12102024-JTR-01.qxd 10/11/2024 11:05 PM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune COPS SOUND ALERT IN VIEW OF FESTIVE SEASON, RURAL POLLS The alert has been sounded on the directions of DGP Gaurav Yadav to ensure the safety of citizens. P2 » MALEESHA MAKING A SPLASH AS YOUNGEST SUPERMODEL Maleesha Kharwa is making a splash as India’s youngest supermodel after being chosen as face of a skincare brand. P4 » SHABANA AZMI TO GET EXCELLENCE IN CINEMA AWARD Actress Shabana Azmi will be felicitated with Excellence in Cinema Award at the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. P4 » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR MAX 34°C | MIN 19°C YESTERDAY MAX 34°C | MIN 19°C SUNSET SATURDAY 5.58 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 6:29 AM SATURDAY | 12 OCTOBER 2024 | JALANDHAR INBRIEF 3 BOOKED FOR CASTEIST REMARK Phagwara: The police have booked three persons for using casteist remark. The accused have been identified as Amanpreet Singh of Batura village and his two unidentified accomplices. Buta Ram of the same village complained to the police that the accused used castist remark against him and assaulted him and ransacked the house of Harjindar. A case has been registered against the accused. OC SIX BOOKED FOR TAKING AWAY BIKE Phagwara: The police have booked six miscreants on the charge of taking away a bike and snatching a mobile phone. Happy Kumar of New Preet Nagar, Ludhiana, complained to the police that he was coming to Nakodar to pay his obeisance at a dera on October 10 morning on a motorcycle. When he crossed Bir Pind village, six youths, on two motorcycles coming from behind, stopped him snatched his phone and fled with his bike. A case has been registered against the accused. OC NINE BOOKED FOR ASSAULT Phagwara: The police have booked nine villagers on the charge of assaulting a covillager. The accused has been identified as Bhinda of Mulewal Khehra village, Sohan Singh, Salindar Singh, Mohinder Singh, Gurpreet Singh , Davindar Singh, Sukha, Avatar Singh and Daljit Singh, all residents of Sajjanwal village. Kehar Singh, an 87-year-old resident of the village complained to the police that the accused barged into his house on September 28, attacked him with sharp-edged weapons and seriously injured him. They also ransacked his house and damaged his SUV and CCTV cameras. A case has been registered. OC Panam nursing college vice-principal, manager booked for pupil’s suicide Our Correspondent Garhshankar, October 11 A case was registered against college manager Davinder Kaur Rai and vice-principal Kamaldeep Kaur today in connection with the suicide of a BSc student of Gurseva College of Nursing, Panam, on October 9. The body of the deceased was handed over to his family members after post-mortem. After Aashiq Khan committed suicide by consuming poisonous substance on the college premises, students blocked the road and protested against the college management. The Garhshankar police took action and registered a case under Section 108, BNS, against Davinder Kaur and Kamaldeep Kaur on the statement of Aashiq’s father Mehboob Khan. Khan said in his statement to the police that he had enrolled his 19-year-old son in BSc nursing in the college Nusing college students block a road at Garhshankar on Friday. last year. On September 17, without giving any reason, the college expelled his son for six months. Aashiq came to the village. He took Aashiq with him to the college on October 6 and met teacher Sangeeta. She asked them to 70 -year Canadian resident in fray for sarpanch poll Aakanksha N Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Jalandhar, October 11 At Buttra village in Bhogpur, 70-year-old Harbhajan Kaur, who is the permanent resident of Canada, has come back to her village to fight the election for sarpanch. A few days are left for the panchayat elections and Harbhajan Kaur, who moved to Canada in 1970s with her parents, is canvassing actively at her village. “Main apne pind nu kadi nai bhuli (I have never forgotten my roots. I keep on coming back here,” she said. She starts her day early morning and meets villagers, asking for votes. The village has 1,200 votes. Harbhajan wants to provide better education, health and sports-related facilities to her villagers. “There has been not much development in the village for the last several years, and this disappoints me. I will stay here only if people here elect me as their Vows to provide better education, health, sports facilities sarpanch and work for the betterment