18092025-ATR-01.qxd 9/17/2025 11:20 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY FAMILY OF JAILED YOUTH IN RUSSIA PLEADS FOR HELP RAHUL GANDHI KEEPS PROMISE, BICYCLE GIFTED TO AMRITPAL SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL TO OPEN WITH TANNISHTHA’S FULL PLATE The family of a youth of Khadoor Sahib has appealed for help from international justice organizations. P2 On behalf of Rahul Gandhi, a team of the dist Congress delivered a brand-new bicycle to Amritpal Singh. P2 Sydney is poised for a revival of its Indian Film Festival this October, as the event returns after a hiatus. P4 » » » MAX 34°C | MIN 25°C YESTERDAY MAX 35°C | MIN 26°C SUNSET THURSDAY 6.32 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 6.16 AM THURSDAY | 18 SEPTEMBER 2025 | AMRITSAR BSF foils smuggling attempt at border, two arrested with heroin 27-yr-old dies due to drug overdose in Tarn Taran Tribune News Service Tarn Taran, September 17 In yet another tragic incident, a 27-year-old man, identified as Nishan Singh, a resident of Chhapri Sahib village falling under the Goindwal Sahib police station, died of a drug overdose at his home on Tuesday. Deputy Superintendent of Police Atul Soni confirmed his death while stating that the victim, a labourer and father of two children, was an addict and had been receiving tablets from an OOAT (Opioid Substitution Therapy) centre. “The deceased injected the tablet, which led to his death,” said the DSP . His father, Gurbir Singh, alleged that drugs are easily available in the area. This is the fourth death due to drug overdose in Tarn Taran district in the past 10 days. Earlier, two real brothers — Malkit Singh (32) and Gurpreet Singh (30) of Jamarai village — had lost their lives due to overdose, while another youth, Nishan Singh (24), son of Sukhdev Singh of Baghiari village, was found dead at the sports stadium in Chabal. Reports suggest that in these cases, the bodies were cremated without being sent for a post-mortem. Jagtar Singh Bhikhiwind, leader of the Nasha Virodhi Mission, Punjab, expressed concern over the growing menace alleging that the drug trade was flourishing under political patronage. Deaths due to drugs have once again highlighted the alarming spread of narcotics in border districts and the urgent need for stricter enforcement and rehabilitation measures, he added. — OC Amritsar, September 17 Border Security Force (BSF) troops on Wednesday foiled attempts to smuggle heroin across the Indo-Pak border in Amritsar sector, arresting two persons and seizing four packets of the contraband. According to officials, the intelligence-led first operation was carried out in the wee hours near Modhe village. BSF personnel laid an ambush and intercepted two narcotics smugglers. “The troops recovered three packets of heroin, weighing 1.7 kg in total, along with a mobile phone from their possession,” a BSF spokesperson said. Both accused, residents of Modhe, were later handed over to the Tribune News Service Two accused in the custody of BSF jawans in a border area of Amritsar on Wednesday. Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) for further investigation. In another incident, the BSF recovered one packet of heroin weighing 560 grams from a farming field near Chakallabaksh village in the morning. Work begins to remove sand deposits from Ajnala village Pawan K Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, September 17 The district administration on Tuesday initiated the process of removing sand deposits from the farmlands brought along by the river waters during the recent floods in Machhiwala village of Ajnala sub-division in the border area here. The massive floods had left over 190 villages in the Ajnala and Lopoke sub-divisions submerged in water. The sludge and sand from the Ravi got settled in the fields till four to five feet high silt was deposited in the fields. Following this, the Punjab government announced the Drug smuggling racket busted, 1 nabbed with over 7 kg heroin policy of “Jis Da Khet, Us Di Rait”, under which the farmers were allowed to excavate the sand and sell it in the market. Ajnala MLA Kuldeep Dhaliwal, who was present on the occasion, said that for this task, machinery including a JCB and tractor purchased through Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha’s MPLAD funds, was deployed. The sand removed from the fields was later sold to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), he added. He said the state government’s policy would provide financial relief to farmers. He added that priority would be given to the worst-affected villages for sand removal. Ajnala SDM Ravinder Singh said that nearly four feet of sand had accumulated in the fields of Machhiwal village. He clarified that the sand is the property of the farmers, who are free to sell it as they wish, while the administration is extending machinery support to facilitate the process. He further said that in the coming days, with additional machinery provided by MP Vikramjit Sawhney and assistance from the NHAI and Agriculture and Water Resources departments, the operation will be intensified on a war footing to ensure that fields are cleared before wheat sowing begins. Amritsar, September 17 In a major breakthrough against cross-border narcoterror syndicates, the Amritsar Police Commissionerate on Wednesday claimed to have busted a drug smuggling racket, allegedly being operated by Moga-based drug peddler Jagpreet Singh, alias Jagga. Police teams arrested his key aide, identified as Yasin Mohammed (22), a native of Atwa village in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, who was currently residing at Lalru village in Mohali. The police also recovered 7.1 kg heroin from his possession. The police said Yasin has a criminal background with multiple cases registered against him under the Arms Act, NDPS Act and for theft Amritsar, September 17 Government Middle School, Macchiwal, has a small sixroom building that is a centre of learning and education for over 71 students from the village and nearby shanties. The area is extremely backward, a few kilometers away from India-Pakistan border, and with a majority of population dependent on menial jobs for their daily wages. When the floods hit the village after the breach in dhussi bundh, it wiped out almost all the homes and the middle school was among the structures that incurred the maximum damage. Weeks later, the