04022025-JTR-01.qxd 2/3/2025 11:12 PM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune ROAD BLOCKED TO PROTEST PETROL PUMP WORKER KILLING IF UNDER PRESSURE, GO FOR COUNSELLING LAMAR, BEYONCE AND CHARLI XCX WIN BIG AT GRAMMYS Fuel station owner on KapurthalaGoindwal road offers financial aid, family seeks arrest of accused. P2 As countdown begins, pressure to perform well and prove themselves is becoming overwhelming for many. P3 Beyonce takes lead with 11 Grammy nominations, a career-high, for her country album Cowboy Carter. P4 » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 15°C | MIN 9°C YESTERDAY MAX 16°C | MIN 7°C SUNSET TUESDAY 6.05 PM SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 7:17 AM » TUESDAY | 4 FEBRUARY 2025 | JALANDHAR Overflowing sewage poses health, traffic risk at Maqsudan Road INBRIEF MAN HELD FOR SALE OF BANNED CHINESE STRING Phagwara: The police arrested a person for selling banned Chinese string and recovered 20 spools from his possession on Sunday. Phagwara SP Rupinder Kaur Bhatti said a special drive was launched against Chinese string sellers. After getting a secret information, a team of the police raided a locality and arrested a person for selling the Chinese string and recovered 20 spools. The accused was identified as Chetan Sharma of Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar, Phagwara. A case under Sections 233 and 125, BNS, has been registered against the accused. OC MOBILE AND CASH SNATCHED Phagwara: Some miscreants snatched a mobile phone and cash from a motorcyclist in village Baghana near Phagwara on Sunday night. Victim Pardeep Singh of village Bhungarni said he was returning home on his bike when the accused stopped him, snatched his belongings and escaped. A case under Sections 304 and 3(5), BNS, has been registered. OC DRUG PEDDLER ARRESTED Phagwara: The Satnampura police have arrested a drug peddler and seized 10 gm of heroin from his possession on Sunday night. SP Rupinder Kaur Bhatti said the accused Rohit of village Aurr near Nawanshahar was nabbed near Nanak Nagari Chiherru at a check point. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered against the accused. She said in another case, the police have arrested Sarajudin of village Nurpur and recovered 6,000 ml of illicit liquor from his possession. OC MINOR ABDUCTED, YOUTH BOOKED Phagwara: On a complaint lodged by Sonia Rani, resident of Mehli Gate, Phagwara, the police have registered a case under Sections 363 and 366-A, IPC, against a youth identified as Rehmat of Lamian Mohalla, Phagwara, on the charges of abducting the minor daughter of the complainant on the pretext of marrying her. The girl has been missing since January 27. The accused was still at large. OC Avneet Kaur Tribune News Service Three employees of the Punjab Roadways in police custody. 3 roadways staffers nabbed with heroin Tribune News Service Jalandhar, February 3 In a crackdown on drug trafficking, the Jalandhar Commissionerate Police arrested three employees of the Punjab Roadways and seized a total of 55 gram of heroin from them. The operation was led by Commissioner of Police Swapan Sharma. Acting on a tip-off, the police were conducting checks near a bus stand when they noticed a man approaching from the passport office side, holding a black polythene envelope. On spotting the police, the man panicked, discarded the packet on the roadside and attempted to flee. Officers swiftly apprehended him and identified him as Ajit Singh, alias Raju, a resi- dent of Sanjay Gandhi Nagar, Makhu Ferozepur, now residing at Amargarh Bashirpura, Jalandhar, working with the Punjab Roadways. A search of the discarded envelope revealed five gram of heroin. During interrogation, Ajit Singh disclosed the involvement of two other individuals Deepak Sharma, a resident of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar Colony, Jalandhar, an employee with Punjab Roadways, and Keerat Singh, an inspector at the Punjab Roadways Depot, Jalandhar-2, originally from Amritsar. Both accused were subsequently arrested and the police recovered an additional 50 gram of heroin, 20 small empty plastic packets and a digital weighing scale from them. Jalandhar, February 3 The issue of sewage overflow is no longer confined to the city’s inner localities, it has now spread to main roads too, creating severe traffic disruptions and safety hazards. On Monday morning, the Maqsudan main road leading to the Amritsar national highway was submerged in filthy waste water, posing a risk to commuters and causing traffic congestion. Frustrated commuters blamed the non-cleaning of drains, which, they said, frequently leads to sewer water flooding the road. “Just look at this. It hasn’t even rained, yet the road is covered with dirty water. Imagine the situation when it actually rains,” daily commuter Pradeep Kumar said. Another commuter Satish adds, “We pay taxes, but where is our money going? Roads remain in a terrible condition, garbage piles up and now even the main roads are flooded with sewage. Nothing is improving.” The