07062024-ATR-01.qxd 6/7/2024 12:52 AM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune CIVIC BODY DEPLOYS WATER SPRINKLER TO SAVE PLANTS RCF KAPURTHALA ROLLS OUT SECOND RAKE OF COACHES RCF Kapurthala has rolled out second rake of rail coach, especially for the Udhampur-Baramulla rail link. P2 PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 41°C | MIN 24°C YESTERDAY MAX 40°C | MIN 22°C ACTOR ANIL KAPOOR TO HOST BIG BOSS OTT The city MC is using cloud machines to keep green covers cool to prevent the plant leaves from wilting. P2 FORECAST The Bollywood star is confirmed to take over hosting duties from superstar Salman Khan. P4 » » SUNSET FRIDAY 7.34 PM SUNRISE SATURDAY 5.25 AM » FRIDAY | 7 JUNE 2024 | AMRITSAR Youth murdered, 5 of family booked A youth, identified as Deepak Kumar (24), was stabbed to death by a youth living in the neighbourhood after the accused rammed his bike into his brother in Gurbaxnagar area falling under the Gate Hakima police station here on Wednesday night. The police have booked five persons identified as accused Jatin, brother Akash, their brother-in-law Sukhpreet and parents Sharvan Singh and Pammi on charges of murder. No arrest has been made so far as the accused are absconding, said Assistant Commissioner of Police (Central) Surinder Singh. Hari Shankar, father of the victim, told the police that yesterday his nephew Gobinda had come to meet them. After dinner, his three sons Kaushal, Deepak and Gaurav went to see off Gobinda. He said Jatin, who was driving a bike rashly, hit his son Kaushal. He said this led to a verbal argument following which Jatin challenged his sons and called his family who lived just a few metres away from the house. He alleged all the accused attacked his sons and Akash stabbed Deepak with some a pointed and sharp thing leaving him critically injured. He was rushed to a private hospital and from there to the Civil Hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival. ACP Surinder Singh said a case under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered against the suspects and raids were on to nab them. Man booked for molesting teenage girl Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 6 to Dust storm, showers bring Proceedings onkin bring peddlers’ respite from searing heat for interrogation Many trees uprooted in different areas; power supply affected Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 6 Dust storms followed by light showers in isolated areas of the region have brought relief to residents, cooling down the city from an intense heat wave prevailing until last night. However, some trees were uprooted but no loss of life or casualty was reported. The city witnessed a dip in temperature and the weather last night was pleasant. Even the day temperature witnessed a dip of 5 degree Celsius. The highest temperature recorded today was 39 degree Celsius while it was 42 degree Celsius on Tuesday. The wind storm stuck the city around 6 pm last evening. A number of trees were either uprooted or broken. Taking A damaged tree being carried away by two residents in Amritsar on Thursday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR precautionary measures, the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) switched off power for an hour. As soon as the storm ended, power supply in most areas of the city resumed. PSPCL officials Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 6 A day after the arrest of two alleged drug peddlers with ~1.97 crore drug money at Kakkar border village, the police have started proceedings to bring kin of one of the suspects on production warrant for further investigation. The police have sent the five mobile phones seized from them for forensic examination to establish their links with Pakistan-based smugglers. Balwinder Singh and Gurpreet Singh, both residents of Kakkar village located just half a kilometre ahead of the barbed fence, were sent to three-day police custody for interrogation. Balwinder’s two sons Harbhej Singh, alias Bheja, and Gurbhej Singh were in the Amritsar Central Jail in drug-related cases. Harbhej Singh was arrested by the Special Task Force, Mohali, with drugs in November 2021 while he had three cases registered against him under the Prisons Act for allegedly trying to sneak prohibited material, including drugs, into the jail. Similarly, six months later his brother Gurbhej was arrested by the Mohali police in July 2022. A police official privy to the investigations revealed that the police were probing the hawala channel, which used to pay drug peddlers across the Indo-Pak border. Besides the cash, the police had seized five mobile phones, besides a laptop from the residence of Balwinder Singh. “Their forensic analysis might provide some clues about the hawala channel and their links with Pakistan-based entities,” said the police official. claimed that no major snag was reported in the dust storm. The residents were seen complaining about the damage to canopies and sheds on rooftops due to dust storm. “There was no prediction of a dust storm. I was in the market when dust enveloped the surroundings. I took shelter in a roadside kiosk. The branches of trees were broken due to the high-velocity wind. Soon after continued on page 2 40th anniversary of Operation Blue Star passes off peacefully LPG cylinder delivery man robbed of ~4K Farmers demand canal water ahead of paddy transplantation Our Correspondent Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Sowing