28022025-JTR-01.qxd 2/27/2025 11:29 PM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune EFFORTS BY ARMY TO CURB DRUG MENACE IN GURDASPUR IMTIAZ ALI SET TO CREATE THE SERIES O SAATHI RE PANKAJ UDHAS’ TRACK DEBUTS ON HIS FIRST DEATH ANNIV The Army along with the Red Cross recently organised an awareness camp at a school. P2 Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali is set to reunite with Netflix for O Saathi Re, a romantic drama series starring Aditi Rao. P4 On singer Pankaj Udhas’ first death anniversary, his final track, Baithi Ho Kyun Gumsum, has been released. P4 » » FORECAST CLOUDY MAX 24°C | MIN 15°C YESTERDAY MAX 26°C | MIN 17°C SUNSET FRIDAY 6.25 PM SUNRISE SATURDAY 6:54 AM » FRIDAY | 28 FEBRUARY 2025 | JALANDHAR Teachers burn effigy of minister over salary cut, OPS Tribune News Service Jalandhar, February 27 On a call by the Sanjha Adhyapak Morcha and the Democratic Teachers’ Front, hundreds of teachers today burnt the effigy of Education Minister Harjot Bains and raised slogans against the government amid rain. Addressing teachers gathered in front of the Phillaur Tehsil Complex, state convener of the Joint Teachers’ Front Surinder Kumar Puari, district conveners Karnail Phillaur and Avtar Mehsampur said employees, farmers, labourers and students had high hopes from the government, but the hopes of all sections were dashed. The government formed with two agendas, education and health, has pushed Punjab backward in both sectors, they said. The Education Minister even after calling teachers’ meeting, and agreeing to their demands was now backing out. After the block tehsillevel effigy-burning protests, a huge rally would be held at Anandpur Sahib on March 8, union members added. They said the salary cut letter of PTIs/Arts and Crafts teachers should be withdrawn, all vacant posts in the promotions of lecturers and master cadres should be highlighted and station selection should be conducted again; computer teachers should be shifted to the Education Department instead of the PICTE Society; salary revision and dearness allowance should be implemented; anti-teacher rules of 2018 should be repealed; Education Policy 2020 should be repealed and Punjab’s education policy should be formed; the salary cut letter of teachers who participated in the national strike of February 16, 2024, should be withdrawn; the old pension scheme should be restored; taking various nonacademic work from teachers, including BLO, should be stopped immediately; work of transfers should be completed before the new session; the transfer portal for special categories should be opened every month. Jaspal Sandhu, Kavish Walia, Rupesnar Garha, Lekh Raj Punjabi, Jasdeep Singh, Harish Kumar, Jagjit Singh Randhawa, Vishal Saini, Rajwinder Singh, Jasvir Singh, Kamal Sharma, Balvir Kumar, Rishi Raj, Sukhwinder Ram, Kamal Bhardwaj, Rakesh Kumar, Jagsir, Deepak Kumar, Jatinder Moga, Madam Sita, Pawan Kumar, Surjit Singh, Satwinder Singh and Sukesh Kumar were present. Open city manholes pose threat to commuters Tribune News Service Jalandhar, February 27 Open manholes at various locations in the city are posing a serious threat to commuters, with passersby at high risk of accidents while navigating the roads. The negligence of the Municipal Corporation (MC) authorities in addressing the issue has raised widespread concerns among locals. A tour to different areas of the city reveals that several sewerage manhole covers were removed for desilting but never replaced. Manholes with either broken or no covers are visible across various localities, including main roads and bustling markets. Among the worst-affected areas are Pratap Bagh, the vicinity of the railway station, Transport Nagar and Maqsudan Chowk, where missing or improperly placed covers are creating inconvenience for commuters. The danger intensifies during rainfall as submerged manholes become nearly invisible, endangering pedestrians and drivers alike. The rainfall in the city has further heightened these risks, sparking public outrage. Resident Vinay Kumar urged the authorities to act The vehicle, that was damaged in a firing between the police and four youths near Tootomajra on Hoshiarpur-Chandigarh road. Youth hurt in firing with cops, 4 held Our Correspondent An open manhole in Maqsudan Chowk, Jalandhar. PHOTO: SARABJIT SINGH swiftly. “The city received rain today and the forecast suggests more rain in the coming days. The authorities must address these issues promptly to prevent serious accidents,” he