24012025-ATR-01.qxd 1/23/2025 11:28 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR ETO VISITS CLINIC IN JANDIALA GURU, INTERACTS WITH PATIENTS NEHA IS LOOKING FORWARD TO SHOOT HER NEXT FILM SANJOG NITA AMBANI’S SAREE FOR TRUMP’S SWEARING-IN FEATURED MOTIFS Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO visited clinic and reviewed arrangements for providing medical services. P2 In UT recently, Neha shared, “Chandigarh is one of my favourite cities. Each time I come here I am bowled over.” P4 Draped in a traditional Kanchipuram silk saree by Swadesh, she carried the soul of India to the stage of the world. P4 » » » MAX 21°C | MIN 5°C YESTERDAY MAX 22°C | MIN 6°C SUNSET FRIDAY 5.57 PM SUNRISE SATURDAY 7:27 AM FRIDAY | 24 JANUARY 2025 | AMRITSAR BSF foils smuggling bid, recovers heroin, drones from border Amritsar, January 23 In a significant joint raid, the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Special Task Force (STF) apprehended one Indian smuggler along with a mobile phone yesterday. On his revelation, a joint party conducted a thorough search of the area and recovered a packet (gross weight 550 grams suspected to be heroin) adjacent to Balharwal village, Amritsar district. The operation was carried out on the basis of concrete intelligence gathered through meticulous analysis of the drone movement and suitable corroboration by the BSF intelligence wing. This operation was conducted as a part of the coordinated efforts between the BSF and the Punjab Police to curb drug smuggling activities along the international border. In another incident, the BSF troops recovered two drones from the border area of Amritsar and Fazilka districts. A joint search operation with the Punjab Police, culminated with the recovery of one DJI Mavic 3 Classic drone from a farm field, adjacent to Rattan Khurd village in Amritsar district. Similarly, another assembled quadcopter drone was recovered from a field adjacent to PS Wala Hitter village in Fazilka district. — TNS Admn remains true to its promise, Anotherindependent councillor joins AAP razes controversial Bhai Lalo Chowk Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service TRIBUNE IMPACT Ravi Dhaliwal Tribune News Service Gurdaspur, January 23 The district administration remained true to its promise and dismantled the controversial Bhai Lalo traffic intersection barely days after the local MLA and his acolytes were at the forefront of constructing it. The juncture had given rise to a plethora of problems, the most prominent of them being massive traffic snarls. Residents were irked at its construction. They had even questioned the politician’s motive of getting it constructed “just to gain a handful of votes.” The Tribune had highlighted the haphazard manner in which the structure had come up leading to serpentine lines of vehicles poling up. This included school buses. Insiders say senior administration officers had told the MLA that the structure had to be dismantled as it was creating more problems than it could solve. The politician was nowhere to be seen today when the intersection was being brought down. A senior offi- The Bhai Lalo chowk after being dismantled by the district administration in Gurdaspur. cer said alternative arrangements were being made for the movement of traffic. The juncture had defeated the very purpose of the railway underpass, located nearby, which remained clogged with traffic. Deputy Commissioner (DC) Uma Shankar Gupta said the administration had nothing against the MLA. “However, when the junc- Police expose fake snatching case Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 23 In a swift operation, officials at the Gate Hakima police station successfully uncovered a dramatic case of snatching scooter and cash orchestrated by a woman to swindle her father-in-law’s money. The case was cracked within 24 hours, resulting in two arrests and the recovery of stolen cash. The police arrested Komal Sharma, a resident Fateh Singh Colony, and her brother Abhijit Sharma, a resident of Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar, Amritsar. The cash amounting to Rs 2.95 lakh, taken by the duo, was recovered from them. Efforts are underway to apprehend their third accomplice, identified as Surinder Singh, alias Sunny, a resident of Mandir Wali Gali, Mule Chak, Amritsar. The operation was led by Vishaljit Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADCP), Amritsar Zone-1, The two accused in custody of the Amritsar police on Thursday. and Jaspal Singh, ACP Cen, tral Amritsar, along with Manjit Kaur, SHO, Gate Hakima police station. According to information, a complaint was filed by Harkewal Singh, a resident of Fateh Singh Colony, in which he stated that an unknown individual allegedly attacked his daughter-in-law Komal Sharma by throwing red pepper into her eyes. The assailant then snatched her scooter, in she was carrying Rs 4.29 lakh in cash. During investigation, inconsistencies in Komal’s statements raised suspicion. Upon rigorous questioning, she confessed to have staged the entire incident with the help of her brother Abhijit Sharma and another accomplice Surinder Singh. The accused are being interrogated to further uncover additional details. ture was completed, the city saw massive traffic snarls. This led to discontentment among locals and shopkeepers,” he said. This development would give respite to thousands of commuters, including hundreds of schoolchildren, who inadvertently got trapped in traffic snarls. The intersection had come up despite the PWD authori- Two arrested with 840gm heroine Amritsar, January 23 The city police have arrested two drug peddlers identified as Gurwant Singh, alias Manga, and Palwinder Singh, alias Sunny, in connection with the seizure of 840 grams of heroin here