situation has also drawn criticism over governance issues. “It took almost a year for the state government to Sewage water overflows on the main road at Maqsudan Chowk, Jalandhar, on Monday. PHOTO SARABJIT SINGH conduct the MC elections. Now, even after electing councillors and forming the new MC House, nothing has changed on the ground. The same problems persist,” said another resident Kamlesh Kaur, highlighting the lack of progress in civic development. Apart from inconvenience, the sewage has made the road extremely dangerous, Nadala MC chief poll deferred again Time-buying technique to rope in more councillors, alleges MLA Khaira Tribune News Service Kapurthala, February 3 A poll meeting to elect the president and vice-president of the Nadala Municipal Council, where the Congress is learnt to be in 7-5 majority, got postponed for the second time on Monday. Councillors said as they reached the office before 11 am, their attendance was marked. After this, they were all given a handout for taking oath and signing it too. Soon after, the tehsildar walked away and did not return even as all of them kept waiting for him. There are 11 councillors in the MC with six on the Congress side and the seventh vote of Bholath MLA Sukhpal Khaira. In the MC polling held on December 21, AAP had Bholath Congress MLA Sukhpal Khaira with councillors and supporters in front of Nagar Panchayat, Nadala. won four wards and has the support of one Independent. Khaira said, “AAP and the local authorities have made a mockery of the MC chief’s election. When it was last con- vened on January 20, the tehsildar had taken leave on medical grounds, claiming that he was suffering from high BP He had . then produced a medical certificate from a Jalandhar-based private hospital instead of relying on any government hospital of Bholath or around. Today, again he left the meeting midway with no directions.” He alleged, “It is just a timebuying technique of AAP so that they can pull in more councillors by pressure. But we are all intact. The AAP has already tried a lot of pressure tactics on my councillors by getting them notices issued. I have already complained about that with the Governor.” Meanwhile, the MC chief poll in Shahkot is due on February 6. It had got postponed twice earlier. especially for two-wheelers. “With the road submerged in dirty water, bikes can skid easily. At night, visibility is low and with the high traffic volume, commuters may not even see the water in time, leading to accidents,” a motorist said. Residents and commuters demanded immediate action to resolve the issue. “Whether it’s due to uncleaned drains or faulty underground pipes, the authorities need to act now before a serious accident happens,” said a local shopkeeper. “The overflowing sewage not only disrupts daily life, but also raises concerns about hygiene and public health”, he added. They said despite complaints, no concrete steps have been taken so far. “Until the authorities step in with a lasting solution, the road remains a hazard, forcing commuters to navigate through a mess that should have been fixed on priority”, said local shopkeepers. Meanwhile, MC officials said the authorities will visit the site and the necessary action will be taken. Narcotic pills from two ‘drug peddlers’ seized ‘Vehicle lifter’ also arrested Tribune News Service Jalandhar, February 3 The Jalandhar Rural Police achieved three breakthroughs with the arrest of three persons, including two drug peddlers, and recovery of narcotic pills along with a stolen vehicle in separate cases on February 1 and 2. The accused have been identified as Gurpreet Singh of NA97 Mandir Wali Street, Mohalla Kishanpura, Jalandhar, in a vehicle theft case, Kulbir, alias Biru, of Hirapur, Jalandhar, who was caught with 48 narcotic pills, and Jagtar Singh, alias Jagga, of Litta, Bholath, Kapurthala, from whom 97 narcotic pills were seized. SSP Harkamal Preet Singh Khakh said all three cases were cracked based on specific inputs. The operations led to the recovery of a stolen Activa within two hours of the theft report, followed by the seizure of narcotic pills in two separate cases. The operations were conducted under the supervision of Jasrup Kaur Bath, SP (Investigation). Surinder Pal Dhogadi, DSP Kartarpur, , along with SI Balbir Singh, SHO, Maqsudan and his team. In the first operation, a stolen Activa was recovered. In two separate operations near Nangal Manohar, police teams intercepted drug peddlers, leading to the recovery of pink-coloured narcotic pills. Three separate FIRs have been registered at Maqsudan. Preliminary investigation indicates possible connections to larger networks. The police are investigating the source and intended recipients of the narcotic pills. The accused will be produced in a local court and their remand will be sought to check their links. “We have a zero-tolerance policy against drugs. Anyone involved in such activities will face strict legal action,” said SSP Khakh, requesting citizens to share information about suspicious activities with the police. SDO