24102024-ATR-01.qxd 10/23/2024 11:02 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR ANTI-ENCROACHMENT DRIVE LAUNCHED IN HOLY CITY PRITISH BELIEVES IF ONE DOES NOT EVOLVE, ONE BECOMES DINOSAUR! KAJOL JOKES SHE TRAINED HUBBY AJAY DEVGN FOR FILM SINGHAM As the festival season is on, there has been rampant encroachments by vendors and shopkeepers in the holy city. P2 Laughter truly is best medicine, and Pritish Narula, a stand-up comic from Chandigarh, is living proof of that mantra.P4 Actress Kajol shared that she imparted training to Ajay Devgn to portray character of Bajirao Singham in film Singham. P4 » » » MAX 32°C | MIN 20°C YESTERDAY MAX 32°C | MIN 19°C SUNSET THURSDAY 5.48 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 6:41 AM THURSDAY | 24 OCTOBER 2024 | AMRITSAR Commission agent 2-hour strike by contractual roadways staff shot dead in Sathiala at bus stand inconveniences passengers Gangster claims responsibility for murder Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 23 A commission agent Gurdeep Singh, alias Gokha, a resident of Sathiala, was shot dead by three armed assailants in Sathiala village falling under Baba Bakala sub-division in broad daylight here on Wednesday. The incident led to panic in the area. Gokha died on the spot while police officials, including Amritsar (Rural) SSP Charanjit Singh and SP (D) Harinder Singh Gill, rushed to the spot and took the body in possession for a post-mortem examination. The police is working on different theories, including possible gang rivalry, to solve the murder case. “We have some clues and are working on them. We will go by ground leads rather than on social media posts. We will share details that come after the investigation,” said Charanjit Gurdeep Singh, alias Gokha Singh, SSP Amritsar (Rural), , while talking to The Tribune. Nevertheless, hours after the murder, notorious gangster Satnam Singh, alias Satta Naushehra, a resident of Tarn Taran, has claimed responsibility for the murder on social media platform. Satta claimed that Gokha was killed as he was an alleged associate of another notorious gangster Balwinder Singh Donny. Donny was wanted by the police in many criminal cases including attempt to murder, robbery and extortion. Satta Naushehra also had a number of criminal cases including extortion, firing and murder bid registered against him. He was a member of gangster-turned-terrorist Lakhbir Singh’s gang, aka Landa Harike gang. Harinder Singh Gill, SP (D), said shooters were yet to be identified. He said police teams were scanning footage of the CCTV cameras installed in the area to identify the suspects. The police said Gokha was sitting at his shop in the afternoon when three assailants came there on a bike. Two of them alighted from the bike and rushed to his shop and sprayed bullets at him leaving him dead on the spot. Later, they fled from the spot on the motorcycle. Gill claimed that the suspects would be identified and arrested soon. Initial probe revealed that Gokha and Donny had an armed case registered against them two years ago. Roadways union members protest outside the ISBT; and (right) passengers wait for the resumption of the bus service in Amritsar on Wednesday. PHOTOS: VISHAL KUMAR Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 23 Passengers suffered inconvenience with the Punjab Roadways, PUNBUS, PRTC Contractual Workers Union observing a two-hour strike and staging a protest in front of the Shaheed Madan Lal Dhingra Inter-State Bus Terminal (ISBT) to impress upon the government to accept their long-pending demands The union warned of going on an indefinite strike if their concerns were not addressed in the proposed meeting with the Punjab Transport Minister on October 29. The union said it would mobilise its members to work against the ruling party candidates in the forthcoming by-elections for the four Assembly seats in Punjab. Their main demands relate to regulari- sation of at least 800 contractual employees and hiring of 3,500 outsourced employees on contract basis, the union said. Passengers bore the brunt as a large number of them could be seen sitting and standing at the ISBT waiting for the bus operations to resume. It was only in the afternoon that the services of state-run buses resumed. Loss for government-run buses meant gain for private buses which ferried a large number of passengers. Eyewitnesses at the ISBT said private operators raked in the moolah with even women passengers queuing up to board their buses. It may be mentioned that passengers have been preferring government buses over private bus service since the introduction of free travel for women passengers. Man who swapped