03012025-JTR-01.qxd 1/2/2025 10:36 PM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune YELLOW ALERT ISSUED AS FOG DISRUPTS LIFE IN ABOHAR SINGER ARMAAN MALIK WEDS GIRLFRIEND AASHNA SHROFF SARA ALI KHAN SPENDS FIRST DINNER OF 2025 WITH MOM A yellow alert has been issued by the administration as dense fog continues to grip Abohar town. P3 After dating for years, singer Armaan Malik and his girlfriend Aashna Shroff have tied the knot. P4 Actor Sara Ali Khan recently revealed that she spent the first dinner of 2025 with her mother Amrita Singh. P4 » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 14°C | MIN 10°C YESTERDAY MAX 12°C | MIN 9°C SUNSET FRIDAY 5.37 PM SUNRISE SATURDAY 7:27 AM » FRIDAY | 3 JANUARY 2025 | JALANDHAR INBRIEF 8 BOOKED FOR ATTACKING ASI Phagwara: The police have booked eight miscreants, including three members of a family, on the charge of attacking a police officer. The accused have been identified as Mandeep Singh of Mirapur village, his brother Amanveer Singh and his son Gurbir and Golu, Bhagat Veer Singh and Harman of the same village and their two accomplices. Amrik Singh, ASI, said he was on duty with his staff near Shakarpur village on ShankarNakodar Road and was checking vehicles. Mandeep was found driving his scooter in an inebriated condition and when he tried to check the accused, he started misbehaving with the police and used abusive language and phoned other accused who reached the spot and attacked him, and his colleagues, tore their uniforms and snatched a smartphone and threatened them. OC MAN ASSAULTED, CASE REGISTERED Hoshiarpur: The police have registered a case on the charge of murderous attack. Ravinder Singh of village Nadolo told the police that he got the land of Avtar Singh of his village on lease. He had gone to arrange water from the fields. When he asked Avtar for the key of the motor, he refused. When he was returning, the accused allegedly attacked him with a stick and seriously injured him. He said he was taken to a hospital in a serious condition. The police have started further action after registering the case. OC 4 ARRESTED FOR ATTACK ON YOUTH Hoshiarpur: Bakshi Ram of village Chakwal has lodged a complaint with the police that he was going home with his son Sunil Kumar. On the way, he met Baljinder Singh, Sunny and Raman Kumar of his village and Darshan Masih of Bahupur village, who took his son with them towards Samrawan village. When his son did not return home for a long time, he went to search him. On the way, his son was found injured. He took his son to Mukerian hospital. Seeing the critical condition of his son, the doctors referred him to Jalandhar. The police have registered a case and arrested the four accused. OC VB books HIT official over corruption Fraudulently bought plot in wife’s name Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 2 The Vigilance Bureau (VB) has registered a corruption case against Sanjeev Kalia, Senior Assistant, Hoshiarpur Improvement Trust (HIT), for committing irregularities and purchasing a plot in the Jalandhar Improvement Trust colony in his wife’s name by misusing his position. An official spokesperson of the VB said during investigation, it was found that without receiving the non-construction fee of Rs 14,35,350 from Devinderpal Kaur for plot number 828 in a Trust colony, Kalia had misused his position. Despite the fact that he was not even the dealing hand for the case, he wrote a letter dated April 21, 2010, to the patwari to report about the khasra numbers of the plot. As the patwari sent this report to the Superintendent (Sales), Kalia again bypassed the Superintendent and got the plot transferred in the name of Devinderpal Kaur from the then Chairman without receiving the non-construction fee of Rs 14,35,350. Apart from this, the Trust in a letter dated October 13, 2016, issued a No-Due Certificate (NDC) in the name of plot owner Davinderpal Kaur, while she had died on January 12, 2015, due to which, the NDC could not be issued. He further revealed that during the probe, as per the statement given by Jatinder Singh, Executive Officer (EO), the NDC did not have his signature, but the Trust had clarified through its official letter dated October 11, 2024, that this NDC was signed by Jatinder Singh as the signature was similar to the signatures of the officer put on the other files. In a second case of irregularity against him, it was also found that a 9 marla 147 sq ft land owned by one Sohan Dei was acquired by the Improvement Trust under the ‘110 Scheme’ Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar in 1976 but no plot was allotted to Sohan Dei in return as per the policy of Trust. Kalia, being posted at the Trust, was aware that plot number 276 adjacent to his residential house in the trust’s 94.5 acre scheme Guru Gobind Singh Avenue is vacant, which could be allotted in the name of someone else under the Locally Displaced Persons (LDP) quota scheme. Therefore, he approached Sohan Dei through his acquaintances and gave her only Rs 6.5 lakh and appointed Deepak, a resident of Adampur, as the power of attorney for Sohan Dei and got it registered in his name. After this, he got it allotted to the wife of Kalia on the basis of Deepak’s power of attorney on October 28, 2011. The reserve price of the plot was Rs 