today. The operation was conducted by Mohit Kumar, SHO, Sultanwind, and Sub-Inspector Chander Mohan, along with other police personnel. The arrested suspects, Gurwant Singh, a resident of Mira Kot Kala, Amritsar, and Palwinder Singh, a resident of Mira Kaur Khurd, Amritsar (Rural), are currently under interrogation. The police are questioning them regarding their connections with smugglers and the narcotics trafficking network. A case was registered under the NDPS Act at the Sultanwind police station in this connection. Gurwant Singh has a previous criminal record with cases registered against him at the Kambo police station in the Amritsar (Rural). — TNS World Bank team reviews water supply project Amritsar, January 23 A six member team of the World Bank (WB) visited the city to review the progress of the Amritsar Bulk Water Supply Scheme (ABWSS) project launched by the Punjab Government to provide continuous clean water to residents. The Punjab Municipal Services Improvement Project is being run by the Municipal Corporation (MC) in collaboration with the World Bank. Under the ABWSS project, water of the Upper Bari Doab canal (UBDC) would be cleaned and supplied for domestic purpose. The construction of a modern water treatment plant near Vallah, 51 new water tanks along with laying of 112 km long pipeline in the city is underway. During their two-day visit, A World Bank team inspects the Amritsar Bulk Water Supply Scheme project on Thursday. the World Bank team visited Ranjit Avenue, Golbagh, Kot Khalsa, Guru Ki Wadali, Lahori Gate, Chheharta, water tanks and pipeline laying sites as well as water treatment plant at Vallah. The World Bank team held meetings with officials of the project contractor Larsen and Toubro and the MC and obtained information related to the construction of the project. The project was discussed in detail with MC Commissioner Gulpreet Singh Aulakh and Additional Commissioner Surinder Singh. During meeting, Aulakh told the World Bank team that due to efforts of officials, an NOC was received from the Ministry of Defence, which was pending for laying the pipeline near the Vallah ammunition depot for a long time. He said the work of laying pipeline had started. He said in order to speed up work in the coming days, Larsen & Toubro was going to increase the workforce at construction sites by mobilising local and migratory labourers. — TNS c m y b ties claiming that “it needed to be redesigned”. For the last so many days, the city has been drowned in angry voices of residents who claimed that they had never seen such lengthy traffic jams in the past several decades. Old-timers say they fail to comprehend what prompted the MLA to “unlawfully” build the intersection. The structure, where four roads converge, was built in the name of Bhai Lalo, a Sikh religious figure. One of the roads leads to the bus-stand through the railway underpass, while others head towards different places in the city. The railway underpass was built with an eye to decongest the traffic. However, things are back to square one with the underpass remaining chock-a-block with traffic. The chowk was proving to be more of a bane than a boon for commuters. On the very day the juncture was built, administration officials had vehemently claimed that it would be brought down. Officials had followed the proper legal procedure before taking a final decision to dismantle it. Harjinder Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC-General), said he held several rounds of talks with followers of Bhai Lalo. The ADC-General claimed that he told the followers that their sentiments would be kept in mind when an alternative to the traffic intersection would be constructed by the administration. Amritsar, January 23 In a significant development, Anita Sharma, an independent councillor from Ward No. 78 in the West Assembly constituency, has joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). With the joining of Anita Sharma, the AAP has strengthened its numbers in the ongoing fight for appointing Mayor and prove majority in the Amritsar Municipal Corporation General House. This marks yet another addition to the growing influence of the AAP in the General House with the party’s strength now rising to 39 members. With this latest move, the AAP has successfully included seven out of eight independent councillors in the Municipal Corporation (MC) into the party fold. Only one councillor is aligning with the Congress at present. The current party composition in the House stands at 41 Congress members, 39 AAP members, nine Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members, and four Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) members. AAP’s 39 members, include 24 party councillors, seven MLAs of the urban constituencies, seven independent councillors and a Bharatiya Janata Party turncoat. The AAP leadership expressed optimism about further consolidating the party position in the MC mayoral election. With 39 members in the MC House, including 32 councillors and seven MLAs, the AAP remains seven members short of proving a clear majority. According to high-level sources within the AAP, efforts are underway to achieve this goal within the next four to five days. Despite facing allegations of horse treading, leaders of the AAP are now eying on the BJP and the Congress councillors to shift their loyalty. Anita Sharma was welcomed into the party by Cabinet Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal and former Mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu at a formal induction ceremony. The event saw the presence of key party leaders, including councillors Priyanka Sharma, Ritesh Sharma, Vishal Bhakna, Rana Sarpanch, Harpinder Valtoha, Ricky Moudgil, Sunny Rampal, Surinder Devgan and Honey Sharma.