08052025-JTR-01.qxd 5/7/2025 11:13 PM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune THE INSPIRING JOURNEY OF HOSHIARPUR'S BURGER CHACHU UNCHECKED DEVELOPMENT FUELS GARBAGE WOES IN KAPURTHALA The historic city, adorned with magnificent monuments, is grappling with civic issues again. P3 PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 34°C | MIN 23°C YESTERDAY MAX 35°C | MIN 24°C CELEBS HAIL OP SINDOOR, COURAGE OF ARMED FORCES Sharanjit Singh is a renowned food vendor who began his culinary journey with a simple burger cart. P3 FORECAST Operation Sindoor was the answer we needed — not out of hate, but to protect peace and dignity. P4 » » SUNSET THURSDAY 7.11 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 5:35 AM » THURSDAY | 8 MAY 2025 | JALANDHAR INBRIEF TWO DRUG PEDDLERS HELD Phagwara: The police have arrested a drugs peddler and recovered 33 intoxicating tablets from his possession on Tuesday night. The accused Sahil of Chhajj Colony, Phagwara, was nabbed at a check point in the city. In another case, the police have arrested a drug peddler Ravinder of village Lakhpur and recovered 20 tablets from his possession. The police have also impounded his bike on which he was riding. The police have also registered cases under the NDPS Act. OC TRANSFORMER 'THIEF' ARRESTED Phagwara: The police have arrested a 'thief' on the charge of stealing farmers' transformers. The accused has been identified as Dilpreet Singh of Mohalla Vikas Nagar, Shahkot. Arashdeep Singh of Khanpur Rajputan village complained to the police that the accused stole the transformer and motor wires from his land in Saipur village on May 5 . OC 6 'DRUG ADDICTS' ARRESTED Phagwara: The police have arrested three 'drug addicts' on the charge of consuming heroin. The accused have been identified as Rajat of Mohalla Rajputan, Balveer Ram of Gohir village and Balwindar Singh of Mallian Khurd village. Lighters, silver papers and plastic pipes used for consuming contraband were recovered from their possession. Cases under the NDPS Act have been registered against the accused. The Shahkot police arrested three drug addicts, Paramjit Raj Kumar and Harpreet, for consuming heroin. oc MAN HELD UNDER NDPS ACT Phagwara: The Nurmahal police have arrested a drug peddler on the charge of selling heroin. As much as 21 gram of heroin was recovered from the possession of the accused Gurnam Singh of Cheema Bazar, Nurmahal. A case has been registered against the accused. oc TWO POS ARRESTED Phagwara: The Shahkot police have arrested a proclaimed offender (PO) absconding for the last eight years. The accused has been identified as Kuldeep Singh of Malsian village. The accused is wanted in a case of robbery registered in 2017. The Bilga police also arrested PO Mandeep Singh Bhura wanted in a case of murder bid. oc SHOPKEEPER HELD FOR GAMBLING Phagwara: The Lohian Khas police have arrested a shopkeeper for gambling. The accused has been identified as Balwindar Kumar of ward no 9, who was selling lottery tickets illegally in his shop. A case had been registered against the accused. OC Device falls from sky in village house SDRF team jawans participate in a mock drill in a bank at Jalandhar on Wednesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: SARABJIT SINGH Victims evacuated during mock drill Tribune News Service Jalandhar, May 7 The district administration organised a mock drill for the evacuation of victims, who supposedly got trapped in a building following an air strike, at the Cooperative Bank complex near the Punjab Press Club. The drill was held post Operation Sindoor conducted by the defence forces against Pakistan early this morning. The drill was conducted by the joint efforts of the Punjab Police, civil administration, civil defence teams, fire department and health department officials. Through a coordinated movement, the people who were trapped in the building were shown to have been evacuated from the building and taken to the Civil Hospital in an ambulance. SDM Balbir Raj said, “This was a mock drill which was meant only for preparedness. We just needed to build up coordination between various departments so that in the event of any eventuality, there was complete coherance and the affected people could be reached out at the earliest.” Joint Commissioner of Police Sandeep Kumar Sharma and Deputy Commissioner of Police (operations) Naresh Dogra also supervised the drill. Hoshiarpur, May 7 A white-colored cylindrical device has fallen in the courtyard of a person’s house in village Ghagwal in Hajipur. Wires were also coming out from the device. On May 7, around 1:30 am, an unknown device similar to the shape of a water geyser fell from the sky in the courtyard of the house of Ashok Kumar, a resident of Ghagwal. Hearing the sound, not only the people of the house, but also neighbours woke up. People saw a white-colored cylindrical device was lying in the courtyard from which many wires were protruding. Information regarding this was immediately given to the Hajipur police who reached the spot and took the device in their possession. A serial number and ‘Test Port Seeker’ was written on it. The police informed the forensic team and anti-sabotage team for investigation. DSP Kulwinder Singh told this correspondent that in the preliminary investigation, it appeared to be a piece of equipment fallen off from some aircraft. He said after getting the information, a team of the Air Force also reached there and took the device with them. He said probably the device was the data recorder of some aircraft.