21122025-ATR-01.qxd 12/20/2025 11:27 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY DEBATE ERUPTS OVER JHATKAMEAT AFTER HOLY CITY NOTIFICATION CORDON & SEARCH OP AT DRUG ABUSE, TRAFFICKING HOTSPOTS MALLIKA ATTENDS WHITE HOUSE CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION Punjab Govt imposing ‘Brahmanical’ practices on Sikhs, alleges SGPC member amid meat ban in walled city. P2 During a drive, the Commissioner of Police exhorted drug addicts to get themselves admitted to de-addiction centres. P3 Mallika Sherawat recently posted videos of Christmas celebration at the White House on instagram. P4 » » » MAX 21°C | MIN 12°C YESTERDAY MAX 20°C | MIN 10°C SUNSET SUNDAY 5.30 PM SUNRISE MONDAY 7.26 AM SUNDAY | 21 DECEMBER 2025 | AMRITSAR Prime accused in double firing case arrested after encounter 8-kg heroin, drone seized near Attari border area Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Amritsar, December 20 The Amritsar police on Saturday arrested the prime accused in the double firing incident in Kot Khalsa that left three persons injured. The arrest was made after a brief encounter, during which the police recovered a sophisticated foreign-made pistol from the accused. The incident, which occurred about a week ago, had created panic in the locality. Acting on specific inputs and through coordinated efforts, the police traced the prime accused, Chandan Sharma, and arrested him after he opened fire on a police party while attempting to evade arrest. Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said the first incident took place on December 13, when complainant Birkam Sharma, a resident of Kot Khalsa, had gone to attend a religious programme at a friend’s residence in New Adarsh Nagar. He noticed Gulshan Kumar and his wife allegedly assaulting an elderly man, Rameshwar, in the street. When Birkam Sharma intervened to stop the quarrel, two young Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar along with other officials at the encounter site in Amritsar on Saturday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR men arrived at the spot. One of them, identified as Chandan Sharma, a resident of Adarsh Nagar in Kot Khalsa, was armed with a pistol. Objecting to the complainant’s intervention, Chandan allegedly fired at him with the intention to kill. The bullet passed through the complainant’s left thigh and struck his right thigh, causing serious injuries. The police registered a case in the matter and arrested Gulshan Kumar, while Chandan fled the scene. The following day, while absconding and evading arrest, Chandan Sharma allegedly opened fire again, injuring Billu, a resident of the Guru Nanakpura locality. The bullet grazed Billu’s right arm and entered the right side of his abdomen. A woman, Sonia, a resident of Kot Khalsa, was also injured in the incident. A separate FIR for attempt to murder was registered against Mega PTM stresses attendance, child’s emotional well-being Chandan at the Islamabad police station. On December 20, the police received specific information regarding the movement of the accused in the Kot Khalsa area. Acting on the tip-off, a police party proceeded towards the Borhi SahibThande village road. On spotting the police, Chandan attempted to flee towards nearby fields and opened fire at the police party in an continued on page 3 Farmers cancel rail roko protest after holding talks with govt Tribune News Service Parents show the pamphlet displaying Sikhiya Kranti achievements distributed at the PTM in Amritsar. Neha Walia Tribune News Service Amritsar, December 20 The mega Parent Teacher Meet (PTM), held across all government schools in Punjab, aimed to strengthen parent participation in schools and in their wards’ academic development. The fourth annual meet invited parents to witness academic and extracurricular programmes being run in schools and to enhance communication with teachers. For the first time, parents were engaged in a one-hour workshop featuring interactive activities designed to assess their participation and awareness of school activities and their child’s academic performance. Parents were informed about students’ overall performance so far, facilities available in government schools, modern learning and teaching techniques, student feedback through direct teacher-parent interaction, and discussions on increasing new student enrolment. “During the session with parents, they were informed about new initiatives such as The English Edge and Business Blasters. We also discussed the mental and emotional wellbeing of students, which is a two-way exercise involving both teachers and parents,” said Ashwani Awasthi, a teacher at Government Senior Secondary School, Bhagtanwala. “We also informed parents about the ULLAS scheme for adult education, identifying parents who cannot read or write,” he added. In most primary and middle schools, teachers were seen encouraging parents, especially mothers, to remain attentive to their child’s academic development. “Since we have dailywage jobs, these PTMs are a good way to understand whether our children are studying properly or working hard. We do not get time to check homework or understand their books. Teachers informed us about several school programmes and how to encourage our children,” said Karamjeet Kaur from Khasa, who works as a housemaid and has two children studying in a government middle school. “Many parents were also advised to send their children to school regularly instead of sending them to work, and to communicate with teachers at regular intervals,” said Sunita Kumari, another parent whose children study at Government Senior Sec- ondary School, Kot Khalsa. AAP govt’s achievements take centre stage The mega PTM was organised to bridge communication gaps, monitor student progress, gather feedback, empower parents and improve the education system. Alongside these objectives, the state AAP government’s achievement report card was also shared with parents in the form of a feedback pamphlet. Parents were given a participation checklist that included questions such as whether they praise their child’s