31,883 only and he deposited it in the bank account of the Trust. After getting the registration of this plot in the name of Sohan Dei on December 22, 2011, the NDC of plot number 276 was obtained through a letter dated March 5, 2012. Kalia, by showing that he had paid Rs 7 lakh to Deepak on February 3, 2012, had appeared in person to get the plot registered in the name of his wife Upma Kalia at Rs 21,74,000 as per the collector rate. He added that it was also found that Kalia neither took approval from his department for purchasing the plot, nor informed the department later. A case has been registered against him. The accused Sanjeev Kalia is yet to be arrested. Completion of Hoshiarpur road widening work tops DC’s priorities Online NRI Milni programme, facilities at Burlton Park also on the cards Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 2 The district administration has listed out its priorities for development works that it intends to take up this year for the benefit of Jalandharites. The priorities of the administration have been listed out by Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Aggarwal. Completion of Lamma Pind-Jandu Singha road On the top of his development agenda for Jalandhar is the completion of four-laning of the Lamma Pind-Jandu Singha road, which is the bottleneck for those shuttling between Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur. The scheme is a part of the phase-3 of the Urban Environment Improvement Programme the work on which is underway through the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board at a cost of Rs 53.23 crore. Jalandhar-Hoshiarpur road widening work The next on the administration’s agenda is the widening and strengthening of the Jalandhar-Hoshiarpur road at Adampur, work on which remains pending for the past over six years. Owing to a land acquisition scam, PUDA has not been able to complete a large part of the project in Adampur which includes construction of flyovers and service lanes. The 14-km part of the total 39-km road falls in Jalandhar and the rest in Hoshiarpur and it is this route which a large number of devotees heading to shrines, including Chintpurni, Chamunda Devi and Jawalaji, take. The state government An overview of Burlton Park in Jalandhar which may see an overhaul this year. TRIBUNE PHOTO: MALKIAT SINGH had released Rs 13.74 crore. Easy connectivity to Adampur airport Also on the top of the plans of the administration is the completion of 4.3 km access road to ease the connectivity to the Adampur Civil Airport. The administration had met the Adampur Civil Airport Director Pushpendra Kumar Nirala, seeking an early resolution to the issue of providing good road link to the airport. The departments concerned have been asked to pitch in and expedite land acquisition for the connecting road. Proper signage along the airport road is also on the agenda. E-NRI Milni soon The next in line for the administration is to start an NRI Milni portal. The portal was to be launched on December 28 by NRI Affairs Burlton Park facilities The Jalandhar administration, Municipal Corporation, PWD and the Horticulture Department are jointly handling the project to develop and beautify the Burlton Park. The Rs 65 lakh project involves installing of floodlights for the night practice of cricket players, practice nets, pavillion, washrooms, changing rooms, lockers, etc. The players visiting the park for practice sessions of cricket, hockey and other games have been seeking amenities for years. WORKS ACCOMPLISHED IN 2024 A slew of development works worth Rs 283 crore which the administration claims that it had accomplished in 2024 include: ■ Inauguration of Mother and Child Hospital in Nakodar Providing free healthcare to 19,29,603 patients in 66 Aam Aadmi Clinics ■ Flagging off 129 hi-tech vehicles under Sadak Surakhya Force from PAP ■ Empanelment of 15 government, 25 private hospitals under ‘Farishte’ scheme for free treatment to accident victims ■ Inauguration of memorial dedicated to Pandit Shraddha Ram Phillauri, composer of the aarti ‘Om Jai Jagdish Hare’ ■ Laying of stone for ~7 crore 66 kV power substation in Nakodar, benefiting residents of 37 villages ■ Launch of ~32.32 crore bio-mining project to resolve garbage issue at the Wariana dump ■ Inauguration of ~1.15 crore modern fire station ■ 4 lakh applications processed at Sewa Kendras ■ Honouring of 100 farmers under ‘Vatavaran de raakhe’ scheme, 87 pc drop in farm fire cases ■ Planting of more than 10 lakh trees in the entire district ■ Nearly 61 employment camps held, 6,707 youth got placements ■ 120 girls get coaching in self-defence ■ 200 youth trained as yoga instructors ■ 3,500 youth trained in life-saving skills under Chetna project ■ Highway robbers’ gang busted, 4 held Our Correspondent 8 NABBED WITH NARCOTICS Nakodar: The police have arrested eight persons and seized a huge amount of narcotics and drug money from different places. The police raided a shop in Gaushala Market and arrested four accused from the second floor and recovered 530 gram of narcotic powder from them. The accused have been identified as Luv Kumar of Khanpuri Gate, Manjinder Kumar of Balmiki Mohalla, Sunil Kumar of Araiyan Mohalla and Akashdeep of Khanpuri Gate. The police also arrested two and recovered 12 kg of