05112024-ATR-01.qxd 11/4/2024 11:16 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune RESIDENTS DEMAND ACTION TO PRESERVE TREES, GARDENS EKTA TIWARI IS SEEN IN THE SHOW GUDIYA RANI Amritsar, once celebrated for its lush greenery, has seen a significant decline in its tree cover over the past few years. P2 Ekta, who is seen in show Gudiya Rani, says playing a character quite in contrast to her in real life is interesting. P4 » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR MEGHRANJANI MEDHI FOUND HER GURUS IN HER PARENTS Dance chose me … says prominent Kathak exponent Meghranjani Medhi, who found her gurus in her parents. P4 » MAX 31°C | MIN 16°C YESTERDAY MAX 31°C | MIN 16°C SUNSET TUESDAY 5.37 PM SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 6:50 AM TUESDAY | 5 NOVEMBER 2024 | AMRITSAR Man shoots wife to death, held Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, November 4 On the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday a man, who had married twice, shot dead his first wife over a property dispute with the help of his son from his second wife at Bhangala village falling under the Patti Sadar police. The suspects were identified as Malkiat and his son Jagpreet Singh. Earlier, Malkiat was married to Charanjit Kaur and they had a son identified as Harmandeep Singh (21). Later, Malkiat got married to Sharanjit Kaur and the couple had a son identified as Jagpreet Singh. There was a dispute over property between Harmandeep and Jagpreet. On the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, Harmandeep and his father Malkit had a verbal spat over distribution of property. Soon after Malkiat and Jagpreet shot dead Charanjit Kaur with the former’s licensed rifle. Patti Sadar police SHO Inspector Gurcharan Singh along with his team reached the spot soon after he received information about murder. The suspects were booked under Sections 103, 351 (2) and 3 (5) of the BNS and Sections 25, 27, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act. Malkiat was arrested, the SHO said. BSF recovers 1.9 kg heroin from border belt Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 4 The Border Security Force (BSF) has recovered two packets of heroin from two different places in the border area of Amritsar district. Acting on the information of the intelligence wing, vigilant BSF troops recovered one packet suspected of heroin (Gross weight 550 gm) on the intervening night of November 3 and 4 around 11.40 pm from a field at Gulgarh village in Amritsar district. The drug was wrapped in a yellow adhesive tape. An eight foot nylon loop was attached with the packet. In the second incident, another packet of suspected heroin (Gross weight 540 gm) was recovered by the BSF troops around 2.40 pm from a field adjacent to Dhanoe Kalan village in Amritsar district. The drug was wrapped in a yellow adhesive tape. A copper wire ring and two illuminating strips were also attached to the packet containing the drug. The suspects in custody of the Gharinda police on Monday. 2 nabbed with 1kg heroin Amritsar, November 4 The Gharinda police have arrested two drug peddlers and recovered 1 kg of heroin from their possession. Those arrested were identified as Ravinder Singh, alias Kalari, a resident of Mohawa village, and Amit, a resident of Guru Ki Wadali. According to the police, during patrolling at Bhakna Kalan village cops saw a bike coming towards Chak Mukand village. The bikeborne persons tried to flee on seeing the police party, but they were intercepted and arrested, the police said. Dur- ing search, the police recovered 1kg of heroin which the suspects tried to throw away. The police impounded motorcycle of the suspects. Ravinder had three FIRs of drug peddling registered against him, the police said. Charanjit Singh, SSP, Amritsar (Rural), said a case had been registered against the suspects. The drug was smuggled through drone into the Indian territory, the SSP said. More arrests and seizures of contraband were likely during further investigation, the SSP added. — TNS Another attempt by miscreants to grab land of school owned by NRIs PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 4 The fear of Canada-based NRI Amandeep Singh and his wife Urvashi Sandhu came true when several miscreants with covered faces made another attempt to grab their ancestral property where a private school has been running for the past over four decades. Miscreants damaged the CCTV cameras installed on the school premises before demolishing boundary wall of the institution’s ground in the wee hours today. They also damaged property of the school. “The school staff and children are scared after the incident. We have been regularly getting threats about grabbing the school ground, besides damaging and stealing property of the institution located on Ram Tirath Road here,” said Amandeep Singh while talking to The Tribune over phone. At 12.30 am, miscreants entered the school premises, damaged the property and broke the CCTV cameras installed in the complex, Amandeep said. Later, miscreants demolished boundary wall of the school ground and attempted to construct a structure illegally on the school premises, he alleged. All this happened, despite registration of an FIR with the NRI wing of the Punjab Police, he said. Earlier, miscreants had attempted to grab the school property in midSeptember this year, he said. “We are concerned about (Clockwise from top) Broken glass; damaged door; demolished boundary wall and a broken CCTV camera on the school premises in Amritsar. safety of the school, staff and students. We feel helpless against land grabbers who have the backing of politicians,” he said. Amandeep has once again written to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to seek his immediate intervention into the matter. Dr Avtar Singh, a former professor at Khalsa College, started the school in 1980s after returning from Canada with a mission to provide quality education to poor kids in the rural belt. The school is affiliated with the Punjab School Education Board. Two years ago, he passed away. Amandeep said his elderly mother was unable to run the school. So, the family had entrusted the task to his father’s friend Davinder Sandhu for the time being, he said. He said the land grab mafia had tried to manipulate the school’s land records in order to grab its property. Two months ago, a group of miscreants had broken the school lock and tried to take possession of its property illegally. Urvashi Sandhu said the police station under whose jurisdiction the school fell, was under the influence of miscreants. She said policemen were harassing them. Today, the police picked up several persons from the spot, but later they were let off, she said. “The police have recorded my statement, but yet to register an FIR in this connection,” she said. AIG (NRI) Jagjit Singh Walia said, “The NRI police station has already registered an FIR in this regard. Suspects have joined investigation and further probe is on. Whatever occurred last night is an illegal act. The police are taking appropriate measures in this connection.” 