22082024-JTR-01.qxd 8/21/2024 10:25 PM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune POWERCOM STAFF STAGE DHARNA OVER DEMANDS FARHAN AKHTAR TO RELEASE HIS NEW SINGLE REACH FOR STARS AMMY VIRK BELIEVES PUNJABI FILM INDUSTRY NEEDS HIGHER BUDGETS Employees staged a protest rally in front the Tarn Taran powercom office over not implementing accepted demands. P2 Filmmaker-actor-singer Farhan Akhtar is all set to release his upcoming single titled Reach For The Stars on August 29. P4 Actor Ammy Virk, who made a mark with film Khel Khel Mein, believes Punjabi film industry needs higher budgets. P4 » » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 33°C | MIN 27°C YESTERDAY MAX 33°C | MIN 27°C SUNSET THURSDAY 7.03 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 5:58 AM THURSDAY | 22 AUGUST 2024 | JALANDHAR INBRIEF COUPLE NABBED UNDER NDPS ACT Phagwara: The police have arrested three, including a couple, on the charges of selling heroin and intoxicated tablets. Investigating officer Buta Ram said 3 gram of heroin and 150 tablets were recovered from the possession of the accused Gurpreet Singh of Madhepur village near Ludhiana, his wife Surjit Kaur and Tarsem Singh, alias Sema, a resident of Bangiwal Khurd village. OC MANY BOOKED FOR ILLEGAL MINING Phagwara: The police have booked unidentified persons for illegal sand mining. Manpreet Singh, Junior Engineer-cum-Mining Inspector, Nakodar, complained to the police that some persons had excavated land owned by Harpreet Singh and stole sand. A case under Section 21 of the Mines Act and Section 303(2) (theft) of the BNS has been registered against the unidentified accused. OC THREE ARRESTED WITH WEAPONS Phagwara: The police have arrested three persons and recovered one pistol, six cartridges and a car bearing registration number PB-6D5788 from their possession on Wednesday. Phagwara SP Rupinder Kaur Bhatti said the accused were identified as Onkar Singh and Prince, residents of village Pandhwa near Phagwara, and Inderjit of village Patara near Jalandhar. A case under the Arms Act has been registered against the accused. OC Bharat bandh over SC quota verdict MC employee beaten to death, gets mixed response, schools shut friend injured Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Jalandhar, August 21 On a call given by organisations for Bharat bandh, a protest by the Ravidassia community here today evoked a mixed response, with commuters facing hardships. Protests were held at Buta Mandi, Wadala Chowk, Rama Mandi and Pathankot Chowk against the Supreme Court order of upholding the policy of quota within quota for employment. On the periphery, the protesters gathered at Ballan village in Kartarpur, Adampur and Phillaur where the motorists faced problems. Since it rained heavily at the time when the protest was to start around 10 am, the gathering remained thin at most of the locations. However, people started assembling and the protests at Rama Mandi and Buta Mandi grew bigger. As the agitators sat on the road, the police made way for the commuters via the service lanes where the traffic remained slow till 3 pm. As a precautionary measure, almost all private and aided schools had been shut down by the authorities for the safety of the children and to make sure that they did not get caught up in the traffic snarls because of the protests at the time of closing of the schools. The markets remained large- PAP Chowk in Jalandhar witnesses a traffic jam following a protest by BSP leaders and workers. PHOTOS: MALKIAT SINGH ly open, especially since Valmik leaders had been asking all shopkeeper associations not to support the bandh call. The bandh call saw the Ravidassia and Valmik communities opposing each other over the issue of sub-categorisation of castes for reservation. While the Ravidassia community is opposed to the Supreme Court decision, the Valmik leaders are in favour of the August 1 judgement. The shopkeepers in areas around the protest sites chose to keep the shutters down from 10 am to 3 pm to avoid any confrontation. No political leaders other than those from the BSP joined the protests. BSP leader Balwinder Kumar said the sub-categorisation would only lead to confrontation among all castes. “The dispute was only in Punjab and Haryana but the Supreme Court has passed order for the whole nation. The caste conflicts are set to increase after this order”, he said. Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Jalandhar, August 21 Sonia, a resident of Kukar village in Jalandhar Cantt, has been arrested for the coldblooded murder of her husband, whom she allegedly killed by administering slow poison for about two years ago. She was arrested in Gurdaspur on Tuesday. According to Anil Kumar, SHO, Sonia, along with her lover Manjinder Singh, was involved in the case. She was produced in a local court and had been placed on a two-day remand for interrogation. The investigation revealed that Sonia, who was working as a labourer in Kukar village, developed a close relationship with Manjinder. Under his influence, she began poisoning her husband, Happy, over time. Manjinder, who reportedly supplied the poison, pressured Sonia into committing the crime. After Happy’s death, Sonia had fled the city. The case came to light after Happy’s father, Baldev Singh, raised suspicions about his son’s death, which had initially been ruled as natural when it occurred on November 10, 2022. Singh suspected that his daughter-in-law had been slowly poisoning Happy. The suspicions were confirmed when a mobile phone found in the couple’s home provided crucial evidence linking Sonia and Manjinder to the crime. As a result, the police started an investigation in the case, which resulted into an FIR on Sunday. Deepak Kumar Nearly 10 involved in crime, booked scene and took them to the Civil Hospital. However, doctors declared him brought dead. Grief quickly turned to anger as the family staged a protest outside the hospital, demanding justice and the swift arrest of those responsible. They claimed that the accused were not only involved in gambling, but also other illegal activities, including drug smuggling. Ashok Kumar, SHO of Bhargo Camp, confirmed that the police received a report from the Civil Hospital regarding the incident. Following this, a team was dispatched to initiate an investigation. Based on the family’s statements, a case has been registered under relevant sections of the BNS and the police are conducting raids to apprehend the suspects. Protests by pupils 2 brothers beaten up brutally, injured seriously over privatisation of state colleges Tribune News Service Woman held in husband murder case Welcoming verdict, Valmik community distributes sweets in Jalandhar. Jalandhar, August 21 A Class IV employee of the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation (MC), Deepak Kumar, 32, was beaten to death late last night near Buta Pind allegedly over a gamblingrelated dispute. The incident, which also left Kumar’s friend Gaggu injured, occurred when the two were attacked by a group of nearly 10 men, wielding bricks, stones and sharpedged weapons. According to reports, Kumar had gone to Jallowal Abadi Colony in Buta Mandi to collect Rs 1.50 lakh from a person Tari. It is believed that the money was either won in gambling or lent on interest to Tari and his associates. It was Tari only who allegedly called Kumar to the location under the pretense of returning money. But instead, he and his associates attacked Kumar and Gaggu. Witnesses recounted that the assailants began hurling bricks and stones at the victims before attacking with lethal weapons. Kumar succumbed to his injuries at the scene, while Gaggu was rushed to the hospital and is currently receiving treatment. Deepak Kumar’s family immediately rushed to the Jalandhar, August 21 On a call by the Punjab Students Union and various professors’ organisations, students today held protests against the government’s decision to privatise eight government colleges of Punjab. The protest was held at Government College, Hoshiarpur. Leaders said agitations would be held regularly till August 27. The government had recently decided to privatise eight government colleges under the New Education Policy of the Central Government, students said. Government College, Hoshiarpur, is also part of these eight colleges, they said. Students said no student or teachers unions, no experts related to this subject were contacted before making the decision by government. State leader Baljit Dharamkot, students Subhash Kumar and Baljit Singh said there would be daily protests in one form or other in colleges till August 27. On August 27, classes would be boycotted. Students said a message would be sent to the government through a strike that the dictatorial decree should be withdrawn otherwise, on August 31, there would be an agitation on a larger scale. Daman Singh, Raj Kumar, Jagat Singh, Anshdeep, Jaspreet Singh, Sangeeta, Rajdeep Kaur, Anuradha, Shalini, Pooja, Amandeep Kaur, Jaspreet Kaur, Tajinder Pal Singh, Shivani Suri, Shivam Suri, Sharanjit Kaur, Priya, Dhillon, Armaan Singh, etc. were present. Jalandhar, August 21 Two brothers hailing from Kang Khurd village were attacked by 10 persons and grievously injured in the incident. The incident happened at the Chitti Bein bridge near Nawa Pind Khalewal in the Mand area of Jalandhar on Dharna against blocked sewerage Jalandhar, August 21 Fed up with the sewerage blockage, residents of Sangat Singh Nagar held a protest on the main road near Tagore Hospital today. The protest was against the Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar, for not doing anything to resolve the issue. As they blocked the main road, it resulted in a traffic jam. After the police came to the spot, the residents lifted the dharna. They said they would intensity their protest if the MC don’t do anything. — TNS Snatchers’ gang busted, 3 held