— OC Op Sindoor Panic buying begins at grocery stores Tribune News Service Jalandhar, May 7 Post Operation Sindoor conducted by the armed forces in the wee hours today and drills for blackout conducted in Jalandhar, residents of the city took to panic buying at supermarkerts and grocery stores on Wednesday. By noon, there were long queues of customers standing with their carts waiting to buy food items and grocery at some supermarkets in the city. People chose to buy items like wheat flour, rice, pulses and other daily use stuff in bulk quantities so that they could store stuff for more than a month. Owing to rush, the buyers said the stores had become suffocating and it took them longer to pick stuff. Sonia, a buyer at the popular D Mart store on the Model Town road, said, “It took me 2.5 hours to purchase the stuff and get the billing done. The store managers put up extra counters too but still it took me an hour in the billing queue. Under normal circumstances, all monthly purchase is done by me within half an hour.” The customers also said some shelves got empty and they could not get all the stuff they wanted to purchase. “There were so many customers inside the store that Women after purchasing grocery items in Jalandhar. TRIBUNE PHOTO: SARABJIT SINGH the staff were not able to get time and space to replace stuff on the shelves. I wanted to buy 20 kg of wheat flour but could get only a 5 kg sack”, said Harbhajan Singh, another buyer. The customers who came around 2 pm found the entrance to the store shut. The shutter of the store was pulled down by the staff as it had become too claustrophobic inside. There was hardly any space available for the SDM WARNS HOARDERS SDM Balbir Raj said, “There is no need for people to panic at this stage. We advise them not to go for stocking up of groceries. We also want to assure them that there is no shortage of ration in the city. We are also warning the hoarders against any illegal stocking and black marketing of items of daily needs.” buyers to move about with their trollies. During this time, the buyers stood in queue patiently for the shutters to be pulled up again. The staff at the store said they had a tough time man- aging more footfall. “We have to keep a check on the number of people entering the store at a given time. So we were closing and opening the store intermittently”, they said. Blackout for hour, people gather on roads Mock drillTraffic, unipole lights remain lit Tribune News Service Jalandhar, May 7 The district administration conducted a one-hour mock blackout drill from 8 pm to 9 pm on Wednesday as part of its preparedness exercise post escalation of tension between India and Pakistan. The PSPCL imposed a power cut a few minutes before the given time. Sirens were also put out which were heard feebly at most places. Before this time, all markets had got shut down. Streetlights were also put out. But traffic lights and lights of unipole hoardings mostly bearing the state government advertisements erroneously remained lit. During the one-hour drill, people did not switch on any lights using inverters or generators. As was seen in Jalandhar Cantonment blackout drill yesterday, people continued to commute on roads with high beam headlights on. Though there were volunteers asking people to switch off their headlights, The blackout mock drill that was conducted in Jalandhar on Wednesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO:MALKIAT SINGH only a few adhered to the directions. A large number of people had come out of their homes to the streets and main intersections to discuss the situation. Deputy Commissioner Dr Himanshu Aggarwal told the public that there is no need to panic as this is just an exercise. He noted that such mock drills are routinely conducted to ensure pre- paredness for emergencies. He also directed that no official should take leave during this time. He further stated that control rooms are being established at both district and sub-divisional levels. The use of drones within the district limits without permission is prohibited. Dr Aggarwal appealed to village and ward security committees to remain alert and help raise awareness in their areas. He also