27112025-JTR-01.qxd 11/26/2025 10:49 PM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune POWERCOM WORKERS PROTEST AGAINST ELECTRICITY BILL OVER 700 PATIENTS EXAMINED AT HEALTH CAMP A free eye examination and medical check-up camp was organised at Apahaj Ashram, Jalandhar. P3 MAINLY CLEAR MAX 21°C | MIN 7°C YESTERDAY MAX 21°C | MIN 7°C RU-BA-RU WITH YUVA PURASKAR AWARDEE HARWINDER SINGH Contract workers of Powercom stage a protest against the Electricity Amendment Bill 2025 P2 FORECAST The 20th Winter National Theatre Fest showcased an impressive spread of performances and activities. P4 » » SUNSET THURSDAY 5.25 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 7:06 AM » THURSDAY | 27 NOVEMBER 2025 | JALANDHAR HEALTH & WELLNESS The Tribune is starting a Q and A column to address your health-related queries. Please mail your questions (not exceeding 40 words) at healthandwellness@tribunemail.com. The Tribune’s panel of doctors will answer all your healthrelated concerns. Women & child rights panels seek Minor’s parents speedy trial in minor’s death case summoned for Vanita Ashram Death BJP leader Sharma, AAP’s Kohli visit victim’s house | BJP blames police Tribune News Service INBRIEF THIEVES MAKE OFF WITH GOLD, CASH Phagwara: A case has been registered following a burglary at the residence of Muhammad Aslam of village Balerkhanpur in Kapurthala. According to a complaint, unidentified persons allegedly broke into the house. They reportedly took away gold ornaments weighing nearly 10 tolas stored in the trunk along with an additional 2-3 tolas of gold kept in an almirah. The complainant further stated that around Rs 25,000 and a mobile phone with SIM number were also stolen during the incident. The police have registered a case and begun investigation to identify the burglars. OC CHILD TRAFFICKING GANG BUSTED Phagwara: The Nakodar police have busted a gang of traffickers and arrested six members, including five women, indulging in buying and selling newborn babies. The accused have been identified as Amarjit Kaur of Galibkalan village in Ludhiana, Reena of Bhainni Baga village in Mansa, Kulwindar Kaur of Kussa village in Moga, Gagandeep Kaur of Moga, Rajni of Nigaha Road, Moga, and Baljit Singh of Gholia Khurd village in Moga. The accused had formed a gang which purchased newborn babies from poor families and sell them in lakhs of rupees to rich families. OC 2 ARRESTED FOR CASTEIST REMARK Phagwara: The Nurmahal police have arrested two persons on the charge of outraging woman's modesty and using casteist remark. The accused have been identified as Kuldeep Singh of Bath village and Nirmal Singh of Sidham Hari Singh village. Vishal of Hairan village under Nakodar told the police that the accused attacked Lovpreet and his wife Mandip Kaur of Littaran village on November 25 and used castiest remarks against them. oc 'DRUG PEDDLER' ARRESTED Phagwara: The police have arrested a man on the charge of selling intoxicating tablets. As many as 30 tablets were recovered from the accused Manjit Singh, alias Bhindari, of Pati Purewal Shankar village. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered against the accused. oc Jalandhar, November 26 The Chairperson, Punjab State Women Commission, Raj Lali Gill and Chairman, Punjab State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (PSCPCR), Kanwardeep Singh on Wednesday visited the family of the minor girl, who suffered sexual assault at the hands of her neighbour before being done to death. Both of them extended condolences to the family assuring the mother that the accused would face the iron hand of law. Gill and Singh urged that the case be taken up in a fast-track court to ensure the earliest possible conviction of the accused. They affirmed that the commission would recommend a speedy trial to the government for prompt legal conclusion. “We will raise this matter at the highest level to ensure stringent action and timely justice,” they said. On being asked about the negligent role of the police of wasting time and not being able to trace the girl for over 90 minutes, they added that they would ask senior cops to probe into any lapse or negligence on their part during the investigation. They said strict action would be taken against the cops if any negligence gets reported. Later, they met Police Commissioner Dhanpreet Kaur to review the police action taken so far. During the meeting, they emphasised the need for Women’s Commission Chairperson Raj Lali Gill and Commission for Protection of Child Rights chief Kanwardeep Singh after meeting the mother of the teenage girl, who was allegedly sexually assaulted before being murdered, in Jalandhar. TRIBUNE PHOTO: MALKIAT SINGH a swift, transparent investigation and reiterated the demand for a fast-track trial to ensure justice without delay. Deputy Director Gulbahar Singh Toor, District Programme Officer Manninder Singh and DCPO Ajay Bharti were also present. Meanwhile, BJP state working president Ashwani Sharma also met the mother of the victim and put the blame on the police, “Had the cops acted on time, the girl could have been saved”. He said there had been gross negligence of the police in the case. “Four police personnel had gone to the crime spot and even upon being told that the girl