17022025-ATR-01.qxd 2/16/2025 11:55 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR MAX 25°C | MIN 10°C YESTERDAY MAX 24°C | MIN 10°C GO ABROAD WITH CLEAR AIM TO AVOID DEJECTION HER PEPPY VOICE, INFECTIOUS ENERGY ARE HARD TO MISS THE INDIA’S GOT LATENT ROW REFUSES TO DIE Govt should provide jobs, skill-based training to youths to arrest the trend of illegal migration. P3 Kanika Kapoor calls Gori Hai Kalaiyan 2.0 a vibrant reinterpretation of a beloved number. P4 “Ranveer Allahbadia’s comment was highly disrespectful, just an apology isn’t enough,” say celebrities. P4 » » SUNSET MONDAY 6.18 PM SUNRISE TUESDAY 7:09 AM » MONDAY | 17 FEBRUARY 2025 | AMRITSAR Deportees braved odds, incurred Twobookedforopeningfireat huge debt to finance passage police in Tarn Taran district Gurbaxpuri Tarn Taran, February 16 Yashpal Singh (26), a resident of Patti town, returned home as he was deported by the USA in the second flight from that country as part of US President Donald Trump's policy. Yashpal is one of the three persons from Tarn Taran district, who arrived at Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport in Amritsar, late at night. The other two are Gursewak Singh of Bhail Dhai Wala village and Sukhchain Singh of Thatha (Ghariala) village. All the three were so depressed that none of them was willing to talk to mediapersons on Sunday. Yashpal Singh had to remain in custody of 'donkers' for about 18 months at different places and faced torture from their musclemen daily. He would heave a sigh of relief when his parents paid for his food and other charges to donkers by depositing the money in their accounts, said sources. Gurmeet Singh, father of Yashpal Singh, said the family paid Rs 44 lakh to a Chandigarh-based travel agent in the initial stage, besides other charges which they were forced to pay on the pretext of making payment to donkers to help Yashpal cross over to the USA from Mexico over a period of 18 months. Gurmeet Singh said the family had lost all its precious articles and was buried under debt. He said the agent assured them of taking the payment after Yashpal had crossed over into the USA. He was taken into custody by the US police as soon as he crossed over the border on January 26. Sarabjit Kaur, wife of Sukhchain Singh, a resident of Thatha (Ghriala), said her husband had gone to the UK (England) two and a half years ago, by paying an amount of Rs 22 lakh and gave Rs 20 lakh more to cross the USA border to the travel agent who lured him to settle in the USA. He had to sell his landed property to give the money to agents. Sukhchain Singh is under heavy depression. Similar is the tale of Gursewak Singh of Bhail Dhai Wala, who refused to talk to mediapersons regarding his trouble. The three deportees were taken to their families by the Amritsar police today in the early hours. Heroin, drone seized from border villages Kin of the deceased argue with policemen at the Mahal bypass in Amritsar district on Sunday. Youth succumbs to gunshot injuries Family, relatives hold protest, accuse police of inaction Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 16 Two days after a youth was shot at in Mahal village by two bike- borne persons, the victim identified as Mandeep Singh succumbed to injuries at a hospital today. Agitated over this, his family members and relatives held a demonstration, after keeping body of the deceased on the Mahal village bypass on the Amritsar-Attari road on Sunday. They were protesting against alleged inaction of the police in arresting accused. Lakhwinder Singh Kaler, Deputy Superintendent of Police, reached the spot and pacified agitators while assuring to arrest accused soon. On Thursday night, the victim was standing outside his house along with his father when armed assailants shot at him. On the statement of Baldev Singh, father of the victim, the police booked Akashdeep Singh, alias Kasi and David Masih of Baba Jeewan Singh Nagar on Ram Tirath Road here. Baldev Singh told the police that he along with his son Mandeep and nephew Manpreet Singh were standing outside their house when two scooter-borne persons with covered faces came there. The accused shot at his son which hit his chest. He was immediately rushed to a hospital while the accused fled from the spot. He suspected that Akashdeep and David Masih were behind murderous attack on his son. Sarwan Singh, a relative of the deceased, said the accused had earlier also fired gunshots at the victim and his family members. The police had registered a case of attempt to murder at that time also, but failed to arrest accused. Yesterday, people nabbed three accused and handed them over to the police. However, they were released by the police again. Amritsar, February 16 Two drug peddlers have been arrested