efforts and whether they ensure 100 per cent attendance in school. “The questions were designed to assess the parents’ role in boosting a child’s confidence and ensuring emotional and mental well-being at home. It also focused on improving communication between teachers and parents,” said Rajesh Kumar Sharma, District Education Officer (DEO). A booklet highlighting the state government’s Sikhiya Kranti initiative, featuring Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s photograph, was also distributed among parents. Amritsar, December 20 Farmers on Saturday cancelled their scheduled rail roko protest following a latenight meeting with the government on Friday. The Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM), which had been protesting outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office, had planned to block train services on Saturday against the proposed Electricity Amendment Bill. However, after a nearly ninehour-long meeting between KMM leaders and the Punjab Government on Friday evening, the farmers decided to call off the rail roko. Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said that senior officials, including SPS Parmar, IPS, Special Director General of Police (Law and Order); Arshdeep Singh Thind, IAS, Administrative Secretary (Agriculture and Farmers Welfare); Basant Garg, IAS, Administrative Secretary (Power); and Sonali Giri, IAS, Secretary (Revenue and Rehabilitation), represented the government during the talks. KMM leaders said the government had broken its silence on the Electricity Amendment Bill. While the Chief Minister’s statement opposing the Bill came late, they described it as a step in the right direction. In response, the farmers cancelled their protest scheduled for Saturday. Pandher said the government had agreed to pass a resolution opposing the Electricity Amendment Bill in the Punjab Assembly session and had already conveyed its opposition in writing to the Centre. A copy of the letter continued on page 2 c m y b Amritsar, December 20 Acting on specific intelligence inputs, the Gharinda police recovered a large consignment of heroin smuggled from Pakistan via a drone near the Attari border area on Saturday. The police said a team was present at a T-point in Modhe border village near Attari for routine patrolling and checking of suspicious persons when an informer tipped them off about a heroin drop. The informer revealed that smugglers on the Pakistan side had thrown a heavy packet-like object using a drone across the border fence near Neshata village. According to the information, the drone crossed the International Border and crashed into wheat fields on the Indian side after breaking. Acting swiftly, the police team rushed to the spot and conducted a thorough search of the area. During the operation, the police recovered 8 kg of heroin, packing material and a broken drone from the fields. “Preliminary investigation suggests that the consignment was sent by Pakistani smugglers for delivery to unidentified Indian counterparts. Following the recovery, continued on page 3 Jail doctor accused of facilitating drug racket from inside prison Pawan K Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, December 20 The Amritsar Rural Police have nominated a doctor posted at the Amritsar Central Jail on charges of allegedly providing mobile phones to drug peddlers and criminal elements lodged inside the jail. The doctor was nominated following disclosures made by two operatives of the foreign-based Dony Bal gang, who were recently arrested by the police with weapons and drugs. He has been absconding since being named in the FIR. Police sources said the doctor’s role surfaced during the interrogation of Bal- winder Singh, alias Bunty, and Bakshish Singh, who were arrested a few days ago with four pistols and half a kilogram of heroin. During questioning, both accused revealed that they were in contact with the doctor, who allegedly facilitated communication between jailed drug traffickers and their handlers outside, thereby strengthening the drug trafficking network operating from within the prison. As the matter is linked to the Health Department, senior police officials have so far refrained from commenting on the case details. Sources further revealed that the doctor has also been booked in another FIR regis- tered a few days ago at the Goindwal Sahib police station in Tarn Taran district. The role of a pharmacist has also come under the scanner. It is alleged that both were in contact with drug traffickers lodged in the jail while performing their official duties. According to information, the doctor also runs a private hospital in Tarn Taran. Investigators said more drug traffickers currently lodged in Fatehpur jail are likely to be brought on production warrants in the coming days. The police believe that the arrest of the absconding doctor could expose a larger nexus involving jail officials and drug traffickers. Further investigation is underway. 3 booked for using social media to create panic Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, December 20 The Sadar police have taken a serious note of the misuse of social media to create panic among the public. One of the accused has been identified as Mehakpreet Singh, a resident of Pandori Gola, while the other two remain unidentified. The accused were allegedly misusing weapons on social media platforms and threatening their opponents. SHO Inspector Gurcharan Singh informed here on Saturday that while one of the accused has been identified, efforts are underway to identify the remaining two. The SHO said the accused had been repeatedly displaying illegal weapons and issuing threats to their rivals on Instagram and other social media platforms. He said Mehakpreet Singh and the other two accused displayed weapons with the intention of creating fear among people. The police said the accused were promoting gun culture among the youth and trying to push them towards criminal activities. Inspector Gurcharan Singh said Mehakpreet Singh was using his Instagram account to display weapons publicly. He continued on page 3