had entered that house but did not come out, they could not properly search the four-marla house. Instead, women police personnel not called to the spot? Is this not insensitivity?” In the presence of BJP district president Sushil Sharma, national executive member Manoranjan Kalia, state general secretary Rakesh Rathore, state BJP vice-president KD Bhandari, former MLA Sheetal Angural, senior BJP leader Karamjit Kaur, district general secretary Ashok Sareen Hikki, Pramod Kashyap, former state secretary Anil Sachar, former district president Ramesh Sharma, mandal president Manish Bal, Kunal Sharma and others, Sharma said this was not the first incident. He stated that 13 rapes had occurred in the past month in Ludhiana, Fazilka, Patiala. AAP’s Kohli assures kin of help BJP president Ashwani Sharma after meeting the victim’s mother. they told the family that we would come at 10 in the morning and left. This clearly shows that the police neither stayed alert, nor acted with seriousness. Had they done so, the child might have been alive today,” he said. Sharma further said, “What kind of police is this? What kind of security will they provide? Why were the Aam Aadmi Party’s Jalandhar Central constituency incharge Nitin Kohli also visited the house of the victim’s family in Jalandhar West on Wednesday. He expressed condolences and assured of every possible assistance. He said the government and the party would stand firmly with the family during this difficult time and will ensure that justice is delivered without delay. Kohli said, “We will stand by the family till the end. The accused will not be able escape under any circumstances. Our complete effort will be to ensure that this case is tried in a fast-track court so that the culprit received the strictest punishment without delay.” questioning today Aparna Banerji Tribune News Service Jalandhar, November 26 The parents of the minor girl, who had mysteriously died in Gandhi Vanita Ashram’s Children’s Home in Jalandhar on November 21, have been summoned by the inquiry officer for questioning tomorrow. As per preliminary reports, the girl had previously tried to escape at Ferozepur to ‘meet a boy’ and was homesick in Jalandhar. The exhaust fan in the bathroom had also been found fallen during the probe. The SDM-II, Jalandhar, Shayari Malhotra, who has been tasked with the inquiry into the minor’s death by the Jalandhar DC, today carried out investigation into the case. Spending five or six hours at the Children’s Home, the SDM questioned the staff and inmates of the home. Officials said the conclusion to the probe can only be reached, when the viscera and the postmortem reports arrive. Along with this the staff, fellow inmates of the girl and security personnel on duty were also questioned. The 15 year old girl from Ferozepur had arrived at the Children’s Home of the Gandhi Vanita Ashram in Jalandhar on November 19 and on the night of November 21, she was reportedly found collapsed at the home’s bathroom floor. While the girl was taken to the Civil Hospital, Jalandhar, after being referred from a private hospital on the same night, Phagwara, November 26 In the mand region of Baupur, where devastating floods once caused massive destruction, farmers are now gradually returning to normal life. On the night between 10 and 11 August, the temporary embankment of the Beas near village Bhaini Kadar Bakhsh had breached. This severe flood had washed she was declared brought dead by doctors. During the probe some more revelations have also come to to the fore. The girl who was living in a room with seven to eight inmates, had gone to the bathroom on the night of November 21. The probe has also revealed that this bathroom was only a toilet, the exhaust fan in which was found to be fallen and a chair was also found kept in it. As per the home’s superintendent’s intimation to the department, inmates and security personnel had found her collapsed on the floor, after they looked in, when she hadn’t come out of the bathroom for long, on the fateful night. SDM II Shayari Malhotra said, “We had interaction with ashram staff and inmates. The girl was homesick and wanted to go back home. It is too early in the probe to draw a conclusion. The girl’s parents will also be questioned and have been called in. More can only be said when the postmortem report arrives. Until then a diligent prove is being carried out and all aspects will be explored.” The SDM also said the girl also had a previous escape attempt where she tried to run off with a boy (also a minor) in Ferozepur and was traced and brought back. Minor boy attacked, Fast-food shop gutted in Goraya robbed; assailant held Our Correspondent Our Correspondent Phagwara, November 26 Tension gripped the densely populated village of Bhullarai in Phagwara on Tuesday after a minor boy was attacked and robbed by three men, who arrived on a motorcycle. The assailants, armed with sharpedged weapons, assaulted the boy and allegedly snatched his iPhone and motorcycle before attempting to flee. Before all three could escape, chaos erupted in the village as residents raised the alarm. Villagers managed to overpower one of the suspects, who was later handed over to the Phagwara police in a half-naked condition after being beaten