30092024-ATR-01.qxd 9/29/2024 10:32 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 33°C | MIN 23°C YESTERDAY MAX 30°C | MIN 23°C HARSIMRAT ADVOCATES MATERNAL CARE, EDUCATION SECURITY BEEFED UP AHEAD OF POLL IN MALERKOTLA IIFA 2024: SRK WINS BEST ACTOR, RANI BEST ACTRESS The three-day conference of Indian Radiologists and Imaging Association concluded here on Sunday. P2 The Malerkotla police have stepped up security ahead of the panchayat elections to be held on Oct 15. P3 Best Picture went to Animal and Best Director was won by Vidhu Vinod Chopra for 12th Fail. P4 » » » SUNSET MONDAY 6.16 PM SUNRISE TUESDAY 6.24 AM MONDAY | 30 SEPTEMBER 2024 | AMRITSAR Now, scan QR code to learn about city’s culture, heritage District admninistration launches facility for the convenience of devotees & tourists Israeli woman snatching case cracked, 3 nabbed QR code system aimed at providing information about Amritsar’s heritage to a large number of pilgrims who visit the city daily. Many pilgrims are unaware of the rich history of Amritsar, and now, with the help of the district administration, a QR code has been launched to provide this information. The QR code will be displayed at key locations such as the bus stand, railway station, airport and major city squares, allowing visitors to scan the code with their smart phones and access information about various heritage spots in Hindi, Punjabi and English. The Deputy Commissioner highlighted that the initiative would greatly benefit pilgrims, providing them with crucial information about Amritsar’s important buildings and heritage. She further emphasised that Amritsar was one of the oldest cities in terms of history, and it was everyone’s responsibility to preserve its rich heritage. She urged parents to educate their children about this heritage, so they can be aware of their priceless history. missioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that on September 23, an Israeli citizen Avishag Ravon and Vikas Mahajan (hotel operator) were sitting in a three-wheeler heading towards the Attari border to watch the flag-lowering ceremony. He said when they passed Chheharta Chowk, three motorcycle-borne persons came from the rear and snatched the purse. A police team thoroughly investigated the case from all angles and arrested the three accused involved in the snatching, he said. continued on page 2 Villager loses ~4.5 lakh in cyber fraud Firing incident: Two members of Lawrence Bishnoi gang nabbed Miscreants fire at doctor’s clinic, shop Our Correspondent Tribune News Service Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, September 29 A Kerala-based swindler transferred Rs 4.50 lakh from the account of Sharanjit Singh, a resident of Cheema Kalan village. The victim, in his complaint to the cybercrime police station, said that he has fixed a limit of Rs 10 lakh from the Bhura Kona bank branch which he transferred into his savings accounts. The swindler transferred the amount from his bank account which was noticed by him in his mobile messages. The swindler, who has been identified as Mohammad Sweek N, a resident of Nattigall, Kolapur, Kerala, has been booked under Section 318 (4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 43 of the IT Act. Inspector Upkar Singh, Station House Officer (SHO), cybercrime police station, said that the cops have initiated steps to arrest the accused from Kerala. Amritsar, September 29 The Amritsar Rural Police have arrested two associates of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang in connection with firing outside the residence of an Australiabased NRI Sukhcharan Singh Bal in Jaintipura area here on July 24. Those arrested were identified as Harmanjot Singh of Athwal village in Batala and Lovepreet Singh of Ghuman in Batala. The police had recovered a .32 bore pistol and a desi Katta from their possession. Three of their accomplices Saheb Singh, Manjot Singh and German Singh were yet to be arrested. They are currently on five-day police remand and further investigation is in progress, said SSP Charanjit Singh. In his complaint to the police, Bal stated that he lives in Sydney (Australia) and also owns a house at Jaintipur village in Amritsar dis- Tribune News Service Amritsar, September 29 The district administration has launched a QR code for the convenience of tourists here on Sunday. After the launch of the QR code, Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney, said all efforts would be made to provide a tourist-friendly atmosphere in the holy city. The Deputy Commissioner C was taking part in a heritage walk organised by the Tourism Department with the assistance of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), Voice of Amritsar and Aghaaz. The walk, held to mark World Tourism Day, commenced from Town Hall and passed through historic parts of the city. She stressed on passing on Amritsar’s rich heritage to the coming generations so that they can understand the significance of the city’s culture and heritage. Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney (centre), officials and students during the heritage walk in Amritsar on Sunday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR The walk passed through key heritage sites such as Gurdwara Saragarhi, Qila Ahluwalia, Jalebi Wala Chowk, Udasi Ashram Akhara Sangla Wala, Darshani Deori, Chaurasti Attari, Baba Bohar, Katra Kharian Street, and old bazaars, culminating back at the Town Hall. She emphasised that the primary purpose of the walk was to educate the younger generation and visitors about the city’s heritage. Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney said the Dist police gear up for upcoming panchayat poll slated for Oct 15 DIG Satinder Singh during a meeting with rural police officials in Amritsar. PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, September 29 The Punjab Police have geared up for the upcoming panchayat elections scheduled to be held on October 15. Senior police officials have been holding meetings to discuss various security concerns during the conduct of the elections. The police have also initiated preventive action against troublemakers who could create law and order problem before or on the polling day. These include notorious crim- Shortage of pharmacists hits medical care: Assn Tribune News Service Amritsar, September 29 Punjab State Pharmacy Officers Association organised an event here on Sunday to mark the World Pharmacists Day. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Subeet Kumar Jain, Head, Department of Pharmaceuticals at Guru Nanak Dev University, emphasised upon the importance of pharmacists in the medical profession. Shamsher Singh Kohri and Ashok Kumar, leaders of the Pharmacy Officers Association, spoke about the challenges being faced by the pharmacists. “The role and responsibilities of pharmacists have increased manifold due to increase in population and new advances in medical science,” said Ashok Sharma. Sharma highlighted that continued on page 2 inals, history-sheeters, drug peddlers, street peddlers, etc. DIG, Border Range, Satinder Singh on Saturday held meeting with officials of the Amritsar Rural Police in Daburji Police Lines area here. On Friday, he had held a meeting with Gurdaspur and Batala police officials. “We have asked the police officials to keep a close watch on unscrupulous elements and take action against them. We have also launched a drive to nab proclaimed offenders who have been evading arrest for a long time now,” said the DIG. A special emphasis has been put on the deposition of licensed weapons with the police stations concerned and gun houses. “Though a large number of weapons were already deposited during the recently held Lok Sabha polls, those who have weapons with them were asked to deposit the same,” he said. The Amritsar Rural Police have issued around 28,000 weapons against 26,000 arms licences. Thanks cops for recovering her belongings PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, September 29 The city police have cracked the snatching case in which miscreants had snatched the purse of an Israeli tourist six days ago here. The police have arrested three persons, including a juvenile, in this regard. Those arrested were identified as Rashpal Singh, alias Shivpal (19), and Gautam Singh (19) of Bhalla Colony and a 16-year-old boy. During their interrogation, the police recovered the snatched purse, headphone and the bike used in the crime. Apart from this, the police also recovered five mobile phones and a laptop from them which were robbed from different parts of the city. Giving details, Police Com- Two acused in the custody of the police in Amritsar on Sunday. FIRING TAKES PLACE OUTSIDE NRI’S HOUSE In his complaint to the police, Bal stated that he lives in Sydney (Australia) and also owns a house at Jaintipur village in Amritsar district. Bal said he received a call on his WhatsApp number from members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang who demanded extortion money from him. Bal said he lodged a complaint with the Australian police immediately after receiving the call. Bal said some unidentified persons fired indiscriminately outside his residence at Jaintipur village. trict. Bal said he received a call on his WhatsApp number from members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang who demanded extortion moneyfrom him. Bal said he lodged a complaint with the Australian police immediately after receiving the call. Bal said some unidentified persons fired indiscriminately outside his residence at Jaintipur village. He handed over the voice mail of the conversation that took place between him and extortionists and the CCTV footage of the firing incident outside his residence to the police. During the incident, the police patrol party had also heard gunshots being fired by miscreants at Jaintipur village. The police party rushed to the spot. With the help of the headlights of police vehicles, cops noticed three youths out of which two were firing outside Bal’s residence. On seeing the police party, the suspects fled from the spot on their bike. The police recovered eight empty bullets shells from the crime spot. The police had registered a case under Sections 125 (act of endangering lives) and 3 (5) (common intention) of the BNS and Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act against unknown persons. The SSP said police