urged residents to report any suspicious individuals to the nearest police station immediately. He warned that strict action will be taken under the law against those spreading false rumours. The Deputy Commissioner instructed the PSPCL to avoid power cuts in emergency service institutions and advised hospitals and emergency units to use electricity only as needed. He also ordered departments to remain prepared for any situation. Civil Defence, NCC, Scouts, and Guides were also asked to be available during emergencies. Police Commissioner Dhanpreet Kaur advised residents to report any suspicious activities to the police or the control room number 112. Additionally, property owners were instructed to report details of tenants to their respective police stations. Meanwhile, he held a meeting with senior officials from departments providing essential services as well as representatives from the NDRF SDRF the Army, BSF , , , Railways, Air Force, and ITBP Present at the meeting . were Police Commissioner Dhanpreet Kaur, Brigadier Sunil Kumar Sohal, Col Ajay Pal Singh, Station Adjutant of Air Force Station Adampur Manoj Kalia, SSP Harvinder Singh Virk, Joint Police Commissioner Sandeep Sharma, Jalandhar Municipal Corporation Commissioner Gautam Jain, Additional DC Jasvir Singh and Buddhi Raj Singh. BJP leader KD Bhandari distributes laddoos in Jalandhar. Sweets distributed by BJP leaders Aparna Banerji Tribune News Service Jalandhar, May 7 Chanting “Bharat Mata ki Jai”, “Indian Army Zindabad” and Vande Matram” slogans with Indian flags in hand, residents and Brahm Akhara leaders today distributed sweets in the wake of precision strikes at nine sites in Pakistan by the armed forces last night under Operation Sindoor. BJP leader KD Bhandari along with members of the Prachin Brahm Akhara Jethu Mal Tara Chand distributed ladoos on Tanda Road in Jalandhar. The key BJP leadership also released a statement lauding the Army’s action within 15 days of the gruesome Pahalgam attacks, which claimed the lives of 26 tourists. BJP leader KD Bhandari said, “This was our gesture to thank the Prime Minister and salute the armed forces for the operation carried out last night to avenge the killings of Pahalgam victims.” BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia said, “The Army has avenged the killing of tourists in Pahalgam. Exercising restraint, India did not attack civilians or military sites in Pakistan. Pakistan has been the epicentre of terrorism.” 6 nabbed for kidnapping, murder of advocate, his woman friend PROCUREMENT TARGET MISSED Ashok Kaura Phagwara: The total purchase of wheat grain by government agencies from farmers reached 3.27 lakh quintals this year, less than the fixed target of 363 lakh quintals in grain markets under the jurisdiction of the Lohian Khas market committee. oc Phagwara, May 7 In a significant breakthrough, the Kapurthala police have solved the sensational kidnapping and blind double murder case of an advocate and his woman friend in Phagwara, arresting six persons, including a con- victed murderer out on parole. The case was cracked within days of registration, highlighting a swift and coordinated response by law enforcement agencies. SSP Gaurav Toora said today that the victims advocate Sanjeev Kumar and Anju Paul were reportedly missing from their flat in AGI Colony, Phagwara, on the night of April 19-20. According to the police, they were abducted at gunpoint by three masked men and taken in a car to a deserted field near Ludhiana, where they were strangled to death. Their bodies were later buried in a remote area near village Chahar in Ludhiana district. c m y b The breakthrough came after Sudesh Kumar, father of the deceased advocate, filed a complaint on April 24. Based on the FIR registered at Sadar Phagwara police station under the BNS and Arms Act, the police launched a multi-agency investigation. SSP Toora said the investigation revealed that the main accused, Harwinder Singh, alias Pinder, a hardened criminal on parole from a life sentence in a 2012 double murder case (involving a police DSP), masterminded the killings. Singh had married Anju Paul in 2019 while serving time in jail and continued to meet her during paroles. The couple had a strained relationship and when Anju began distancing herself and started living with the advocate, Harwinder grew angry. He said Harwinder was also allegedly involved in drug trafficking operations while in jail and relied on Anju’s assistance to obtain bails and paroles in other cases. Her refusal to support him further reportedly led him to conspire with five accomplices to eliminate both Anju and Sanjeev. Following the registration of the case, Toora constituted a special investigation team . The team worked round the clock, using CCTV footage, forensic analysis, electronic surveillance and human intelligence to piece together the crime.