said. Parveen Kumar, a vendor at Maqsudan Chowk, echoed similar concerns. “These open manholes are a grave danger, Undeterred by rain especially when the roads are waterlogged. A major accident can happen if drivers fail to spot missing or raised manhole covers. The authorities should conduct regular checks and fix the damaged covers without delay,” he said. Commuters are demanding immediate intervention by the civic body to replace Three women among 4 ‘drug peddlers’ nabbed Tribune News Service Jalandhar, February 27 The Jalandhar Rural Police have arrested four persons, including three women, with multiple narcotics cases, seizing 150 etizolam tablets and 49 tramadol tablets during a special operation in Phillaur. The accused have been identified as Dharminder Singh of Meowal village, who was running an unlicensed medicine shop at Landhra village; Jyoti of Ganna village; Preeti of Magopatti village and Monika of Samari village. SSP Harkamal Preet Singh Khakh said the regular opera- Students on way to their school amid rain in Jalandhar on Thursday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: SARABJIT SINGH Revenue Dept official caught taking ~8,000 Hoshiarpur, February 27 A team of the Vigilance Bureau (VB) has caught the reader of the naib tehsildar of Hoshiarpur today red-handed accepting a bribe of Rs 8,000 for sending possession report to the DC office. The accused has been identified as Alok, a Revenue Department employee posted as a reader to naib tehsildar. A spokesperson of the VB said the complainant had approached the Vigilance and informed it. The report of the possession was to be sent to DC office but the accused reader sought Rs 10,000 for sending the report to the office. Later, he reportedly agreed to do it for Rs 8,000. After the initial investigation, a Vigilance team laid a trap. The team nabbed the accused in the presence of two official witnesses red-handed while taking the bribe. — OC missing covers and repair broken ones. “The lack of timely action by the MC has left us vulnerable, turning the city’s roads into accident hotspots”, they added. They also called for the increased vigilance and regular inspections to prevent such hazards, particularly during the rainy days. Mahilpur, February 27 A person was injured in a firing between youths in a vehicle and an intelligence team of the police near village Tootomajra on the Hoshiarpur-Chandigarh road on Thursday evening around 4 pm. He was admitted to the Civil Hospital, Mahilpur. The police have arrested four youths, including one injured, in the vehicle. After this incident, panic has spread in the area. When the police stopped the vehicle coming from Hoshiarpur, which was being chased by the intelligence department team, the youths sitting in the vehicle opened tions were being conducted against drugs as part of an intensified anti-drug campaign executed by a Phillaur police station team under SP (Investigation) Jasrup Kaur Bath, and DSP Sarwan Singh Bal. “What makes this case particularly concerning is the involvement of repeat offenders and an illegal chemist selling medicines,” said Khakh. He added Inspector Sanjeev Kapur, who led the operation, intercepted a van during a special checkpoint on February 26, recovering 199 tablets. “The investigation uncovered that Dharminder Singh was supplying medicines without any licence. We’ve already notified the Health Department to take separate action against this illegal operation,” Khakh said. Most alarming is the extensive criminal history of the female suspects. Jyoti has seven previous NDPS Act cases registered against her between 2016 and 2024, demonstrating persistent involvement in narcotics despite multiple arrests. A case under Sections 22-6185 of the NDPS Act has been registered at Phillaur. The police have also seized the vehicle (PB-15-F-3424) used in the commission of the crime. fire on the police and tried to flee in the vehicle. The police fired in retaliation due to which the tires of the vehicle got burst and the youth left the vehicle at Tootomajra bus stand. They tried to flee towards the village to escape. SP , Hoshiarpur, Sarabjit Singh Bahia and other police officers reached the spot and the area was cordoned off and searched. Sources say that all four youths were arrested, including an injured youth. He was admitted to the Civil Hospital. The police did not share details, saying that a press release would be issued soon. Bahia said the accused were related to the Ladi Bahjjlan gang. Search operation was