75 snatchers held in over one month Three gangsters arrested Chemists against online delivery of medicines, write to Drug Controller Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 4 Snatching has been a bane of the holy city with tourists, women and every common man on the target list of miscreants. In order to curb such incidents, the police have launched a massive drive against the menace and arrested 75 snatchers in 38 snatching cases during past over one month. The police also recovered valuables worth Rs 8.86 lakh from their possession. “We dealing with snatching incidents on priority basis. There has been a rise in snatchings in the past. People have expressed their concern over such incidents,” said Police Commissioner (CP) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar. He said, “A special drive has been launched to nail snatchers. Priority is given to detection and prevention of the crime.” Apart from arresting snatchers, the police initiated preventive action against 240 miscreants, including drug peddlers, to reduce the crime rate in the city. Besides, 311 persons were instructed to appear before the police on regular basis. The police also arrested 89 drug traffickers leading to the recovery of 18 kg heroin and over Rs 33 lakh drug money from them during the period of over one month. Similarly, the police confiscated 24 illegal firearms from 22 persons in six different cases. The police also seized two rifles, 27 magazines and 73 bullets from miscreants. Besides, a campaign was launched against proclaimed offenders (POs). So far, 35 POs were arrested by the police during the drive in the district. Tarn Taran, November 4 The Harike police led by SHO Inspector Kashmir Singh arrested three gangsters when they were holding a meeting at Booh Vangan village to plan some crime. The gangsters are associated with the module of Lakhbir Singh Landa, a resident of Harike, and Satnam Singh Satta, a resident of Naushehra Pannuan. The police recovered one revolver with magazine and three cartridges from the possession of the gangsters. The police said the arrested gangsters were identified as Simranjit Singh Mithu, a resident of Harike, Jobanjit Singh Joban, a resi- dent of Booh Havelian village, and Lovepreet Singh Labhu, a resident of Kirian village. The police said gangsters, who managed to flee from the spot, were identified as Sukhwinder Singh Kaka Shailly, a resident of Muradpur, Gurdev Singh Jaisal, a resident of Chambal, Parasdeep Singh Paras, a resident of Muhalla Tonk Kashtri, Tarn Taran, Saurav, a resident of Makhu, and Robin, a resident of Muradpur. The police said gangsters demanded extortion from the people. In case people denied to oblige, gangsters threatened to kill them. — OC Amritsar, November 4 The Punjab Chapter of the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) has expressed concern over the alleged partnership between Swiggy Instamart and PharmEasy to deliver medicines on the door step of residents. The AIOCD has written to Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) in this regard. The AIOCD said this move was against standards set under the Indian law and could create many serious health and safety-related threats. Surinder Duggal, president, Punjab Chemist Association, said, “There are strict rules for selling medicines in India which ensure safety of patients.” He said online delivery of medicines was not safe for patients. “This partnership is likely to ignore standards like proper prescription checking and patient identification and endanger health of residents,” he said. Duggal said despite efforts of the government to tackle the threat of anti-microbial resistance, the unregulated operation of epharmacies could further increase the problem. The association said the online delivery of medicines would also jeopardize the livelihood of nearly 13 lakh chemists across the country who sold medicines to citizens. The association said ultra-fast delivery model might increase the possibility of patients ending up buying expired or counterfeit medicines which could be harmful for their health. — TNS Paid parking on Nehru Shopping Complex premises remains underutilised Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 4 Paid parking inside the multi-storey parking lot of the Nehru Shopping Complex remains underutilised while an open-to-sky free parking area remains choked with four wheelers throughout the day. It leads to congestion, gridlocks, frequent traffic snarls and frustrates vehicle drivers. Navkiran Singh, a visitor, said high parking tariff was the prime reason prompting drivers to ignore designated parking facility in the complex. He said, “Parking lot operator charges fee up to Rs 50 for a four-wheeler, which discourages people from using the multi-storey lot. Haphazardly parked vehicles in a free open-to-sky parking lot; and (right) junk dumped inside paid multi-storey parking lot at Nehru Shopping Complex in Amritsar. PHOTOS: VISHAL KUMAR However, regular visitors are charged Rs 30 for parking their cars. For two-wheelers parking charge are Rs 20.” Residents have demanded that the authorities reconsider the fee structure to encourage visitors to use the multi- storey parking facility. They demanded that the authorities should fix parking fee at Rs 20 for four-wheelers and c m y b Rs 10 for two-wheelers. A shopkeeper drawing attention to haphazardly parked vehicles in the free parking lot of the complex said, “Majority of people leave the complex after parking their vehicles on its prem- ises. In case of any emergency like fire breakout there is no way for an ambulance or fire tender to reach the spot.” Affordable multi-storey parking lot in Nehru Shopping Complex could help in solving the problem of parking of vehicles along busy Lawrence Road and adjoining stretches. However, a visit to the paid multi-storey parking lot in Nehru Shopping Complex revealed that it was underutilised. Besides, dealers had dumped their junk in the parking lot of the complex. Ashok Talwar, Chairman, Amritsar Improvement Trust, said, “The Trust has prepared a plan to install boom barriers in the open-to-sky parking area of the Nehru Shopping Complex to prevent outsiders from parking their vehicles in it. Outsiders will have to pay to park their vehicles in the complex.”