11082024-ATR-01.qxd 8/10/2024 10:49 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MC LAUNCHES ZERO WASTE AUDIT EVENT IN SCHOOLS 3 KG HEROIN SEIZED NEAR VIJETA BORDER OUTPOST ACTORS WHO UNDERWENT TRANSFORMATION FOR ROLES The MC in collaboration with the USAID and the CEEW has launched Zero Waste event in city schools. P2 Security forces seized 3 kg heroin tied to a hook of a drone near Vijeta border outpost in Sriganganagar sector. P3 MAX 33°C | MIN 28°C YESTERDAY MAX 34°C | MIN 29°C Some actors often go to extraordinary lengths for their movies, leaving audiences in awe. P4 » » SUNSET SUNDAY 7.18 PM SUNRISE MONDAY 5.53 AM » SUNDAY | 11 AUGUST 2024 | AMRITSAR Tantrik among 3 booked for raping woman Tarn Taran, August 9 A ‘tantrik’ of Jhugian-Sitomeh village falling under Patti Sadar police station and his two associates, allegedly raped a married woman on the pretext of ‘blessing’ her with a child. They have been booked under relevant provisions of the law. The victim did not have any issue. The accused has been identified as Kulwant Singh alias Baba Kanta. The victim was a frequent follower of the accused, known as a ‘religious’ person in the area. The police said the accused called the victim to his residence at night. The victim along with her husband came to the residence of the accused where he served both husband and wife with intoxicating tablets. He then took the woman to the fields and allegedly committed the crime. The accused also captured the same in a video and later made it viral on the social media. A case has been registered against the accused. — OC Mid-day meal workers protest, want fulfilment of demands Time to save national highway projects: MP Aujla to AAP govt Says projects worth ~20K cr on the verge of closure in the state Tribune News Service Mid-day meal workers raise slogans in protest against the government in Amritsar on Saturday. Tribune News Service Amritsar, August 10 The Mid-Day Meal Workers’ Union on Saturday staged a protest against the state government’s failure to fulfil their long-pending demands outside the District Administrative Complex building here on Saturday. Union’s state leader Mamata Sharma said in the run-up to the assembly elections, the AAP government had assured the mid-day meal workers of a wage hike, incentives and health insur- ance cover. “The AAP-led Punjab Government had promised that as soon as our party comes to power, we will double the honorarium of mid-day meal workers on a priority basis. “Though three and a half years have elapsed, the government has not increased their honorarium. We have been patient even after repeated assurances that our demands will be considered. A mid-day meal cook takes home a mere ~3,000. How is this amount justified in today’s time when infla- Patriotic fervour tion is touching the sky and most mid-day meal workers are the only breadwinners in their families,” she said. She said despite getting an appointment to meet CM Bhagwant Mann, the midday meal workers were not allowed to meet him. “We repeatedly called the office of CM Sahib that our meeting has been fixed on August 7. At 5 in the evening, they were informed that there is no meeting. No further appointment has been given to us,” she shared. Amritsar, August 10 Taking strong cognizance of the letter written by Nitin Gadkari to the Chief Minister on the national highway projects on the verge of closure in Punjab, MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla today said that the state government should focus on these projects on priority, leaving all other non-essential work. Addressing a press conference today, MP Aujla said that if the state government does not pay serious attention to this, Amritsar and Punjab will have pay the price of this. “National highway projects worth Rs. 3033 crores have already been scrapped by the Centre in Punjab due to land requisition issues, while other projects worth Rs. 14200 crores are on the verge of closure due to same situation. The state MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla government has received the money to complete these projects since last two years. The government only has to acquire the land, which it has to get service charges but still the government is sitting silent,” Aujla said while registering his protest. Union minister of Road Transport and national highways, Nitin Gadkari in a string worded caution to Punjab government said that if the law and order situation in the state does not improve, the NHAI project work on Delhi-Katra expressway would be scrapped. The NHAI is developing Greenfield and Brownfield national highway corridors, including the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway in Punjab. Gadkari warned that if the work on the projects in Punjab faces any land requisition issues of law and order situation, then the projects will be terminated. The letter also mentions the untoward incidents that happened with the project workers in Jalandhar and Ludhiana. ‘Amritsar needs projects the most’ these MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla said that Amritsar is a border area and will benefit the most from the expressway. “If these projects are shut down, then it will be