up by the crowd. The injured minor was rushed to a hospital, where government doctors are treating him. Witnesses said the attackers used a sharp-edged datar to injure the boy before taking away his belongings. While two assailants fled with the stolen items, the third was apprehended. Residents expressed serious concern over the brazenness of the crime, noting that such a daylight robbery in a village clearly shows that villagers are no longer safe from thieves and robbers. Villagers have told the police to ensure the safety of people living in the surrounding villages and arrest the remaining two suspects involved in the attack. The police have seized the motorcycle belonging to the accused who was caught. Phagwara, November 26 A major fire broke out on Wednesday morning at a fastfood shop Vez Parlour located in Guru Bazaar, Goraya, causing losses worth several lakhs. According to shop owner Mani, smoke started emanating from the shop shortly after 8 am. Local residents, noticing the situation, immediately informed Ward Councillor Prof Rishu, who alerted the Phillaur Fire Brigade and requested a fire tender. Before the fire brigade arrived, people from the neighbourhood attempted to control the blaze on their own, but the flames intensified rapidly. Firefighters eventually managed to extinguish the fire, but by then the kitchen constructed above the shop had been completely destroyed. All kitchen items were reduced to ashes, though one Jaishika School bus hits scooter, leaving student dead Smoke billows out from a fast-food shop in Goraya’s Guru Bazaar on Wednesday. gas cylinder in the kitchen and another lying below the shop remained intact. Three additional cylinders were stored inside the premises at the time of the incident. The cause of fire could not be known yet. Rishu expressed sympathy towards the shop owner and criticised the lack of timely fire-service access in the town. He said although a fire tender has been allotted for Goraya — its operational costs borne by the Nagar Council — the vehicle remains stationed at the Phillaur Fire Station, resulting in delayed response. He added that had the fire tender reached on time, the damage could have been minimised. Rishu stated that he would raise the issue at the council meeting and strongly demand that the fire tender be stationed permanently in Goraya. 50-foot-deep crater levelled, wheat sowing begins at Baupur mand Our Correspondent Chair was found in bathroom, exhaust fan found fallen away the entire ready-to-harvest paddy crop of farmers. on the land of three brothers, a crater of more than 50 feet deep had formed in three acres. To fill this huge crater, over 100 tractors operated daily under the leadership of Rajya Sabha member Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal. It took 10 days to fill it up and nearly ?70 lakh worth of diesel was consumed. Seechewal shared that farmers from three villages of Sirsa had arrived with 16 tractors under the leadership of Baba Jaswinder Singh and Baba Jeet Singh. They served for 15 days and had brought diesel along with them. Today, Seechewal sowed wheat in the field. Driving the tractor himself, he sowed wheat in the fields of farmer Inderjeet Singh. This land lies close to the embankment where the breach had occurred earlier. DIESEL STILL NEEDED IN BAUPUR MAND ■ Rajya Sabha member Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal said the work on levelling the flood-affected fields and sowing wheat is still ongoing. ■ Many areas continue to undergo levelling. Some farmers also need to sow fodder for their livestock. More wheat sowing remains to be done. ■ He expressed gratitude to NRIs, who provided immense help during the floods. Although more than four months have passed since the disaster, many farmers are still waiting for the sand to be completely removed from their fields. Along with this, tractors are levelling 30-35 other fields and wheat sowing will be c m y b carried out there in the coming days. Farmer Jasbir Singh said thanks to the efforts of Seechewal, wheat has already been sown in more than 150 acres. He added that during the floods, not only crops and homes were destroyed, but hopes were also shattered. Yet, Seechewal kept the farmers motivated and supported them emotionally. Farmers expressed their gratitude to him, whose efforts have helped the region get back on track. Mukerian, November 26 One person died and three were injured after a school bus hit a scooter in front of Surendra Filling Station on Jalandhar-Pathankot road. According to reports, Poonam of Badhupur (Mukerian), was on her scooter (PB 07-CK7661) to drop her son Abhijot (11), daughter Mehnaz (6), and her relative’s daughter Jaishika (13) to their school around 9 am. A private school bus struck them, injuring the woman and all three children. The three children were taken to the Civil Hospital, Mukerian, by an ambulance. Doctors on duty declared Jaishika, daughter of Deepak, dead. The other three injured were given first-aid and sent home. The police arrived at the scene, impounded the bus and began further investigation. All three were students of St Joseph’s Convent School, Mukerian, studying in Class 8th, 6th, and UKG grade, and the bus was also carrying students of the same school. — OC