teams have been conducting raids to nab their remaining accomplices who are absconding. Tarn Taran, September 29 Armed assailants, believed to be associates of gangsters, fired at two places in the border area on Saturday causing terror all round. The three armed assailants opened fire at the clinic of Dr Sukhpal Singh, a dentist who is practicing in the border area of Amarkot. Dr Singh said that the assailants fired twice at his clinic and both missed the target. In his complaint to the Valtoha police, Dr Sukhpal Singh said that he received an extortion call from the gangster Prabh Dasuwal on September 15 who asked for Rs 50 lakh and threatened to eliminate him in case he refused to oblige. He said that the three assailants were sent by Prabh Dasuwal. ASI Avtar Singh said that Prabh Dasuwal and his three unidentified accomplices have been booked under Section 109, 308 (2), 308 (4) 111, 3 (5) of the BNS and Section 25 continued on page 2 MP Aujla seeks investigation of Poor maintenance keeps cyclists off track officials involved in rural poll Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Amritsar, September 29 MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla has demanded from the Election Commission that investigation of officials involved in panchayat elections should be done to find out under whose guidelines they were working. He said that the state government is conducting panchayat elections in an unconstitutional manner, against which he will raise his voice. In a release issued here on Saturday, MP Aujla stated that an atmosphere of uncertainty and fear has been created through the elections. In villages, BDOs, BDPOs and Election Officers are working as per the will of MLAs. He said that these elections have an impact on the politics of Punjab, but the way the constitution was being violated in these elections had never MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla happened before. He said secretary, BDO and BDPO have a very important role in filing nominations in elections, but whenever candidates go to the block, the officials are not present there. MP Aujla said CM Bhagwant Mann had announced that these elections would be held without any party symbol, but in reality his MLAs were managing everything. Seats were reserved of their own will whereas there is no reserved category in that area. Apart from this, votes of five members of the same family have been made at different places so that they cannot exercise their right. MP Aujla said that he can say with confidence that the government officials engaged in conducting elections are working under the directions of his MLAs. For this, the Election Commission is requested to check the phone details of the officers so that it can be known where they were for the last three days and who do they talk to. Aujla said that the AAP government had failed miserably on the law and order situation. Demands for ransom, firing, robbery incidents are becoming common. People are getting scared and Punjab is lagging behind and he demanded that panchayat elections should be conducted in a fair manner so that people can exercise their rights without any fear. c m y b Amritsar, September 29 The authorities had spent ~1.93 crore on the 2.5-kmlong cycling track from MK Hotel T-point to the Ranjit Avenue police station chowk and Defence Colony Road to Beant Park and Old Jail Road, but due to the poor upkeep of it by the departments concerned, cyclists have stopped using the track. In 2017, the authorities had proposed a 23.2-km-long cycling track across the holy city under the Smart City project, but they constructed the 2.5 km-long track at Ranjit Avenue as a pilot project. The construction of the track was completed in 2023, but very few people use it. Some residents claim that it is not only poorly designed but also unsafe for cycling. Residents of Ranjit Avenue, who used to do morning and evening walks on the track, claimed that a wild growth of grass and heaps of filth keep A heap of garbage lies strewn on the cycle track at Ranjit Avenue in Amritsar. PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR cyclists away from the track. SS Sandhu, a resident of E block, said, “The track is poorly designed. We hardly see a cyclist using it. Heaps of filth can be seen lying all around the track. Besides, at many places, it has been overgrown with weeds. The authorities have failed to ensure the upkeep of the track and make it popular among the cyclists.” The work of constructing the cycling track had started in June 2020. The track covers the road stretch from the MK Hotel T-point to the Ranjit Avenue police station chowk, Defence Colony Road, Beant Park and Old Jail Road, before culminating at the MK Hotel T-point. The government had announced a dedicated cycle track network spanning 23.2 km across the holy city at an estimated cost of ~19.22 crore under the Smart City project in 2017. As per the proposals, the cycling track was supposed to be set up on the circular road alongside the walled city, Ranjit Avenue, Maqbool Road and the Mall Road. The office-bearers of Amritsar Smart City Ltd (ASCL) dropped the plan after constructing the 2.5-km-long pilot project at Ranjit Avenue.