of the village,” she added. She further stated that she talked to youngsters as well. “They want a gym here and I will definitely do that for them. Also, there is no government senior secondary school in the village. Apart Buddies turn Ram, Ravan for epic act Hindu-Sikh bonhomie on display at Shahkot Ramlila School staff burn effigies of CM, minister Tribune News Service Jalandhar, October 11 Members of the Meritorious Teachers Union, Punjab, burnt the effigies of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Education Minister Harjot Bains and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal in front of the gates of all meritorious schools this afternoon. Teachers said though the results of these schools were much better, the government, which came to power in the name of education, has not paid attention to the meritorious schools and the long-standing demands of the teachers had not been addressed. Holding a protest, the meritorious teachers also raised slogans. Senior vice-president, Meritorious Teachers Union, Dr Tina said the government was ignoring their long-pending demands. Because of this, teachers threatened a protest in future, the consequences of which the government would have to bear. General secretary Dr Ajay Sharma said the salary increase in the last 10 years for meritorious school teachers was only Rs 2,326. He said if the government continued to ignore the demands of meritorious teachers, then strong action would be taken. meet manager Davinder Kaur. On October 7, she asked them to meet the principal. On his repeated requests, the father was told to give an affidavit that Aashiq would not commit any mistake. He left him in the hostel and went back to his home. The next day, Aashiq called his father that the college manager and viceprincipal were harassing him. Then, on October 9, Aashiq took the extreme step. When his father reached the college with his relatives, he came to know that the college had not even arranged for an ambulance to take his son to the hospital and the students took him to the hospital on their own. Mehboob Khan had asked the police to register a case against the college manager and vice-principal, accusing them of harassing his son. SHO Baljinder Singh told the reporters that on the statement of deceased Aashiq’s father Mehboob Khan, a case has been registered against Davinder Kaur and Kamaldeep Kaur and after post-mortem, the body was handed over to them. Aparna Banerji Tribune News Service Jalandhar, October 11 Children shudder as the towering, wide-eyed Ravan roars from the stage at the Shahkot Ramlila, which has been regaling audiences for the past 59 years. The only one who can stand his ground in front of Ravan is his worthy opponent – Lord Ram. Best friends Shanty Chawla (40) and Ranjit Singh (46) have been playing the roles of Ravan and Ram for the past 10 years in the heart of the pastoral town. The HinduSikh, Ravan-Ram camaraderie is celebrated in this Sikh belt. Members of the Sikh community from neighbouring villages flock to this town in huge numbers to witness the high-decibel star cast of Ramlila, being organised by the Shri Ramlila Dramatic Club, Shahkot, since 1965. Shanty is a property dealer and Ranjit runs a garment store. Shanty, who is also the president of the club, says, “There are no boundaries at this Ramlila. We have a 45member cast, including Hindus, Sikhs and Dalits. Muslim men manage our stage and props. I play Ravan, Ranjit plays Ram and the men who play Sita and Kaikeyi are both Dalits. But we are all brothers first. Residents of Dhandowal, Bajwa Kalan and other villages specially cook food for the cast and call us to their homes for dinner. Sikhs turn up at the show in large num- Best friends Shanty Chawla (left) and Ranjit Singh, who play the role of Ravan and Lord Ram at the Shahkot Ramlila. bers and cheer for the characters. Sikh NRIs from Shahkot are our key donors along with Hindu philanthropists.” He adds, “Ranjit and I belonged to poor families. However, with Lord Ram’s blessings, we have our own businesses now. I’ve met celebrities and travelled abroad, thanks to Lord Ram. Not just us, the entire town believes that this Ramlila is blessed. Every year, kids aged below 10 are invited to recite Hanuman Chalisa, for which they are rewarded. A majority of the children who responded last year were Sikhs.” Ranjit says, “I have been playing the part of Ram since I was 17. Shanty was earlier part of the sena (procession) and started playing the role of Ravan in 2014. We love what we do. I’m