20032025-JTR-01.qxd 3/19/2025 10:50 PM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune PABLA ASSUMES CHARGE AS HIT CHAIRMAN CELEBS SHARE THEIR VIEWS ON INT'L DAY OF HAPPINESS ACTOR SANJANA SANGHI VISITS GOLDEN TEMPLE Local Bodies Minister says expect results, announces plans for sewerage treatment. P2 For me, happiness is all about embracing life with a positive mindset, says Shivangi Verma. P4 She reminisced about her childhood trips from Delhi to Amritsar by train with her mother and brother. P4 » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR MAX 29°C | MIN 15°C YESTERDAY MAX 28°C | MIN 14°C SUNSET THURSDAY 6.39 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 6:30 AM » THURSDAY | 20 MARCH 2025 | JALANDHAR INBRIEF 3 ARRESTED FOR DEATH DUE TO DRUG OVERDOSE Phagwara: On a complaint lodged by Sukhwinder Ram of village Rampur-Sunrra (Phagwara), the police have registered a case against three youths on the charges of injecting his son Shiv Charan (24) of intoxicants. Shiv Charan was found dead in a field of the village on Monday evening. A syringe was also found near the body of his son. He died of drug overdose. Harwinder Ram Hani, Manjinder Singh and Jaswinder have been arrested. OC TWO ARRESTED WITH HEROIN Phagwara: The police have arrested two individuals and recovered heroin and intoxicating tablets from their possession. A case has been registered under the NDPS Act. The police apprehended two youths coming from Hoshiarpur side and recovered 150 intoxicating tablets along with 1.5 gram of heroin from them. The accused have been identified as Prince Kumar of Vikas Nagar, Ramesh Kumar of Khaira road, Phagwara. OC TWO BOOKED FOR MAN'S MURDER Phagwara: The Lohian Khas police have booked two migrants on the charge of murdering another migrant. The accused have been identified as Vipin and Suspal of Purnia district in Bihar. The accused murdered Sawan Kumar. Sarbann Kumar of Chak Chela village complained to the police that the accused attacked the victim and beaten to death after quarrelling on money matter. Raids are on to nab the absconding accused. OC 6 ARRESTED FOR ATTACKING COP Phagwara: The Bilga police have arrested six villagers and booked 22, including a woman, on the charge of attacking a police constable. Lovpreet Singh, a constable posted at Bilga, said he was on duty and went to Sangowal village in connection with 'Yudh Nashian De Virudh' for checking and was in civil clothes.He went to the house of Tarsem Singh Muchh, who is notorious for selling hooch, and tried to purchase a bottle of hooch but the accused recognized him and started quarrelling. A crowd attacked him and helped Muchh to flee. oc FIVE BOOKED FOR MURDER BID Phagwara: The Mehatpur police have booked five persons on the charge of murder bid. The accused have been identified as Mushtak Ali, Hanif and his son Bhodda of Daria Wale Bille village. Bari Mohamad of Nakodar complained to the police that the accused and their two accomplices waylaid and attacked him with an intention to kill and seriously injured him. A case has been registered. oc VILLAGER HELD FOR STEALING TRACTOR Phagwara: The Nakodar Sadar police have arrested a villager on the charge of stealing a tractor. The accused has been identified as Paramjit Singh of Kang Sahibu village. Manga Singh of the same village complained to the police that the accused stole his tractor parked outside his house on March 16 morning. oc Thiara joins as JIT chief amid show of strength Tribune News Service Jalandhar, March 19 In a huge show of strength, Aam Aadmi Party’s Doaba zone secretary and Jalandhar Cantonment halqa in-charge Rajwinder Kaur Thiara took over as the chairperson of the Jalandhar Improvement Trust here this morning. Party state president Aman Arora, Local Bodies Minister Dr Ravjot Singh, MLAs Balkar Singh and Raman Arora, ex-MLA Pawan Tinu, Mayor Vaneet Dhir, Deputy Mayor Malkit Singh and Punjab Tourism and Cultural Board Adviser Deepak Bali were present at the joiningin ceremony. Thiara is learnt to have joined the office on Monday as per official records but a formal joining-in took place today. Councillors, party workers and supporters with bouqets and cakes attended. The Trust office, which does not have enough space, got packed to its capacity. The joining ceremony at this level after the replacement of party old-timer and official spokesperson Jagtar S Sanghera came as a big surprise. Sanghera had remained in office for nearly 2.5 years. A bigger twist today was the fact that Thiara gave a statement, “I shall offer my services to all those people who have not been heard in the past few years. Now that I am here, I shall give my best and people will like my style of working.” Asked how she will deal Rajwinder Thiara takes over as chief, JIT, in the presence of Minister Aman Arora and AAP leaders in Jalandhar on Wednesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO:MALKIAT SINGH FORMER CHIEF SANGHERA ANNOYED? ■ The change of power between Jagtar Sanghera and to Executive Officer PS Gill, asking him to explain within 48 hours as to how and where the two office computer systems had been sent out of office. ■ The systems are learnt to have been sent back in the official car of the JIT. with Rs 175 crore dues towards the allottees, she said, “It is my first day. I