on in the area. Two held for drug peddling Our Correspondent Phagwara, February 27 The Bilga police have arrested two ‘drug peddlers’ on the charge of selling intoxicated tablets. SHO Palwindar Singh said 198 tablets (loose) were recovered from the possession of the accused identified as Manjit Singh, alias Rinku of Talwann village and Ranjit Singh, alias Ranna, of Sangowal village. The SHO said a case under Sections 22/61/85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against the accused. Illegal firearms ‘Olympics of Doaba’ kickstarts 45 challaned, six racket busted in bikes impounded Phagwara, 3 held for traffic violations Tribune News Service Our Correspondent Phagwara, February 27 In a major crackdown on illegal arms, the police, headed by Phagwara SP Rupinder Kaur Bhatti, have arrested three persons and seized a cache of firearms in Phagwara. SSP Gaurav Toora said here today the arrested persons were identified as Nishant Raj of village Gussia Khurad (Bihar), presently residing near Law Gate, Miherru, Ashutosh of Mujjaffarpur (Bihar), presently residing in Green Valley near Law Gate, and J Mani Ratanam also of Mujjafarpur, presently residing at Maherru. SP Bhatti said the police had recovered two 7.65 MM pistols with 12 cartridges, one .32 bore revolver with three cartridges and two empty cartridges. Senior police officials stated that the operation was part of the ongoing efforts to curb illegal arms trafficking in the region. “The recovery of these firearms is a significant step in maintaining law and order. We remain committed to ensuring the safety of the public and will continue taking strict action against criminal networks,” said Toora. The authorities are now investigating the possible links between the arrested individuals and larger arms smuggling networks. Further arrests are expected as the probe continues. Nawanshahr, February 27 The 28th Purewal Games of Hakimpur, known as the Olympics of Doaba, began today. The games that have been organised by the Purewal brothers and Purewal Sports Club for the last three decades, started at the Niranjan Singh Memorial Stadium, Jagatpur-Hakimpur. It includes kabaddi, wrestling and athletics. Due to rain, wrestling competitions were shifted from Jagatpur to the indoor multipurpose hall of Amardeep Shergill Memorial College, Mukandpur. Competitions were held for the titles of Punjab Kumar, Satar-e-Hind and Mahabharat Kumari in wrestling in the indoor hall. Wrestlers from different parts of India as well as Canada and Iran have come for the seven wrestling titles with prizes of lakhs of rupees. Due c m y b Wrestling players participate in the ongoing 28th Purewal games of Hakimpur, known as the Olympics of Doaba, in Nawanshahr. to rain, it was decided to postpone the all-open kabaddi competition and hold it later, the date of which will be announced later. The games were inaugurated by Punjab Warehouse Corporation Chairman and MLA from Banga Dr Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi. Sukhi said the contribution made by the Purewal family in the field of sports for a long time is commendable. “With these efforts, Punjab will again become the number one state in sports in the country,” he said. Chief organiser Gurjit Singh Purewal said the winners would be honoured with trophies in addition to cash prizes worth lakhs of rupees. Jalandhar, February 27 The Commissionerate Police, Jalandhar, has intensified its campaign against eve-teasing and traffic violations by conducting a special drive at sensitive locations in the city. The operations were carried out between February 21 and February 25 under the leadership of ACP North Rishabh Bhola and ACP Central Nirmal Singh, as part of the department’s efforts to ensure public safety and curb harassment. The drive focused on areas with high footfall of women and students, including Government Girls Senior Secondary School on Ladowali Road and HMV College. The operation was conducted between 12pm and 3pm. A total of 325 vehicles were inspected during the drive, resulting in 45 challans being issued for various traffic violations. The police also impounded six motorcycles for serious infractions. Among the violations, 11 cases of triple riding were reported, while nine riders were found without helmets. Four motorcycles with modified silencers, known for creating noise pollution, were seized. Additionally, seven vehicles without number plates, four cases of underage driving and four violations of black-tinted film use were identified.— TNS