difficult to compensate for the loss. A lot of development is expected in Amritsar through this project. Every day lakhs of devotees come to Amritsar to pay obeisance, this will increase the number of tourists and business will increase.” He also questioned the local MLAs of keeping silent on the issue. “The MLAs of Amritsar should also raise their voice in this regard. They were elected by the people to raise their voice but they too are sitting absolutely silent.” MP Aujla said that the state government should get the projects completed with all its intent. He demanded that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann should pay serious attention to these projects and acquire land in the coming 10 to 15 days and hand it over to the National Highway Authority so that the state can gain advantage of better connectivity for boosting capital. Sevadar who fell into CHC doc assault accused nabbed cauldron last week after Health Dept staff warn of stir dies in city hospital Manmeet Singh Gill Tribune News Service Tribune News Service A vendor carries national flags on a cart ahead of the Independence Day in Amritsar. VISHAL KUMAR Amritsar, August 10 The sevadar, Balbir Singh, who fell into a cauldron at the langar hall of Darbar Sahib last week died at a local hospital here on late Friday night. The doctors at Sri Guru Ram Das Hospital stated that the victim had received 70 per cent burn injuries. Balbir Singh was cooking vegetables when the incident occurred. Eyewitnesses stated that he slipped and fell into the cauldron in which water was boiling. Though he was immediately pulled out of it and rushed to hospital, he had sustained severe burn injuries. The victim had been performing service (twice a week) at the langar hall for the past many years. Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Harjinder Singh Dhammi, who sent his condolences to the bereaved family, said Balbir Singh would come every week from his home in Dhariwal of Gurdaspur to perform service. Dhammi said the accident was unfortunate and efforts would be made to ensure that such a tragic incident does not happen again. He said the doctors at the hospital tried their level best to save Balbir Singh. Amritsar, August 10 After employees of the Health Department threatened to boycott Out-Patient Department (OPD) services at all government hospitals in the district from Monday, the district rural police finally on Saturday arrested the person accused of assault on an on-duty doctor at Community Health Centre (CHC), Lopoke. The incident involving assault on paediatrician Dr Jaskaran Singh had occurred at CHC, Lopoke, four days back. Though the police had registered an FIR against the accused the same evening, he had not been arrested. After meeting several police officials in this regard, the Punjab Civil and Medical Singh, aka Honey, in January this year and she had come to meet her family in Guru ki Wadali. She said they were in the house when a car with Delhi registration number stopped outside and two youths barged into their house. They said they were cops of the CIA staff and wanted to search the house. She said her husband Gurjit Singh fled the house thinking that his brother with whom he had a dispute had sent them to harass him. The accused searched the house and took out ~2.5 lakh along with jewellery worth lakhs from the wardrobe. She said when they tried to stop them from committing the crime, they threatened to implicate them in a false drug case and said they would rot in jail for 10 years. She said one of the accused called someone on the phone and Gurjit Singh’s brother-in-law (jija) Anokh Singh arrived there. He lied that he knew the accused and asked to call Gurjit. She said fearing the registration of a case, they asked them to take away the money and jewellery and leave them. In the evening, Anokh Singh visited the house again and told them that they were demanding ~50,000 more. She said they somehow arranged the money and gave it to them. She alleged for some time, her husband Gurjit remained out of house. She said now when they tried to approach Anokh Singh, they found that it was a conspiracy hatched by him. Robin Hans, SHO, Chheharta police station, said a case under Sections 308 (6), 204 and 61 (2) of the BNS has been registered against the suspects. Baljinder Singh was arrested and efforts were on to nab the remaining two. Services (PCMS) had announced a boycott of OPD services at all government hospitals from Monday. Had the matter not been resolved on Saturday, it could have put hundreds of poor patients to inconvenience. Dr Sumitpal Singh, president, district chapter of PCMS Association said, “Incidents of violence against medical staff at government hospitals needs to be taken seriously.” He said that the medical staff at CHC, Lopoke and the aggrieved doctor had been under immense pressure to reach a compromise with the accused. “Taking no action against a person accused of assault on an on-duty medical professional emboldens such elements. Our purpose of boycotting the OPD services was not to make people suffer but to get justice for the aggrieved doctor,” he said. General secretary of the Association Dr Madhur Podar said, “The