season set to begin from June 10 in the district Tarn Taran, June 6 Sarai Amanat Khan police have booked a resident of Chhina Bidhi Chand on the charge of molesting a teenage girl of the same village. The accused has been identified as Punjab Singh. The incident occurred on June 1, the day of Lok Sabha elections, and the case was registered on Wednesday. SHO Inspector Rajinder Kaur informed that the victim, aged 16, was alone in the house when the accused trespassed her house and molested her. When the victim raised an alarm, her aunt (Tai) appeared on the spot and the accused ran away, threatening her. A case under Section 354 and 506 of the IPC and Section 4 of POCSO Act has been registered against the accused. Amritsar, June 6 The bandh call given by radical outfit Dal Khalsa went off peacefully as no incident of the protesters forcing residents to close their shops were reported here on Thursday. The outfit had given the bandh call to observe the 40th anniversary of Operation Blue Star. A majority of the shops were seen shut early in the morning. The shopkeepers observed a complete bandh till evening after which some traders started opening their shops. The radical outfit, which had given the bandh call, did not force shopkeepers to shut their shops. As a result, most markets wore a deserted look. Even traffic on roads was much less as compared to normal days. As cops were present at almost all roads, the city did not wit- Amritsar, June 6 An LPG cylinder delivery man was robbed by two bikeborne armed persons at gunpoint in Jhander area here on Thursday. The police have registered a case. Gurbax Singh, a resident of Rokhe village in Ajnala, told the police that he works as a delivery man with Vijay Gas Agency in Rajasansi. He said yesterday he along with Lovepreet Singh of Uthian village was going to Sainsra Kalan village to deliver cylinders on a goods carrier when unidentified persons intercepted them. They took out a pistol and threatened to fire at them. They took out ~4,000 cash kept in the upper pocket of his shirt and fled towards the Kakkrawala village side. A case has been registered. A market wears a deserted look due to the Amritsar bandh call in Amritsar on Thursday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR ness any untoward incident. In a press note issued by Dal Khalsa, its leader Kanwar Pal Singh thanked the residents of the city for extending cooperation and expressing solidarity with the victims of the 1984 riots. He said the outfit did not force anyone to close their shops. “It was voluntary participation on the part of residents of the city,” he said. He said the Union Government continues to give stepmotherly treatment to Sikhs as even some Bandi Singhs who have completed their jail terms have not been released. The outfit would continue to work for their release, he added. Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 6 With paddy transplantation in the district set to begin from June 10, farmers have demanded from the government to make canal water available to them for their irrigation needs. Though strengthening of canal water system has been underway for the last few years, nearly 70 per cent of the agricultural area is still without canal water supply. In the absence of canal water, farmers are solely dependent on groundwater to irrigate their fields. For a water-guzzling crop like paddy, drawing groundwater means causing further depletion of the already depleted reserve. In most areas of the district, the level of groundwater has gone down to the extent that farmers have to dig a 400 feet bore for the tube-wells. Rattan Singh Randhawa, a farmer leader, said, “We have been demanding that ample water should be given for the fields. We have also demanded that per acre quota of water should be increased to meet the demands of farmers during the paddy season.” He added that canal irrigation system in most areas of the district is in shambles. The reasons for the poor irrigation system include government apathy, lack of upkeep, encroachment on channels and even free water supply. “When the government supplied free power, the farmers turned to tube-wells as they did not have to wait for their turn of canal water. With the dependence of farmers on tube-wells increasing, the government too became lax in caring for the canal system. In the present times, when farmers seem to have learnt a lesson as digging deep tube-wells requires huge money, the government should also come forward,” said a farmer Gurnam Singh. With nearly two lakh hectares of agricultural land in the district, 70 per cent farmers are solely dependent on groundwater. They stated that over-dependence on groundwater can be decreased if canal water is made available for the fields. MC to start night Prices of mobile phones surge after police Rana Gurjit defied pull more sanitationinmarkets bust smuggling racket in Asr Central Jail for Amritpal to getZira votes in favour of PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 6 Municipal Commissioner Harpreet Singh held a meeting of sanitation wing officials to comply with the directions of National Green Tribunal (NGT) issued on May 30. The meeting was attended by Medical Officers Dr Kiran Kumar, Dr Yogesh Arora and all Chief Sanitary Inspectors. After detailed discussions, the MC Commissioner issued directions for night sanitation of market areas falling under North, West, South, East and Central zones from June 10. The sanitation work would start at 10 pm. In