26032025-ATR-01.qxd 3/25/2025 11:12 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY ROOTS IN AMRITSAR, TANGRI ELECTED MPP IN CANADA 'STAY CONSISTENT, BUT FLEXIBLE': HIMANSHU OSCAR-WINNING PALESTINIAN DIRECTOR BALLAL ARRESTED With roots in Amritsar, Nina Tangri has won the re-election in Ontario’s provincial elections held recently. P2 Malhotra, who has done films like Shershaah, Wajah Tum Ho and Hum Chaar, is a fitness enthusiast. P4 Oscar-winning director Hamdan Ballal of a documentary on the Israel-Palestinian conflict has been arrested. P4 » » » MAX 34°C | MIN 17°C YESTERDAY MAX 33°C | MIN 15°C SUNSET WEDNESDAY 6.35 PM SUNRISE THURSDAY 6.16 AM WEDNESDAY | 26 MARCH 2025 | AMRITSAR Four arrested with over 26 gram of heroin House of 2 drug peddlers razed Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, March 25 As part of the ‘Yudh Nashian Virudh’ campaign, the Tarn Taran police arrested four persons from different places with 26.08 grams of heroin on Monday. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Abhimanyu Rana informed here today that the police team led by SHO Balraj Singh arrested Satnam Singh, a resident of Fatehpur Sugga village with 7 grams of heroin. A Patti city police team led by subinspector Manpreet Kaur arrested Inderjit Singh Mintu of Malluwalia (Mallan Walia) on Monday. The SSP further said that Harpreet Singh, a resident of Puhla village, was arrested with 6 grams of heroin by the Bhikhiwind police led by ASI Harwinderpal Singh. Also, the Khemkaran police led by SHO Gurinder Singh arrested Harpal Singh of the same village with 6.08 grams of heroin. The accused have been booked under relevant sections of the NDPS Act. Snatcher sustains injury while trying to flee police custody Had looted engineer in Pratap Nagar area two days ago Tribune News Service MC workers demolish the house of two drug peddlers in Amritsar on Tuesday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR Amritsar, March 25 Cracking the whip on the drug smugglers, the Amritsar city police commissionerate along with the civic body demolished the house of two drug peddlers located near Gumtala Chowk on the Amritsar-Attari bypass road here on Tuesday. Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar along with Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Alam Vijay Singh reached the spot to oversee the operation. Bhullar said the municipal corporation had issued notices to the accused drug traffickers — Anwar Gill and his cousin Abhi — for the ‘illegal’ structure. “Anwar had five cases, including three under the NDPS Act, registered against him while Abhi faced two cases. Besides, he also faced a case registered against him under the Arms Act,” said the Police Commissioner. He said the civic body authorities had requested for deploying police personnel while razing the houses belonging to the two drug peddlers. He pointed out that properties of drug peddlers, constructed with ill-gotten money attained by drug smuggling, would be demolished after a proper verifica- tion by MC officials. The demolition drive was part of the ongoing war against drugs launched by the AAP government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann. The CM directed the police and the district administrations to identify the properties of the drug peddlers and take strict action against anyone involved in drug trafficking. This was the fourth such operation by the city police in the last one month. Earlier, it had demolished properties at Bharariwal, Maqboolpura and Gujjarpura localities. — TNS Amritsar, March 25 A snatcher, Vikramjit Singh, alias Pintu, was injured in a brief exchange of fire with the Division B police near Vallah flyover area here on Monday night. During the operation, the police recovered a pistol and five rounds. A resident of Gali Masit Wali Mohalla Road Pura, Tarn Taran, he was arrested by the police here on Monday for snatching a mobile phone and a motorcycle from a granthi a few days ago. He had also looted an engineer in Pratap Nagar area two days ago. Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said when they were taking the accused to the B Division police station after the recovery of the weapon, he claimed that he was feeling uneasiness. A police party stopped the vehicle and took him out Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar (L) along with other officers at the encounter spot in Amritsar on Tuesday. VISHAL KUMAR of the vehicle. He said when he stepped out of the vehicle, he retrieved 9mm pistol of Assistant Sub-Inspector Harnek Singh from the compartment and started firing at the police in his attempt to flee from police custody. The police personnel promptly retaliated in selfdefence and arrested him. Nevertheless in the process, he sustained a bullet injury in his one leg. The accused was subsequently admitted to the Civil Hospital here for GNDU Senate approves budget Tourism Dept asked to ensure hygiene on of over ~764 cr for year 2025-26 Heritage Street, review working of firm hired Tribune News Service Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Amritsar, March 25 The Senate of the Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) approved budget estimates of Rs 764 crore 35 