and over 3 kg of heroin and drone seized in a joint operation by the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Anti-Narcotics Task Force The BSF in collaboration with the ANTF conduct, ed a raid at an alleged drug peddler’s house leading to the seizure of two packets of heroin with a gross weight of 1.56 kg from the area adjacent to Chak Bal village. The accused was arrested and handed over to the ANTF for further interrogation. In another operation, the BSF observed drone movement in Tarn Taran area. The BSF also saw a suspect roaming in the drone-dropping zone who had come there to retrieve the consignment. The BSF apprehended the suspect and recovered two packets of heroin with gross weight of 1.095 kg and a mobile phone from him. The apprehended accused was a juvenile of Dal village in Tarn Taran. The BSF also seized a drone with a packet of narcotics weighing around 550 gm from Roranwala Khurd village. — TNS Polling for Tarn Taran MC to be held on March 2 Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, February 16 Gangsters involved in an encounter with the city police on Saturday night in which an ASI Baldev Singh was injured have been booked. One of the gangsters, who was injured in the firing by the police party, has been admitted at the local Civil Hospital. Giving information regarding the encounter on Saturday evening, Inspector Harjinder Singh , SHO, city police, said the police got information that a historysheeter Lalla Singh of the local Muradpur locality along with his associates were making a plan to commit some crime near the local grain market. After receiving tip-off a police party raided on the The office of the Municipal Council in Tarn Taran. PHOTO: GURBAXPURI The DEO said Arwinderpal Singh, SDM, Tarn Taran, had been appointed as the nodal officer for the election. The MC has 25 wards with 63 booths situated in safe buildings complexes. In all, there are 56,600 voters, including 28,992 men, 27,603 women and five third-gender, in Tarn Taran. Harjinder Singh Sandhu, District Development and Panchayat Officer (DDPO), Tarn Taran, has been appointed Returning Officer (RO) for Ward No. 1 to 13, and Ravinder Singh, SDO, Panchayati Raj, as the Assistant Returning Officer. Candidates from these wards can file their nomination papers at the District Rural Development Bhawan near the Police Lines. Robinjit Kaur, Tehsildar, Tarn Taran, has been appointed Returning Officer (RO) for Ward No. 14 to 25 along with Iqbal Singh, Naib Tehsildar, Patti, as Assistant Returning Officer. Aspirants from these wards can file their nomination papers at the Tarn Taran SDM office. Other information for the general public is available at the district website https://tarntaran.nic.in/. c m y b spot. Lalla Singh along with his associates opened fire at the police party and managed to escape from the spot. In self- defence firing by the police party, gangster Jagjit Singh Jagga was injured and detained. ASI Baldev Singh, who was injured in the firing, was admitted to a local private hospital. The gangsters were booked under Sections 109 and 111 of the BNS and Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act in this connection. Contractor alleges fraud by officials of Ranjit Sagar Dam in allotment of tender Ravi Dhaliwal Tribune News Service Pathankot, February 16 A Pathankot-based contractor has claimed that Ranjit Sagar Dam (RSD) officials have given a tender for lifting river bed material (RBM) to a firm in gross violation of the norms thereby defrauding the state exchequer of crores of rupees. Owners of the company M/s Gurbaaz Singh Sidhu claimed that their company had been allotted work on February 29 last year to lift RBM, including gravel, from the RSD premises at the rate of Rs 13.50 per cubic feet (CFT) which was also the reserve price. The tender was for one full year. Subsequently, the company had deposited Rs 3.42 crore in various forms of security with the dam authorities. RSD floats tenders so that firms can lift RBM from the dam’s premises. Firms then 3,200 tablets of Pregabalin seized Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, February 16 On the instructions of the State Election Commission, Deputy Commissioner-cumDistrict Election Officer (DEO) Rahul has released the election schedule for the local Municipal Council (MC). Elections for the MC will be held after a gap of 10 years. Previous civic body polls were held on February 25, 2015, during the SAD-BJP rule. In schedule released by Rahul, the DEO the filing of nomination papers would start from Monday (February 17) from 11 am to 3 pm every day and would continue till February 20 except on holiday. On February 21, nomination papers would be scrutinised. The last date for withdrawal of nomination papers