shall sit with officials and see how things are to be sorted out. Everything will be cleared.” On the issue of Latifpura demolitions more than two years ago, Thiara said, “I shall call the shelterless people to my office and give them all a proper hearing. The area falls in the Jalandhar Cantt constituency of which I am also the halqa incharge. I shall ensure that they all get duly compensated.” On the quick change-over of trust chief, Dr Ravjot said, “We wanted to give freshness to the local bodies. Thiara is one of the oldest workers of the party. She has been rewarded by the party for the hard work she had been doing. We should feel happy about it.” Various contractors of the JIT, suspended employees, former chairmen and other people, against whom inquiries had been marked by Sanghera, were present. They all rejoiced the replacement and brought along their workers in large numbers to make the event look big. Most people were heard saying that it would not be an easy game for Thiara to manage the financially bankrupt Improvement Trust. “The seat is besieged with several thorns. It can even lead to downturn of her political career if she is not able to handle it well”, said a former Trustee of the JIT. 2 nabbed in crackdown on carjacking Jalandhar, March 19 In a swift and decisive action, the crime branch of the Jalandhar Commissionerate Police has arrested two persons involved in a carjacking incident at the Dhanowali railway crossing. The crackdown, led by Petitioners to move Supreme Court against the orders Our Correspondent PHAGWARA, MARCH 19 The Punjab and Haryana High Court today dismissed the petition, challenging the Phagwara mayoral elections. The petition was filed by Phagwara MLA Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal and Congress Councillor Sanjeev Bugga, but a Double Bench comprising Justice Sudhir Singh and Justice Sukhwinder Kaur ruled in favour of the elections, relying on the observer’s report. Advocates Karanjot Singh Jhikka and Maninder Saini represented Dhaliwal and Bugga in the case. Following the dismissal, advocate Jhikka expressed dissatisfaction with the decision, stating that the court overlooked crucial videographic evidence despite earlier orders mandating its submission. “The court had directed the submission of both videogra- phy of the election proceedings and the observer’s report. However, despite our repeated requests and submissions, the court did not review the videography and instead based its judgment solely on the observer’s report,” Jhikka said. Dissatisfied with the High Court’s decision, the petitioners have decided to challenge the ruling in the Supreme Court. “Since the videography was not considered, we will move the Supreme Court against this order,” Jhikka added. The legal challenge stemmed from allegations regarding the fairness of the Phagwara mayoral elections. In an earlier hearing on March 10, the High Court had directed that both videographic evidence and observer’s report be presented for scrutiny in the proceedings scheduled for March 19. The petitioners had argued that videography was a fundamental piece of scientific evidence that would provide an objective and transparent account of the election process. They maintained that such evidence was crucial in reaching a fair and just decision. Meanwhile, the respondents submitted an affidavit in the case, but the observer’s report was ultimately used as the basis for the High Court’s decision. The petitioners contended that the lack of consideration for videographic evidence raiseed concerns about transparency and fairness in the judicial review of the election process. As the petition is now dismissed by the High Court, all eyes are on the Supreme Court, where the next phase of the legal battle over the Phagwara mayoral elections is set to unfold. ■ Thiara is learnt to have given a show-cause notice Thiara has not been a smooth one. ■ Sanghera was reportedly in Chandigarh today as the joining ceremony took place in Jalandhar. ■ His absence itself was a clear indication of his annoyance with the party. HC dismisses Phagwara mayoral election petition Commissioner of Police Dhanpreet Kaur, resulted in the recovery of the stolen vehicle, a mobile phone and a toy pistol used in the crime. According to police officials, an FIR was registered at Rama Mandi based on a complaint by Sukhwinder Bhatti, a taxi driver from Ferozepur. Bhatti reported that two passengers had hired his taxi from Zira to Jalandhar. Upon reaching Dhanowali Phatak, one of the suspects brandished a weapon, threatened him and forcibly took his white Ertiga (PB-01-E-3974) MP Bhajji disfavours bulldozer action against drug accused Says there are other ways too, tries to make up later with post on ‘X’ and his mobile phone. Their efforts led to the arrest of the suspects on the same day. The accused were identified as Amritpal Singh and Amritpal Singh, alias Amrit, both residents of Tarn Taran. The police recovered the stolen car and other items. — TNS NHM staff announce 3-day pen-down strike Tribune News Service Jalandhar, March 19 In protest against the nonfulfilment of the demands by the government, National Health Mission (NHM) employees have decided to go on a three-day pen-down strike from March 24. In the presence of District Programme