poppy husk from them. The accused have been identified as Gurpreet Singh of Kandhala Jattan and Gurpreet Singh of Kaloye. The police of Talwara arrested Ashok Kumar of Mukerian and recovered 22 gram of intoxicating powder and drug money worth Rs 10,500 from him. While the police of Tanda arrested Vijay Nagar Tanda and recovered 30,000 ml of liquor from him. OC Minister Kuldeep Dhaliwal but the programme was postponed owing to the demise of ex-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The administration claims that it will be a unique portal through which the NRIs would be able to get their matters resolved sitting back in the foreign soil. A large number of devotees pay obeisance on Parkash Purb of Guru Gobind Singh in Jalandhar. PHOTO: MALKIAT SINGH (P2) Two persons assaulted, robbed of mobile phones in broad daylight Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 2 In fresh cases of a broad daylight robberies in Kapurthala, two sets of robbers got away with snatchings in the middle of the day, in one case, in a crowded market. Both cases show robbers can go to any length to intimidate victims, even if it is just for the sake of a mobile phone. The first robbery took place when armed bike-riding robbers surrounded a young man in in the midst of a crowded market at Tagore Nagar in Kapurthala today. The robbers first assaulted the youth, then snatched his phone and escaped. The incident was caught on a CCTV camera in the street. In the CCTV footage, two robbers on a bike can be seen. The victim reported the incident to the PCR team. After this, PCR sub-inspector Charanjit Singh and ASI Manga Singh reached the spot and assured him that his complaint had been forwarded to the police station concerned. Meanwhile, in a second case, armed robbers surrounded another victim, snatched his phone after threstened him with c m y b weapons. Victim Ritik, resident of Baba Deep Nagar, said he was surrounded by robbers during his daily commute. Ritik told the police that the robbers surrounded him and threatened him to give them his mobile phone. When he refused, the armed robbers beat him up. After this, they snatched his phone from him and absconded. PHAGWARA, JANUARY 2 In a series of successful operations in the past two days, the Jalandhar Rural Police have achieved a breakthrough by arresting ‘drug peddlers’ and busting a highway robbery gang in Phillaur. In the first operation on January 1, the police arrested two drug smugglers, including a woman, and seized 250 narcotic pills, 5 kg of crushed poppy husk, ~35,000 drug proceeds and a motorcycle used for transportation of contraband. The accused were identified as Amarjit Singh, alias Pappu, of Ladha village, and Jaswinder Kaur, alias Binder, of Bharsinghapura village, Phillaur. In the second operation today, the police arrested four members of a gang involved in highway robberies. The accused were identified as Jagjit Singh, alias Grewal, alias Lovely, of Gurnam Nagar, Ludhiana; Sukhpal Singh, alias Sukha, of Surjewal, Fazilka; Sunny, alias Sunny Deol, of Khohi Mahulla Panjdhera, Phillaur; and Raman Kumar of Taihing, Phillaur. Speaking to the media, SSP Harkamal Preet Singh Khakh stated that both operations were carried out under the direction of SP (Investigation) Jasroop Kaur Bath, and the supervision of DSP Phillaur, , Sarwan Singh Bal. A team of the Phillaur police, led by Inspector Sanjeev Kapoor, executed both operations. In the drug smuggling case, Amarjit Singh was caught with 250 narcotic pills and a motorcycle, while Jaswinder Kaur was found in possession of 5 kg of crushed poppy husk and ~35,000. Both accused have prior cases registered under the NDPS Act. A fresh case has been registered against them. In the highway robbery case, the gang members, who are drug addicts, had been active in Phillaur, using weapons to commit robberies. The police recovered stolen mobile phones and a motorcycle used in the crimes. Seven robbery cases have been traced to the gang so far. All accused from both cases have been remanded to police custody. The drug smuggling investigation aims to trace the source of narcotics and identify other network members, while the robbery case investigation continues to uncover additional crimes linked to the accused. Khakh commended the swift efforts of the Phillaur team and reaffirmed the commitment of thepolice to eliminate drug trafficking and criminal activities from the district. ASI hurt in cartruck collision Garhshankar, January 2 ASI Gurnek Singh, posted at Mahilpur police station, was seriously injured in a collision between his car and a truck near Golian village on the Garhshankar-Hoshiarpur road. The Garhshankar police have taken both the vehicles into custody and started investigations. According to the information received, ASI Gurnek Singh was going towards Garhshankar in his car for some work. When he reached near the Golian bus stop, his car collided with a truck loaded with gas cylinders coming from the opposite side, in which he was seriously injured. People admitted him to the Civil Hospital, Garhshankar, for treatment. The truck was being driven by Gurpreet Singh, a resident of Patiala. He said that he was going to the HPCL plant in Nasrala with cylinders loaded in the truck. Both the vehicles were badly damaged in the incident. — OC