district has 12 CHCs which provide 24X7 medical services. At night sometimes, women employees are on duty and there is no one to ensure their safety.” He said that emergencies during nights mostly include drunken brawls wherein it becomes difficult for the employees to take care of the injured. “In such circumstances, generally the people accompanying the injured too are drunk and agitated. The government should depute police personnel at all CHCs during the night to ensure that the employees feel safe while performing their duties,” said Dr Podar. Tribune News Service violation of the condition of being an Amritdhari (baptised) and Sabat Soorat (with unshorn hair) Sikh. Dhami wrote to Justice Saron to issue strict directions in this connection so that no non-Sikh and ineligible voter is registered. He said that it is the primary duty of the Gurdwara Election Commission to ensure voter registration as per the rules for electing the members of the Sikh organisation and the Commission should pay close attention to the objections and concerns of the Sangat. He also urged to issue orders ensuring proper access to the voter registration process for the Amritdhari and Sabat Soorat Sikh voters and verify the identity of each voter besides registering their form with the latest photographs. Fatehgarh Churian-Dera Baba Nanak road cries for attention Three posing as cops extort ~3L, Ensure registration jewellery from couple; 1 nabbed of eligible Sikh voters: SGPC to poll panel Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Amritsar, August 10 While celebrating the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev in 2019, then cabinet minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa had inaugurated the work of widening and recarpeting the Fatehgarh Churian road, connecting Dera Baba Nanak and the city. Even after five years, the road project is still incomplete. Irked over the poor condition of the road, which is riddled with potholes, besides being dusty, residents of nearby villages have staged protests against the authorities concerned many times. Instead of completing the road-widening project, the Public Works Department (PWD) had done only patchwork on the old road stretch last year. “The government had assured the residents of the nearby areas that it would complete the recarpeting work within nine months, but it is still incomplete even after five years. A number of commuters have lost their lives in road accidents that took place on the stretch. Now again, the Tribune News Service The Fatehgarh Churian-Dera Baba Nanak road in bad shape. road-widening work has come to a halt due to the rains. We are hopeful that work will be completed in the next few months,” said Raja Bhullar, a resident of Kotla village. It is worth mentioning here that the Fatehgarh Churian road is one of the major stretches leading to Dera Baba Nanak town adjoining the International Border between India and Pakistan. The road was not only narrow but also in a pathetic condition. Situated close to Amritsar district, Fatehgarh Churian town falls in Gurdaspur district and the 24-km road connects both districts. On August 15, 2019, after unfurling the national flag at the Guru Nanak Dev stadium, then Punjab Jails Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa had announced that the main road from Amritsar to Dera Baba Nanak, connecting the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, would be widened by 33 feet at a cost of ~88 crore. The work of widening the road had started on the same day. As per the announcement, initially the road up to Fatehgarh Churian was to be widened and then the project was to cover Dera Baba Nanak. Amritsar, August 10 Two persons posing as CIA staff cops extorted ~3 lakh along with gold jewellery after threatening to implicate them in a false drug case. One of the relatives of the victim was also involved in the crime as he had hatched the entire plan to extort money. The incident occurred on July 12. Following a complaint filed by the victim, the police have registered a case in this connection. One of them identified as Baljnder Singh, alias Rana, a resident of Khalra, was arrested and two others — Anokh Singh, alias Ajay, of the Kale road and Gursewak — are absconding. Anokh was a relative of the victim and the other two were his friends. Kajal, a resident of Gumtala now residing at New Pal Avenue on Ram Tirath Road, told the police that she was married to Gurjit c m y b Amritsar, August 10 SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami today shot off a letter to Chief Commissioner Gurdwara Election Justice (retd) SS Saron urging him to ensure transparency in the registration of genuine eligible Sikh voters for the upcoming general elections of Shiromani Committee. He alleged that the Punjab government was ignoring the rules set for registration for gurdwara elections. He said that the SGPC had received complaints from the Sangat from different areas of the state that government employees tasked to register votes were registering votes from the voter lists of Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha without verification while ignoring the rules. He said there was a strong apprehension of