Officer Sukhwinder Kaur and Sumit, all NHM employees submitted a demand letter to Civil Surgeon Dr Gurmit Lal on Wednesday, informing him about the strike. Recently, an online meeting of the NHM Employees Union was held under the leadership of Dr Wahid Mohammad, the state president. Addressing this meeting, Dr Wahid had said the Principal Secretary of the Health Department had issued a letter dated January 31, promising to increase salaries and provide earned leave within two months. “But it is sad that higher officials of the department have not issued any letter regarding the fulfilment of these demands. Due to which there is resentment among the NHM employees. NHM employees will completely stop NCD screening campaign, TB campaign, OPD, clinical duties, office reporting work, online and offline trainings at health institutions,” he said. “Apart from this, due to the neglect of NHM employees by the government, protests will be held in Ludhiana to expose the government by distributing pamphlets from house to house. During this, the leaders demanded that the salaries of NHM employees should be increased immediately and the earned leave letter should be issued immediately,” the union members said. Foetus found in field near Mitthapur Jalandhar, March 19 A shocking incident came to light in the city when a female foetus was found abandoned in a field near Mitthapur on Wednesday morning. Farmer Surinder Singh, who had arrived to cut fodder, spotted the foetus wrapped in a blue cloth and immediately informed the police. The police reached the scene and initiated an investigation. The identity of the person who abandoned the foetus remains unknown. The police have sent the foetus to the Civil Hospital for a postmortem examination. Surinder of Mitthapur said the foetus appeared fresh and was not there the previous day. “No CCTV footage is available from the location but since the foetus had not been disturbed by stray animals, it had likely been discarded this morning,” said the police. — TNS Unevenly placed manhole covers threat to Jalandhar commuters Tribune News Service Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service Jalandhar, March 19 Even as the Aam Aadmi Party-led government is on a demolition spree, bringing down houses owned by those accused in drug cases, the ‘bulldozer action’ has not found favour with party MPcum-veteran cricketer Harbhajan Singh. Bhajji, in an interview to the media during his visit to Jalandhar, towed a line different from that of his party. “I am personally not for demolishing anyone’s shelter. If someone has made a house even from ill-gotten money, there could be seveneight more persons living under that shelter. It is not the right way to deal with the problem. There are other ways of handling drug peddlers. They can be pursued against legally. They can also be taught how it is morally bad for them to indulge in this trade,” he said. Bhajji, however, maintained, “If a drug smuggler or anyone else is found to have encroached upon government land, then of course the department concerned can take the requisite action. No government will allow its land to get usurped.” On Bhajji’s comments, Dr Ravjot Singh, Local Bodies Minister, who too was in Jalandhar today, said, “I do not know why Bhajji has said this. But I think whatever action the gov- ernment is taking against drug dealers is totally justified.” Later, in the evening, Bhajji tried to cover up his statement with his post on ‘X’. “Let me make it very clear. AAP government is the first in Punjab to take such drastic action against drug smugglers. I stand in complete support of Punjab Police and the government. Finally, we have a government which is serious about eradicating drugs and the message is clear,” he said. c m y b Jalandhar, March 19 Half-covered and unevenly placed manhole covers across the city have become a serious hazard for commuters, leading to multiple accidents. The failure of the MC to address the issue has drawn widespread criticism from residents as well commuters. On Tuesday, a car got stuck on Ladowali Road after failing to navigate an unevenly placed manhole cover. In another incident, a man on a two-wheeler fell after being caught off guard by the same hazard. MC workers spent hours cleaning an overflowing manhole at the same location, leaving it open as they struggled to resolve the issue. Eventually, they placed a tree branch and taped off the area to warn commuters after nearby vendors and business owners made complaints. A tour of the city reveals several such manholes with A scooter stuck into an uncovered manhole on Ladowali Road, Jalandhar. PHOTO: SARABJIT SINGH broken, displaced or missing covers, particularly in hightraffic areas such as Pratap Bagh, the railway station vicinity, Transport Nagar and Maqsudan Chowk. Commuters have been forced to navigate roads with extreme caution, as these hazards are particularly dangerous during rainfall when submerged covers become invisible. Residents have voiced their frustration over the inaction by the civic authorities. “During night, these open or uneven manholes could cause serious accidents,” said Bhushan Kumar, a local resident. Street vendor Mahesh Singh from Maqsudan Chowk echos similar concerns, emphasising the danger posed to both pedestrians and drivers.