ATM cards nabbed 1,000 kg ‘spurious’ khoya seized from Rajasthan bus Amritsar, October 23 Health officials confiscated 1,000 kg of khoya from a bus coming from Bikaner in Rajasthan at Golden Gate here on Wednesday. Health officials suspected that khoya was spurious. As per the directions of Commissioner of Food Safety Dr Abhinav Trikha and under the guidance of Civil Surgeon Dr Kirandeep Kaur early morning nakas were laid at Golden Gate in Amritsar by a food safety team headed by Assistant Commissioner (Food) Rajinder Pal Singh along with Food Safety Officers Amandeep Singh and Satnam Singh. Officials said they intercepted a bus bearing registration number RJ07 PB 3427 and upon search found 20 bags of khoya each containing 50 kg taking the total quantity to 1,000 kg from the vehicle. Following investigation, owner of khoya was found to be Shankar Lal of Bamblu village in Bikaner (Rajasthan). “The seized khoya has been stored in a cold store and its sample sent to lab for analysis. After getting lab report further action will be initiated against Shankar Lal,” said officials. — TNS here on Wednesday. Raising slogans in support of their demands, the union observed strike for two hours from 10 am to 12 pm. As the Transport Minister could not attend meeting with representatives of the union, a delegation of the Transport Department officials participated in it. However, the meeting remained inconclusive and irate members of the union went on strike thereafter. Tribune News Service Three suspects in custody of the Chatiwind police on Wednesday. Three snatchers arrested, bikes, scooter, mobile phones seized Industrialists express concern over rise in snatchings Amritsar, October 23 The Chatiwind police busted a gang of snatchers with the arrest of its three members here today. They had snatched Rs 15,000 in cash and an expensive iPhone from a city resident. Simranjit Singh, a resident of Sultanwind Road, told the police that on October 16 three unknown persons had robbed him on point of sharp weapon. Following this, a case was registered. During investigation, the police arrested three persons in this connection. Those arrested were identified as Anmol Singh, Ajmer Singh and Jagroop Singh, all residents of Varpal village. During their interrogation, the police recovered three motorcycles, a scooter and mobile phones from their possession. The police said further probe was on to establish their backward and forward links and more arrests could likely be made in the near future. Meanwhile, a delegation of industrialists association led by AAP district president Manish Agarwal today met Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar and DIG (Border range) Satinder Singh and urged them to curb instances of snatchings and lootings from the Focal Point areas. They also raised concern over traffic mess in the holy city. “There has been a rise in thefts at industrial units in various Focal Point areas. Besides, labourers are also being robbed by miscreants with impunity,” said Agarwal. He said police officials had assured to increase patrolling in the areas where snatchers were active. — TNS Amritsar, October 23 The Gate Hakima police have arrested member of a gang that used to cheat people by swapping their ATM cards while withdrawing money. The police have recovered 22 ATM cards from the man’s possession. The suspect was identified as Randip Singh of Jind in Haryana. His accomplice managed to escape from the spot. Vishaljit Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP), said Naveen Kumar, a resident of Nawan Kot area, told the police that three days ago, he had gone to withdraw Rs 3,000 from the HDFC Bank ATM. He said a man was already there who told the victim that his slip was stuck in the ATM. On the pretext of helping him, he took victim’s ATM card and swapped it with another card. However, Naveen immediately found that the ATM card had been swapped and raised an alarm. The suspect then fled from the spot. During investigation, the police identified his accomplice Randip Singh and recovered 22 ATM cards from him. The ADCP said raids were on to nab the suspect who was on the run. Contractual employees organise a gate rally in Tarn Taran on Wednesday. PHOTO: GURBAXPURI Union holds rally in Tarn Taran Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, October 23 Employees of the Punjab Roadways working on contract basis closed the bus stand in Tarn Taran on Wednesday from 10 am to 12 pm and organised a gate rally under the banner of the Punjab Roadways, PUNBUS, PRTC Contract Workers Union to protest against the state government for its indifferent attitude towards their long-pending demands. Protesters