has been identified as Jaswant Singh of Verka village. The other person dead was a woman, who was travelling in the car road on Verka bypass. While trying to save him, the car overturned. Gopi Chand’s mother and Jaswant Singh, who was trying to cross the road, died on the spot. A team from Verka police station reached the spot and sent the bodies for autopsy. The police recorded the statements of family member and eyewitnesses. The injured have been rushed to the hospital. The police initiated an investigation in this regard. No check on fleecing of people by pvt labsat GMC Row over unauthorised gate in hospital to facilitate their entry Tribune News Service Punjab State Women’s Commission Chairperson Raj Lali Gill (C) during her visit to the Central Jail in Amritsar on Tuesday. Amritsar, July 16 Though touts and agents of private hospitals and labs fleecing people at Government Medical College (GMC) here is not a secret, nonetheless AAP MLA Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh has put the spotlight back on the issue which concerns medical facilities for the poor. Kunwar Vijay Pratap highlighted the presence of an unauthorised gate which is allegedly used by the employees of private labs to sneak into the college premises. The gate has for long been an issue at the college. It has been closed and reopened several times in the past one decade. The agents of private labs roaming inside the hospital is no secret as they can be seen collecting samples from inside the wards at the hospital. In most cases, the employ- benefit. V.” He said that even if the gate is closed, no one can stop the agents of private labs and hospitals from using the main entrance. Ram Kumar, a visitor to the hospital, said, “Getting tests done at the hospital lab is tough. One has to wait for long to give the sample and then to collect the reports.” He said that the government should ensure that all tests are done at the hospital itself. “If the government facility is better, then people would not require the services of private labs,” he said. The hospital employees complained that they are often blamed even when they are not at fault. “If the government has the will, then stopping the entry of agents and touts would not take much time. But for that, the government has to ensure ample staff and infrastructure at the hospital,” said an employee. tal, kitchen, library and various barracks, as well as a review of the food prepared in the Langar Hall. Gill pointed out a few deficiencies in the hospital equipment and instructed the officials to address them immediately. The Amritsar Central Jail has a capacity for 260 women prisoners and currently houses 183, including 22 sentenced prisoners, 153 undertrials, five foreigners, a foreign accused and two undertrial foreigners. BSF recovers heroin from border village Mahawa Sentry complexes for Slain Shiv Sena leader’s sons BSF jawans, farmers arrested on extortion charge ready at border Tribune News Service The unauthorised gate was first put in place by shopkeepers who had their shops at the farthest point from the main entrance. ees of these labs are called by the hospital employees and they too are present when the sample is taken, the reason being that the hospital lab does not provide reports readily, claim employees. The owner of a chemist shop near the hospital said, “Customers generally have a tendency to buy medicines from the nearest shop. If they come from the main entrance, the shops near it Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 16 The Border Security Force (BSF) has recovered 1.06 kg of heroin from the border village of Mahawa in Amritsar sector today. BSF officials said that the troops spotted some unusual objects at some distance at around 1.30 am. They immediately rushed to the spot to find two packets, suspected to be heroin, about 1.06 kg in weight. The packets were wrapped in yellow adhesive tape. A metal ring was also found attached to the packets. Besides, three pairs of sleepers, one dah (sharpedge machete), a water bottle and a gamcha (thin cotton towel) were also recovered from the spot. VISHAL KUMAR the inmates. “We are committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of women across Punjab, even if they are women prisoners,” she said. Meanwhile, Chairman of the Child Commission, Kanwardeep Singh, directed the jail administration to ensure that all necessary facilities are provided to the children of women prisoners. Currently, there are eight children of women prisoners in the ladies’ ward. The visit included a thorough inspection of the hospi- Amritsar, July 16 Community sentry complexes are being constructed by the district administration for the convenience of farmers tilling land across the barbed wire on the India-Pakistan border and BSF jawans, including women jawans, who keep a vigil. Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori visited the place to review the progress of the work on Tuesday. The DC later informed mediapersons that a total of 18 such community sentry complexes are to be constructed in Ajnala border area, out of which 17 have been completed. He said there was often a complaint that there was a lack of san- DC Ghanshyam Thori reviews the progress of a sentry post near the IB in Amritsar on Tuesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO itary facilities for the convenience of the farmers who went to their farms across the border and the men and women jawans on duty. He said in view of this demand, 18 community complexes are being constructed in consultation continued on page 2 Amritsar, July 16 The police have arrested two young leaders of the Shiv Sena in the Rs 6 lakh extortion case involving a mobile seller here yesterday. The accused have been identified as Paras Suri and Manak Suri, sons of slain Shiv Sena leader Sudhir Suri. The police had given security to both of them and these two used to roam around with gunmen provided by the police. After being produced in court, a one-day police remand has been taken for further investigations in the case. Amritsar Commissioner of Police Ranjit Singh Dhillon said that the incident took place on June 26 when a mobile seller Kamal Kant, resident of Kashmir Avenue, informed the police that these two leaders came to his A video grab of the sons of slain Shiv Sena leader Sudhir Suri being taken to a court in Amritsar on Tuesday. mobile and laptop shop in Deep Enclave and threatened him saying he sold mobile SIMS on the basis of fake address proofs. Paras Suri and Manak Suri took four laptops and 20 costly mobile phones along with them. The Suri brothers then called Kamal Kant to their office and collected Rs 6 lakh from him and asked him to pay Rs 15 lakh more. After investigating the matter, police nabbed the accused. Police Commissioner Ranjit Singh stated that their gunmen asked them not to violate the law but they ignored them. Dhillon said that action is being taken against others involved in the case. Aujla forms green squads, exhorts Shifted out during Covid-19, tax return youngsters to save environment preparers use canteen as makeshift office Amritsar, July 16 MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla has formed green squads and appealed to the youth to form green squads at their own level and make their areas green to save the environment. While addressing youngsters at Jethuwal here on Tuesday, he gave 250 saplings to villagers and appealed them to plant them. Aujla said under the ‘Plant trees, save the environment’ campaign, green squads are working in several villages, including the youth of Bal Sevak Society, Jethuwal village, who have taken up the challenge to carry out plantation in their village. “There, saplings will be planted with the help of the panchayat and they will be taken care of. I hope that the youth have taken up the challenge and now greenery will be restored,” he said. Additionally, he held a meeting with officials of the district administration on the Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service Member of Parliament Gurjit Singh Aujla at a village in Amritsar. status of the project of installing a treatment plant on the Tung Dab drain. The problems of the city were discussed with officials of national highway, PWD, Punjab Mandi Board, Irrigation and the Forest Department and instructions were given to speed up the ongoing works. Instructions were given to finalise the design of the treatment plant to be set up on the Tung Dab drain. “The design earlier prepared was not sufficient in solving the problem of pollution. Therefore, another design is being prepared, which will be sent to the department in a few days. Apart from this, a discussion was also held on the bridges that are under way. — TNS c m y b Amritsar, July 16 Income tax payers visiting the canteen area of the Aaykar Bhawan, which doubles up as makeshift office for the Tax Return Preparers (TRPs), are irked at its appalling condition. Situated in the prime area of the city, the Aaykar Bhawan serves as a centre for finding solutions to tax troubles of returnees. They are irked at the authorities for not providing decent space at the local office to facilitate the TRPs. They are made to sit in a makeshift space which serves as a canteen area, in the backyard of the Aaykar Bhawan. Income tax payers find it inconveniencing to file their returns from the makeshift location. Filing returns in the open means being at the mercy of the elements. The peak time for filing IT returns is in July Rainwater remains accumulated in the canteen area of Aaykar Bhawan in Amritsar. which coincides with the rainy season. Since the canteen area is built at a lower height than the rest of the structure, rainwater tends to accumulate, making it difficult for them to work. Surjit Singh Buttar, a retired DSP from the Punjab Police, said there was neither any provision for cold drinking water nor washrooms in the canteen area, adding that ceiling fans had been installed under a tin roof which only added to the impact of hot and humid weather. Buttar said that even a decent route to the backyard is not there. There are some chairs available but they are used by the canteen operator and his cus- tomers. At times, taxpayers and canteen operators vie with each other for a chair. Notably, there are only two Tax Return Preparers (TRPs) who earn their living by filing tax returns. In a communique to the Principal Commissioner of Income Tax-I (Estate Officer), they stated that they have been working here for the past 17 years and their office used to be situated in the Aaykar Seva Kendra. In 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, they were shifted to an area outside to avoid dealing with the public inside the premises. Ever since, they have been sitting in the canteen area and providing services to the taxpayers. Since the Covid-19 threat is no longer there, they requested the officials to allow them to shift back to the Aaykar Seva Kendra. “The canteen gets crowded during lunch time making it continued on page 2
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