booked for causing 4 decades on, justice eludes Nakodar firing victims’ families death by negligence Tribune News Service PHAGWARA,FEBRUARY 3 The Mehatpur police have booked sewerage board SDO, its contractor and a tractor trolley driver for causing death by negligence. Investigating Officer (IO) Gurnam Singh said the accused have been identified as Sandeep Kumar, SDO, a resident of Mehatpur, Gourav contractor, a resident of Mehatpur, and Sukhwindar Singh, alias Sukh Baba, a resident of Baloki village. Arwindar Kumar, a resident of Mohalla Khurampur, Mehatpur, complained to the police that he was returning home on his motorcycle on January 1 evening and his son Yuvraj (13) and nephew Mohit (11) were riding pillion. When they reached near a super store on the Parjian road, they saw a tractor trolly, overloaded with sugarcanes, was running slow- ly as the road was deeply dug for sewer lines. The complainant said he parked his motorcycle on the left side of the road and when the trolley reached there it fell into a deep trench and sugarcanes fell on them. Residents rushed them to a private clinic from where they were referred to hospital. His son died on the way to Jalandhar. Arwindar Kumar said the accident occurred due to deep trenches in the road which was the negligence of the sewerage board, its contractor and tractor driver and action should be taken against them. A case under Section 106 (causing death by negligence ) 125,125- A (causing grievous hurt) 324 (mischief) and 285 (danger or obstruction in public way) of the BNS has been registered against the accused. — OC Jalandhar, February 3 Thirtynine years have passed since extra-judicial killings of four youths had occurred while they were protesting over a sacrilege issue in Nakodar, governments have not done much to ensure justice to their families. While the parents of Harminder Singh, Baldhir Singh and Jhilman Singh Gorsian have not lived since, Ravinder Singh Littran’s father Baldev Singh and mother Baldip Kaur have continued their fight till today and hold events in their memories. They continue to write to the Chief Minister, Governor, President of India, MLAs and MPs on what they call ‘Saka Nakodar’ but to their dismay, the government has failed to act on the findings of the Justice Gurnam Singh inquiry report. On February 4, 1986, four Kin of the youths who died at Nakodar in 1986 at Punjab Press Club in Jalandhar. PHOTO: MALKIAT SINGH unarmed Sikh students in Nakodar had been shot dead. They were seeking a probe into the incident in which miscreants had set afire five saroops of Guru Granth Sahib at Gurdwara Guru Arjan Sahib and Mohalla Guru Nanakpura. As per the claims of the families, the post-mortems were conducted on the night of February 4–5 and the police cremated all four bodies in a c m y b single pyre using kerosene, wrongly declaring them “unclaimed and unidentified.” At the time when the alleged atrocity occurred, the SSP Jalandhar, was Izhar , Alam and Darbara Singh Guru was the acting Deputy Commissioner during the tenure of Akali Dal Chief Minister Surjit Singh Barnala. Baldev Singh said, “I have written to CM Bhagwant Mann eight times on the issue.” He gave eight dates, September 25, 2022; January 8, 2023; February 24, 2023; December 10, 2023; January 27, 2024; June 21, 2024; December 10, 2024 and January 8, 2025. “Till date no action has been taken. While in the Opposition, AAP promised action. But now in power, they have remained silent—just like the previous governments of the Akali Dal-BJP and Congress. , This prolonged inaction has deepened our anguish and our wait for justice. But we will not give up”. He said, “The full report remains undisclosed”, and gave a sequence of incidents post the killings, “On February 5, 1986, Finance Minister Balwant Singh Thind announced an inquiry led by retired High Court Justice Gurnam Singh, whose report was submitted to the state government on October 31, 1986. The report should have been tabled in the Assembly for discussion, followed by an Action Taken Report (ATR) within six months. Yet, nearly four decades later, it remains undiscussed and no ATR has been issued. On March 5, 2001, CM Parkash Singh Badal presented part 1 of the report in the Assembly without debate and no perpetrators have been held accountable.” Justice seems increasingly elusive. Baldev Singh launched a sit-in, later joined by MLAs Wadala, Minhas, Thammanwal and Takhat Shri Keshgarh Sahib Jathedar Giani Harcharan Singh Ji Mohalon, demanding a judicial inquiry. The case got some push after similar incident at Bargari in 2015. The families obtained Part 1 of the Justice Gurnam Singh Commission report with support from AAP leaders HS Phoolka, Kanwar Sandhu, Harpal S Cheema and Kultar S. Sandhwan. This enabled Baldev Singh to petition the High Court, where the state attorney general’s office later revealed that Part 2 of the report had been removed or destroyed from official records. A second petition was sought to investigate this disappearance. A SIT was formed under the SSP , Jalandhar Rural, in May 2023.