Tribune News Service Jalandhar, August 21 The Jalandhar Commissionerate Police has busted a gang of snatchers with the arrest of three suspects. According to Commissioner of Police Swapan Sharma, the arrests were made as part of a special drive launched by the Commissionerate Police to curb the rising incidents of snatching in the city. Acting on a tip-off, a police team was deployed near Maqsoodan Chowk where they got information about some persons attempting to sell a stolen mobile phone in a nearby park. The operation resulted in the apprehension of three men Jaspal Singh, also known as Lovely of Moti Nagar, Varinder Singh of Bohar Wala Mohalla and Pawan Kumar, also known as Pamma of Bibi Bhani Flats in Kalia Colony, Jalandhar. The police recovered a stolen mobile phone, an Activa scooter and a datar (a sharp weapon) from the suspects. An FIR has been registered against the accused under Sections 304(2) and 3(5) of the BNS at Police Station Division No 1. Commissioner Sharma revealed that Jaspal Singh had a previous criminal case pending against him, while Pawan Kumar was already facing two FIRs. However, no prior criminal record has been found against Varinder Singh. “Further investigation in the case is ongoing”, he added. c m y b August 18. An FIR is yet to be registered in the incident. Preliminary reports claimed that two brothers, who were going back to their village after withdrawing some money from a bank, were waylaid, attacked and looted of over Rs 1 lakh by the youths. Police, however, claimed that no money was looted in the case and it was a clash between two par- ties. However, the brothers were in a serious condition but their statements were yet to be taken and the identity of the attackers hadn’t been ascertained yet, the police said. As per the police, the clash happened over an old enmity and the men attacked the brothers with sharp-edged weapons. After the attack, the assailants left them to die on the road and fled on bikes. Residents from nearby villages took the brothers to Lohian government hospital for treatment. From Lohian, the brothers were referred to Jalandhar. One of the brothers had returned from Dubai a few days ago. DSP Shahkot, , Onkar Singh Brar, said, “No loot took place in the incident. It was a clash between two parties. The brothers said they had been beaten up, they never mentioned that they were looted. However, since then, due to being in a serious condition, they have not been able to give a statement and could not disclose the identity of the attackers. We are sending officials daily to take their statements but to no avail. An FIR has also been registered.” Back home after scaling Mt Kilimanjaro, Garhshankar girl gets rousing welcome Our Correspondent Garhshankar, August 21 Priyanka Das, who returned to Garhshankar after conquering Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak at 5,895 meters (19,340 feet), was given a grand welcome here. Priyanka, a girl living at Moranwali village in Garhshankar and daughter of a migrant labourer from West Begal, has brought laurels to Punjab in mountaineering. She was given a grand welcome on reaching here. With the support of the Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh Football Club, Garhshankar, and the Ex-Servicemen Welfare Trust, she had gone to Africa to participate in the mountain trekking expedition to Mount Kilimanjaro, the second highest peak in the world and Africa’s highest peak. Priyanka Das has achieved the fourth position in the world by hoisting the Tricolour on Africa’s highest peak. Priyanka was warmly welcomed and honoured by Jasvir Singh Roy, president of the Shaheed-e-Azam S. Bhagat Singh Football Club, Had participated in trekking expedition to the world’s second highest peak Advocate Jasvir Singh, ex-MLA Surinder Bhullewal, Kewal Singh Bhajjal with Priyanka Das in Garhshankar. when she reached Garhshankar on Monday. Former MLA contractor Surendra Singh Bhullewal Rathan said Priyanka had not only brought laurels to Garhshankar, but also to Punjab and the country. He said the government should provide financial assistance to girls who were moving forward in sports. Advocate Jasbir Singh Rai and Subedar Kewal Singh Bhajjal congrat- ulated Priyanka Das for her achievement and said she would be given all possible help in the future too. Priyanka Das said she benefited a lot from the free training due to the tireless efforts of members of the club and the Ex-Servicemen Social Welfare Trust. She said after joining the NCC, she did an advanced course in mountaineering in Uttarakhand. Now, she had secured the fourth position in trekking to Mount Kilimanjaro and the credit for which went to the organisation. Former MLA Surinder Singh Bhullewal Rathan, Harjeet Singh Bhatpur, Kulwinder Bittu, Capt Amarjit Singh, Fauji Bakshish Singh, Satnam Singh Parowal, Lakhwinder Parowal and others congratulated Priyanka Das for this achievement and assured her of all possible help.