a Sikh, and a Ram bhakt too. Ram has given me everything. Words can’t explain the love we have received at this Ramlila.” c m y b from this, to ensure that the youth of the village are channeling their energy in sports, I will do my best to provide better sports facilities as well,” she claimed. Replying a question on how does she maintain her energy level, she said, “When I meet my fellow villagers, it gives me a sense of happiness and satisfaction which boosts my energy level,” she said. Harbhajan has another concern towards Punjabi language. She wants children Three killed in separate road accidents Hoshiarpur, October 11 Three people were killed in separate road accidents in the district during the last 24 hours. Jaskaran, son of Buta Singh, a resident of Saila Khurd, was returning to his village on a bike from the wedding of a relative but an unidentified vehicle hit his two-wheeler near Mahilpur, resulting in his death. A bank security guard had died three days ago after being hit by a vehicle at the same place. The Mahilpur police took the body in custody and initiated further action. In the second case, Amrit, son of Rajkumar, resident of village Dogpur, was returning after attending a wedding. When he reached near village Rampur Bildon, his car suddenly went out of control and collided with a large block of bricks, causing his death. He had come from Italy a few days back and was preparing to go to Canada. In another accident, Veer Singh, a resident of village Chalola in Una district of Himachal Pradesh, told the Talwara police that his brother Hardyal Singh had loaded goods in his pick-up vehicle and left for Chamba. He said that when Hardyal Singh reached Dulal village near Talwara, a tipper passing by hit his brother’s vehicle due to which he died. After registering a case, the police have started further action. — OC and youngsters to speak in their mother tongue, which she feels is not happening. “It is important to speak in our own language. I will do everything to keep the language alive,” she added. She is living here with her daughter-in-law Harpreet Kaur while her son and husband, who are Canadian citizens, are abroad. They will join her in a month. “They will come here soon. I hope that I win and I get a chance to serve people here,” she said. The Phagwara SHO and his associate in Vigilance Bureau custody. SHO, aide caught taking ~50K bribe Our Correspondent Phagwara,October 11 The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB), during its ongoing campaign against corruption in the state, has caught Phagwara city SHO Jatinder Kumar along with his accomplice Jaskaran Singh, alias Jassa, a resident of Burj Hamira village in Moga district, red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 50,000. Disclosing this here today, a spokesperson for the VB said the arrest was made following a complaint lodged by Kulwinder Kaur, a resident of Chachoki village near Phagwara. He added that Kulwinder had approached the VB with a complaint, alleging that the police officer had detained her son Harshdeep, his wife Ashima, and his brother-in-law Ansh Sharma in March while they were dining at a local eatery in Phagwara. A Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) case was then registered against her son. Subsequently, the Inspector demanded Rs 50,000 in exchange for not involving Harshdeep’s wife and brother-in-law in this case and the complainant, under pressure, paid the bribe. She further alleged that later, Inspector Jatinder Kumar allegedly demanded another Rs 50,000 to exclude Harshdeep’s mobile phone worth Rs 1.5 lakh, along with a gold ring and gold ear studs, from the case evidence. The complainant paid the bribe amount and the items were returned to her. The complainant further alleged that the Inspector repeatedly contacted her, asking her to pay bills totalling Rs 35,000-40,000 for plants and pots he had purchased from Tara Nursery and she paid the amount, too. Additionally, the Inspector demanded Rs 1 lakh in exchange for filing a favourable challan in a court and supporting her son during the trial and evidence. A final settlement of Rs 50,000 was agreed upon, which the complainant recorded and submitted as an evidence to the VB. The spokesperson added that after a preliminary inquiry into the complaint, a VB team laid a trap during which Inspector Jatinder Kumar and his accomplice Jaskaran Singh were caught accepting a bribe of Rs 50,000 from the complainant in the presence of two official witnesses. A case has been registered.