would be February 22. The date of polling has been fixed on March 2 on Sunday from 7 am to 4 pm. The counting of votes would be held on the same day after the end of the polling process. The model code of conduct would come into force in the area falling under the MC’s jurisdiction on Monday. Policemen shift gangster Jagjit Singh Jagga, who was injured in an encounter, to a hospital in Tarn Taran. Amritsar, February 16 The Amritsar (Rural) police have arrested a man with 3200 Pregabalin capsules which are banned by the administration across Punjab due to its misuse by drug addicts. The accused was identified as Satnam Singh, a resident of Mehta. He released on bail as this drug does not come under the ambit of the NDPS Act. A case for violating orders of Deputy Commissioner under Section 223 of the BNS was registered against him. Satnam Singh was caught by residents of Jodhe village led by Sarpanch Daljit Singh. SubInspector Sardool Singh, investigating officer, said they caught him red-handed with the banned drug. Preliminary investigation revealed that Satnam was a farmer by profession and recently entered into the illegal trade. He received capsules from a man whom he did not recognise. Following directions of the Punjab Government the district administrations across the state banned the sale and stocking of Pregabalin over 75mg after reports of the rampant misuse of the drug came in. — TNS The Ranjit Sagar Dam at Shahpur Kandi in Pathankot district. sell same material at a profit to other parties. Rohandeep Kumar, a spokesman for the company, said even as his tender was yet to complete one year, RSD officials floated another tender which was given to M/s DSF Enterprises which had quoted Rs 5.60 per CFT as the lifting rate. This was much below the reserve price of Rs 13.50 per CFT. He claimed that the authorities concerned violated norms because no firm was allowed to quote a price which was below the reserve price. “If any company wants to quote below the reserve price, then necessary changes should be made in tender documents. In this case, no change was made in documents,” he maintained. Sources reveal that by allotting tender below the reserve price, the state exchequer could face a loss running into crores of rupees. Chief Engineer Sher Singh said there was no question of any firm being given favourable treatment. “Our process of giving the contract is through e-tendering. Everything has been done in a transparent manner. We have not favoured any firm,” he said. The owners of M/s Gurbaaz Singh Sidhu, however, said that the RSD officials were hand in glove with the firm. “The RSD authorities are clearly under political pressure. The truth to come out through an inquiry. The Department of Water Resources should hold a comprehensive probe to separate the truth from the wrongdoing,” said Rohandeep Kumar. Timeless saga of Waris Shah’s Heer comes alive at Khalsa College Amritsar, February 16 A musical event titled — “Naale Rovdan Te Naale Gaavda” — was organised at Khalsa College. The event was held in collaboration with the Departments of Music and Punjabi and sponsored by Punjab Kala Parishad, Chandigarh, and the Language Department, Punjab. Dr Mahal Singh, Vice-Chancellor, Khalsa University, Dr Arvinder Kaur Kahlon, acting principal of Khalsa College, Dr Atam Singh Randhawa, head, Punjabi Department, and Swarnjit Singh Savi, Director, Punjab Kala Parishad, Chandigarh, along with other dignitaries were present on the occasion. Addressing audience on the occasion, Dr Randhawa, explained that this grand festival was dedicated to Punjab’s literary and cultural renaissance, honouring Mahinder Singh Randhawa, late Dr Surjit Singh Patar and to mark the International Mother Language Day. He emphasised that Waris Shah, a celebrated poet of Punjabi literature, needs no special introduction. Puran Chand Wadali performs at Khalsa College in Amritsar. “His composition, Heer, is an inseparable part of Punjabi heritage and is ingrained in the linguistic and cultural consciousness of Punjabis. The tale of Waris Shah’s Heer is deeply ingrained in the Punjabi language as speech itself. It has been presented through Punjabi music in various styles over the time, yet its essence has never faded. On the contrary, it has continued to shine even more brilliantly,” said Dr Randhawa. Swarnjeet Singh Savi, while expressing concern over the contemporary issues facing Punjab, shared his thoughts on the changing trends in Punjabi music. Presenting the verses of Waris Shah’s Heer and the poetry of Surjit Patar, Aman Sufi, a Punjabi singer, mesmerised the audience with her unique singing style. Puran Chand Wadali, a legendary figure in Punjabi and Sufi music, enchanted the audience with his rendition of Waris Shah’s Heer. — TNS