school building bears signs of the deluge’s aftermath. “We had six to seven feet deep mud, now turned into slush. Removing it from the classrooms took us days. But the ground and the surrounding areas of the school still have a lot of accumulated floodwater,” said Aarti, the school head and single teacher posted at the Macchiwal Middle School. Along with Aarti, two midday meal workers, both elderly, come to school at eight in the morning to work on cleaning the campus. “We have to employ two men from the village to clean the mud as it’s a difficult task. Saara din lag janda hai, ghar v aehi, school v PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR Tribune News Service The government school at Gaggumahal has employed just three workers to clean the classrooms. aehi (It takes the entire day, cleaning the home and then the school),” said an elderly mid-day meal worker, whose house is a few meters away from the school building. The students of the school come every day to ask the workers, when it will re-open. “I am waiting eagerly for the school to start again. I have my Boards this year and I want to come back, but there is so much mud and the school furniture is also lying out in the open, broken,” said Aman, a student of Class 8 of the school. She and her mother are spending days working odd jobs and biding their time, until she is able to return to her classes. Ajnala MLA Kuldeep Dhali- wal launched a large-scale cleaning campaign in the schools of flood-affected areas of Ajnala Block-2. The campaign will continue until all affected villages and schools are fully cleared of mud and stagnant water. He was joined by teachers and the local village youth club at the Government School in village Nangal Sohal, school teachers in Gaggomahal, Thobe, and other floodaffected villages, that are leading the cleaning efforts with full force. “Government schools must be cleaned and the campaign completed within two weeks to ensure children’s education is not disrupted further. The Health Department is actively conducting fogging and antilarvae spraying in the affected villages, and we have asked the school management committees to rope in the help of Panch-Sarpanch, besides village youth clubs for support,” he said. Meanwhile, at Government Senior Secondary School, Gaggomahal, a fallen boundary wall and huge cracks that have appeared inside several classrooms are worrisome. “Due to the floodwater remaining stagnant here for more than seven days, the floors inside several classrooms have sunk, causing huge cracks to appear, on ceiling as well. As the days progress and water level recedes, these cracks are c m y b and snatching. Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said preliminary investigations revealed that Jagpreet Singh was in touch with Pakistanbased smugglers and was running the drug syndicate with the help of Yasin. Amritsar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said acting on reliable inputs, police teams intercepted Yasin at Wadali in Man held for illegal arms trade through drones Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, September 17 The Valtoha police arrested an arms smuggler with cross-border contacts on Tuesday. The arms smuggler was getting foreignmade weapons with the help of drones. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Preetinder Singh said that the smuggler has been identified as Amritpal Singh, a resident of Mari Kamboke village. He was arrested from Assal Uttar village by the Valtoha police led by Sub-inspector Gurmukh Singh. The DSP After two weeks, teachers take up task of cleaning flood mess in village schools of Ajnala Neha Saini Commissioner of Police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar addresses mediapersons in Amritsar on Wednesday. Chheharta while he was returning after retrieving a heroin consignment. The drugs had reportedly been dropped via a drone from across the border in the Ajnala sector on the instructions of Jagga. “The probe further revealed that after retrieving the consignment, Yasin used to deliver it to Jagpreet, who then circulated the drugs to his links in the Malwa region of Punjab. Both accused were previously lodged together in Ludhiana jail where they came in contact with each other,” said Bhullar. The police said more arrests and recoveries are likely in the coming days as investigations continue. A case under Sections 21-C and 25 of the NDPS Act has been registered at the Chheharta police station here. going to grow bigger. Add to it the seepage that has now appeared in all classrooms. It is going be unsafe for the students to use these classes now,” said Swaranjit Singh, Head, Government Senior Secondary School, also renamed as PM Shree School, Gaggomahal. The school has 20 classrooms, including three labs. “Two of our labs, including those for science and agriculture, are damaged as three to four inches of water still remains there. The computer lab somehow escaped the damage,” he said. They are using hosepipes to pressure-clean the mud, while the ground has turned into a marsh. Swaranjit Singh says that teachers have become an expert in catching snakes by now. “That’s what they have been doing for the past seven days.” At Government Senior Secondary School, Thobe, that still has floodwaters on its playground and inside the campus, thieves broke in during the floods and stole two projectors and several other electronic items from the computer lab. “It’s a mystery how they managed to do that with three to four feet water accumulated there. They tried stealing the computers as well but could not do so, as they were already shifted to classrooms on the upper floors,” said campus manager Jaswinder Singh. The seized arms and ammunition in the custody of Valtoha police. said that the smuggler was arrested from the border area and the police recov- ered three imported revolvers with two magazines and Indian currency to the tune of Rs 30,000 by way of drug money. The DSP said that the accused used to get arms from across the border with the help of drones. A case under section 25, 25 (8) and section 54, 59 of the Arms Act read along with section 10,11 and 12 of the Aircraft Act was registered in the matter. In another report, the Khalra police arrested one Jashandeep Singh Jashan, a resident of Dall and recovered 260 grams of heroin on Tuesday. A case under section 21C, 61 and 85 of NDPS Act has been registered against the accused.