lakh and 59 thousand for the year 2025-26. The Syndicate also accorded its approval in a separate meeting. Vice-chancellor Prof Karamjeet Singh presided over the two meetings which were held here today in the Syndicate and Senate hall of the university. Officials stated that during the financial year 2024-25, the university has spent Rs 3 crore 81 lakh to help the bright but economically backward students in the form of fee concessions. A fee claim of Rs 18 crore 14 lakh and 25 thousand of 2,076 SC students under the postmatric scholarship scheme has been sent to the Government of Punjab and online claims of 40 students under the National Scholarship Scheme has also been sent to the government. During the financial year, the university would spend 46.27 per cent of the total budget on teaching, allied teaching, research and education. Similarly, 11.26 per cent would be spent on nonteaching departments, 10.52 per cent on general administration, 3 per cent on the conduct of examinations, 6.86 per cent on miscellaneous purposes while 6.12 per cent would be spent on construc- tion purposes. A total 15.97 per cent of the budget will be for pension and other retirement benefits. The VC said that during this financial year, the university received grants from various funding agencies for MYAS-Department of Sports Science and Medicine, Malaviya Mission Teacher Training Programme, DBT supported M.Sc Biotechnology, DBT UMMID Project, Centre for Interfaith Studies, continued on page 2 Amritsar, March 25 Expressing concern over the poor upkeep of Golden Temple Plaza and Heritage Street, Additional MC Commissioner Surinder Singh conducted an inspection of the stretch leading to Darbar Sahib today. During the inspection, the Additional MC Commissioner assessed the cleanliness and sewerage system from Bhrawan Da Dhaba to Darbar Sahib. MC officials found that bins, installed alongside the Heritage Street were missing, forcing visitors to dump garbage on the streets. Singh issued on-the-spot instructions to the officials concerned, emphasising the necessity of maintaining a high standard of cleanliness on Heritage Street, as it receives a daily footfall of thousands of devotees who visit the revered religious site. A letter has been written to the District Tourism Officer regarding the proper upkeep MC Additional Commissioner inspects Heritage Street and issues directives to shopkeepers for maintaining cleanliness in Amritsar. of Heritage Street and asking him to review the functioning of firm hired for cleanliness by the Tourism Department. The Additional MC Commissioner also directed the Sewerage Department to deploy dedicated staff to ensure that sewerage related issues on Heritage Street are resolved promptly, preventing incon- venience to visitors. Singh stated that the Municipal Corporation has made comprehensive arrangements to maintain cleanliness around all religious and historical sites in the city. He elaborated that the Punjab Tourism Department is responsible for the upkeep of Heritage Street, including the cleanliness of tiles, maintenance of statues along the path, and overall preservation. The Tourism Department has outsourced this responsibility to a private firm and the Municipal Corporation has formally communicated with the department regarding these arrangements. A letter has been written to the District Tourism Officer in this regard. Singh said that officials of the MC Health wing have been directed to ensure the cleanliness of Heritage Street at all times. The initiative aims to provide a clean and hygienic environment for devotees and tourists visiting Darbar Sahib, reinforcing Amritsar’s status as a key religious and historical destination. Accompanying him on the visit were Chief Sanitary Inspector Sarabjit Singh, Sanitary Inspector Tejinder Kumar, SDO Gurpreet Singh from the Sewerage Department and officials from the waste management company, Quess Corp. treatment. A fresh FIR has been registered against Vikramjit Singh on charges of attempt to murder and arms act, Bhullar said. Vikarmjit Singh (30) along with Lovepreet Singh (26), both residents of Tarn Taran, had looted a junior engineer and a granthi in the recent past. The police said Vikramjit had confessed to have committed three crimes of similar nature in the city in the past. Manmeet Singh, a resident of Partap Nagar area, was returning home on the intervening night of March 20 and 21 when he was looted by armed persons. He told the police that he was near Partap Bazaar when two unidentified scooter-borne persons intercepted him and threatened to shoot him. They snatched his expensive iPhone 13 pro and a wallet before fleeing the spot. 205 ETT teachers get job letters Tribune News Service Amritsar, March 25 The Education Department, Punjab, has recruited 2,364 teachers to meet the shortage of teachers in government schools. The appointment letters were handed over to the ETT teachers at a state-level function organised in Ludhiana on Monday. (formal inauguration of handing over appointment letters to them was done through a state level program at Ludhiana yesterday.) Accordingly, the appointment letters were given to the teachers appointed in the government primary schools of the