raised slogans against the state government during the gate rally. While addressing protesters, Satnam Singh Tur, union depot president, condemned the state government for cancelling meeting called to discuss their demands with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and high powered committees time and again. He said the state body of the union had decided to close bus stands for the full day on Thursday. He said busses would be off roads for two hours from 10 am to 12 pm. He said employees were demanding abolition of the contractual system, implementation of equal work equal pay, reinstatement of employees, who were removed from service for minor errors, regularisation of contractual staff and end of exploitation of roadways by the transport mafia. He also stressed for action against contractors, who deducted the EPF and the ESI of employees from their salaries, and did not deposit the amount with the department concerned. Sukhchain Singh and Gurvel Singh were among others who addressed protesters on the occasion. They said in case the state government did nothing to resolve their issues, they would organise a flag march from November 3 to November 9 during the by-elections for four Vidhan Sabha constituencies in the state. With AQI recorded between 177 and 211, city air quality set to worsen in next few days Neha Saini Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 23 The fear of air quality getting worse in the coming days due to stubble burning and the onset of winter looms large over Punjab. A team of experts from Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) has been monitoring ambient air quality in the city at various intervals of the day and assess its impact on population. Since 2020, environment scientists have been monitoring ambient air quality through sensors installed at the GNDU during the day while taking into account factors, including population, and weather changes. The air quality in Amritsar has been recorded between 120 and 170 during the last three days. Today’s air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 177 (poor) in the morning through the air monitoring system installed at the Golden Temple by the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB). The air quality worsened by the evening with AQI being recorded at 205 at 5 pm on Tuesday. Today, the AQI recorded in evening in the city stood at 211. “The PM 2.5 (particulate matter 2.5) level in the evening in the city was recorded between 45 and 50 μg/m³ while PM 10 level was 205. The PM 2.5 in air are fine particles that enter lungs, causing several respiratory problems in population. While it’s important to keep these particulates in check, the overall air pollution levels during this time increase,” said Manpreet Singh Bhatti, professor, Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, GNDU. He has specialisation is in environment engineering and ambient air quality. “Today morning, a thin veil of smog appeared across the district, leading to concerns of worsening air quality,” he said. Dr Bhatti shared that air quality in Amritsar improved in 2021-22 owing to lesser air pollution. “Over the past few years, the air quality has dete<< Smog considerably reduced visibility on roads at Golden Gate in Amritsar on Wednesday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR c m y b riorated again and combative measures are required to improve it,” he said. With decrease in air quality predicted in the coming days ahead of Diwali, the environmental science faculty at the GNDU would conduct a survey of the city, with focus on combative measures. The fact is that air quality worsens during the months of October and November with incidents of stubble burning on the rise and due to bursting of firecrackers with the onset of the festival season. To monitor the impact of air pollution on health of larger populations, the GNDU had installed two ambient air quality sensors (PM 2.5) across its campus, in collaboration with Research Institute of Humanity and Nature (RIHN), Kyoto, Japan. The PPCB installed one additional manual ambient air quality monitoring station at the Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences where sampling of air is done every year. Since 2021, ozone is also monitored at various sites of the GNDU using portable air monitors. Dr Bhatti said after vehicular pollution, solid waste burning was the biggest air pollutant. “Crop residue is burnt two months every year, but vehicular pollution and solid waste burning goes unabated throughout the year,” he said. The average AQI over the past four years on the GNDU campus during the onset of winters has ranged from 201 to 229.