the North zone, markets from Crystal chowk to D’Mart at Lawrence Road; in South zone, the area from Sultanwind gate to Chattiwind Gate (both sides); in West zone, the area from Cemetery road up to Galliara; in East zone, the area from IDH Market and bus stand and in the Central zone, the area from Hall Gate to Bhrawan Da Dhaba and to Sikandari Gate, would be cleaned every night. The MC Commissioner has also directed all sanitary inspectors to ensure a close check on hotels, rest-houses, restaurants and dhabas in their respective areas and make sure that the wet waste generated from these commercial establishments reaches the Bhagtanwala compost pad separately. For this purpose, Community Facilitators are to be deputed for effective implementation of the process. However, the overall supervision will be of sanitary inspectors of the zone concerned. MC Commissioner Harpreet Singh also issued directions to the Medical Officers to ensure the lifting of bins by the Averda company. The lifting should start by 4 am and the bins have to be lifted by 7 am daily. The MC Commissioner has also instructed the Community Facilitators and Chief Sanitary continued on page 2 Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 6 With the arrest of eight persons including a lab technician, an IRB constable, a gangster and five jail inmates, the police yesterday claimed to have busted a racket involved in smuggling of mobiles inside the jail. Also, the continuous crackdown against illegal use of mobile phones inside the high-security Amritsar Central Jail has inflated its price, making it not viable for the jail inmates, if an investigation into the racket busted by the city police is anything to go by. “The mobile phone, which was earlier available illegally for Rs 40,000, is now being sold at double the price,” said a senior police official wishing anonymity. For the past five months, the Amritsar Central Jail authorities had launched regular search operations leading to the seizure of over 400 mobile phones from prisoners. A majority of them are keypad phones besides touch screen phones. The Amritsar Central Jail. This set the alarm bell ringing following which Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar formed an SIT being supervised by Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Dr Darpan Ahluwalia to probe the seizures and modus operandi for sneaking prohibited material inside the jail complex. The back-to-back search c m y b operations had stemmed the problem of use of illegal mobile phones inside the jail premises. “If we see key performance indicators (KPIs), the investigation of jail inmates said that the Rs 40,000 mobile phone is now available at Rs 80,000,” said an assistant jail superintendent. Also, the STD bills of mobile phone facility provided by the jail department under Prison Inmate Calling System has increased manifold. The prisoners can make calls on 10 prepaid numbers at nominal charges, he said. The investigations into the racket by the police revealed that the jailbirds were smuggling prohibited material, including mobile phones, by hiding them in their body cavities, in construction material and food items besides throwing them in from outside. Being located in a densely populated area, the throwing of mobile phones, dongles, chargers, cigarettes and ‘bidis’ has been a challenge for the jail authorities although the Punjab government had installed a harmonious call blocking system as pilot project here. Nevertheless, the system became outdated as it used to block the signals up to the fourth generation broadband cellular network (4G) when it was introduced. But now, mobiles having 5G technology are being smuggled in. Tarn Taran, June 6 The election from Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha constituency was interesting from many angles. It was only Rana Gurjit Singh, Congress MLA from Kapurthala, who could manage more votes in favour of his party candidate Kulbir Singh Zira than votes polled in favour of ‘ Waris Punjab De’ leader Amritpal Singh in the nine assembly segments falling under Khadoor Sahib constituency. Amritpal Singh, who was an independent candidate, got the biggest margin in Punjab. Amritpal Singh got 21,548 votes from Kapurthala assembly segment while the Congress party candidate Kulbir Singh Zira got 28,605 votes. It happened at a time when AAP candidate Laljit Singh Bhulllar could not get more votes from his own assembly segment, Patti, nor could his colleague and Punjab minister Harbhajan Singh ETO manage more votes from his segment Jandiala Guru in favour of the AAP candidate than Amritpal Singh. However, Rana Gurjit Singh failed to implement his experiment in his neighbouring constituency Sultanpur Lodhi which is being represented by his son Rana Inder Partap Singh as an independent MLA. Rana Inder Partap Singh campaigned for the Congress party candidate from his constituency. Amritpal Singh got lead from the other assembly segments like Tarn Taran, Khadoor Sahib, Khemkaran, Zira and Baba Bakala as compared to the other candidates. A rare incident occurred in the area with the suspension of Adesh Partap Singh Kairon from SAD which proved costly as party candidate Virsa Singh Valtoha could get only 3,554 votes from the Patti segment of the total 1,26,193 votes polled, there being no substitute leader to campaign for Valtoha. The party candidate got 21,866 votes from his own Khemkaran assembly segment as compared to 46,600 votes polled for Amritpal Singh. — OC