district after completing the necessary procedures at District Education Office (Elementary), Amritsar. Talking to mediapersons after handing over the appointment letters to the teachers, District Education Officer (Elementary) continued on page 2 ‘Remove garbage Farm activists who were detained in Patiala Five held with heroin, from Ranjit Avenue’ jail accorded warm welcome after release opium, drug money Tribune News Service Chandigarh, March 25 Punjab Minister for Local Government Dr Ravjot Singh on Tuesday directed immediate removal of garbage and machinery from a temporary dump site in the residential area of Ranjit Avenue in Amritsar. He said that the site must be cleaned twice daily. During the session of the Punjab Assembly, while responding to a call attention notice by MLA from Amritsar North Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, the minister said that Ranjit Avenue is an important area in Amritsar. He said that the land was originally allocated to the firm Averda for parking vehicles collecting solid waste. The firm subsequently began using the site as a secondary garbage collection point on a temporary basis, transforming it into an impromptu waste transfer station with stationary machinery. Dr Ravjot Singh stated that the company has been instructed to immediately remove all garbage and idle machinery from the site. The Amritsar Municipal Corporation has already secured the area by installing fencing, said the minister, adding that the Municipal Commissioner has been directed to ensure that the site is cleaned thoroughly twice a day. The minister further disclosed that the firm Averda intimated the Amritsar Municipal Corporation in February 2025 about their intention to exit the existing contract. Consequently, the municipal body will issue a new tender to onboard a fresh agency for door-to-door waste collection, transportation, processing and secure disposal. Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, March 25 The 29 workers of the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (nonpolitical) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) who were detained on March 19 after vacating the Shambhu and Khanauri borders were accorded a warm welcome on their release from Patiala jail at a function organised at Gurudwara Baba Sidhana, Sheron, here on Tuesday. The gathering was organised by the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, a part of the SKM (non- political) and the KMM in which the state leadership was present to honour the released workers of the agitating organisations. Sukhwinder Singh Sabhra, state president, leaders like Satnam Singh Pannu, The released activists being honoured at Sheron village in Tarn Taran on Tuesday. PHOTO: GURBAXPURI Sawinder Singh Chutala and district president Satnam Singh Manochahal were among those who addressed the gathering on the occasion. These leaders claimed that the leadership of the agitating farmer organisations had forced the state govern- c m y b ment to release the detained workers unconditionally. There were 11 women and 18 men detained by the state government in Tarn Taran district who were honoured at the Sheron gurdwara today. The released workers were taken home in the form of a procession with residents of villages giving them a warm welcome. The farmer leaders condemned the brutality of the police in getting the Shambhu and Khanauri borders vacated and the damage caused to their machinery worth crores of rupees. The leaders of the agitating organisations announced that they would participate in the March 28 programme to organise a demonstration in front of the DC office across the state and make the March 31 action plan to gherao the residence of AAP MLAs and ministers proposed by the SKM (non-political) and KMM a success. The leaders stressed on releasing compensation for the damaged machinery of farmers as well as the release of farmers who are still in detention. Tribune News Service Amritsar, March 25 The Amritsar rural police have confiscated 775 gm of heroin, 250 gm of opium and ~12.10 lakh of drug money from five persons in different cases here. The Mehta police have arrested Jogpreet Singh, alias Jaggu, of Suropad village with 260 gm of heroin and ~12.10 lakh of alleged drug proceeds from his possession. The police also seized the motorcycle he was riding. Similarly, acting on intelligence inputs, the Lopoke police have arrested Baljit Singh, alias Gulli, and Arjinderpal Singh, alias Karan, of Chawinda Khurd village. They allegedly have links with Pakistanbased smugglers and were involved in cross-border drug trafficking and further supplied the same to different areas. Following a tip-off, the police laid a naka near Vaniyke village and arrested the duo. During search, the police recovered 515 gm of heroin along with a motorcycle. In another instance, the Lopoke police nabbed Sukhdev Singh and Partap Singh of Bhaggupur Utar village leading to the seizure of 250 gm of opium. Their motorcycle was also impounded by the police. SP (Detective) Harinder Singh Gill, Amritsar rural police, said further investigations were on to identify their backward and forward links. Separate FIRs under the NDPS Act was registered against them.