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P4 » » » MAX 42°C | MIN 28°C YESTERDAY MAX 43°C | MIN 25°C SUNSET MONDAY 7.22 PM SUNRISE TUESDAY 5:30 AM MONDAY | 19 MAY 2025 | AMRITSAR Gangster Arjanmanga among 3 booked for extortion, 1 held Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 18 Four days after a shooter of Dubai-based gangster Billa Arjanmanga was injured in a police encounter, the notorious criminal has been booked in yet another extortion case, while one of his accomplices has been arrested by the police. The arrested person has been identified as Deepak Kumar of Navi Abadi, Jandiala Guru. Apart from Arjanmanga, the police also booked Hardev Singh of Thathiara Bazaar in Jandiala in the case. The police authorities said that efforts were on to nab him also. Lovepreet Singh, alias Love, of Sarli Kalan village in Tarn Taran district in his ACCUSED DEMANDED ~50 LAKH Lovepreet Singh of Sarli Kalan village in Tarn Taran district in his complaint lodged at the Jandiala Guru police station alleged that the accused demanded ~50 lakh extortion money from his brother while threatening to kill their family members in case they failed to pay the amount. complaint lodged at the Jandiala Guru police station alleged that the accused demanded Rs 50 lakh extortion from his brother while threatening to kill their family members in case they failed to pay the amount. A case under Section 308 (4), 62, 61 (2) of the BNS was registered in this regard. Lovepreet told the police that on May 10 his younger brother Bhupinder Singh got a call from a foreign number in which the accused identi- fied himself as Arjanmanga and demanded Rs 50 lakh as extortion money. He said that they got afraid and did not respond to the calls thereafter. He said the next day the gangster sent voice recordings from the same number and threatened to kill one of their family member as they were not picking up their phone. He said out of fear they did not tell anyone about this. He said on May 12, Deepak came to their shop and asked Bhupinder about receiving any extortion call. He told him about Arjanmanga. He proposed to mediate and settle the matter for Rs 20 lakh. He said Deepak called Hardev Singh, alias Debu, who made a conference call with Arjanmanga, who then pressured him to pay Rs 20 lakh. Earlier, the gangster through his operatives had fired gunshots outside a garment shop in Jandiala Guru in which a girl worker was injured. The incident occurred on May 3. Four days ago the police arrested the shooter Daljit Singh, alias Billa, of Mahania Kohara village after a brief exchange of fire at Dharad village, while two of their accomplices had already been arrested by the police. Youth dies of ‘drug overdose’ Farmers burn effigies of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Cabinet minister Laljit Singh Bhullar in protest on Sunday. PHOTO: GURBAXPURI Farmers burn effigies of CM, minister over illegal mining Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, May 18 A large number of farmers under the banner of ‘Bundh Bachao Morcha’, and protesting against the frequent mining from the mand area of the Sutlej near Sabhra village, burnt the effigy of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Cabinet minister Laljit Singh Bhullar on Sunday at the dhussi bundh in Sabhra village. The farmers gathered at Gurdwara Sangat Sahib, Sabhra, under the leadership of Balkar Singh, Paramjit Singh and Gurwinder Singh. Sukhwinder Singh Sabhra, state president of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharash Committee, while addressing the protesters condemned the armed men of the mining contractors and the police for allegedly torturing the protesting farmers at Sabhra village a few days back and demanded that a criminal case be registered against the armed men of the contractors and the policemen. He also demanded closure of the mining site in the mand area. The state leader warned that in case those involved were not booked, then the farmers would organise a protest before the office of the DSP Patti, on , May 20. Besides, the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharash Committee will organise a protest in front of the District Administration Complex for an indefinite period from May 21. Other farm leaders too addressed the gathering on the occasion. Amritsar, May 18 Even as the Punjab Government claimed to have eradicated drug menace from majority of the villages in the state, a youth has allegedly died of drug overdose at Basarke village falling in Attari constituency near here. The victim has been identified as Rajinder Singh (30). Some villagers alleged that despite providing information to the police on a regular basis, drug abuse is rampant in the border villages, but still no steps had been taken to check the problem even as all claims made by the state government turned out to be hollow. Sakatar Singh, sarpanch of the village, said Rajinder was hooked on to drugs for a long time now. Though his family members tried to wean him away from drugs, but failed. He is survived by his parents, two sisters and a younger brother. The family belonged to economically weaker section. According to information, yesterday, the victim allegedly consumed some narcotic substance and soon after his condition started to deteriorate. He died on his way to the hospital. Police authorities said that Rajinder was a drug addict, but he had been ill for the past couple of months, which ultimately resulted in his death. — TNS 20-yr-old girl levels molestation charge against two co-workers Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, May 18 A 20-year-old girl, a worker at a brick kiln, has lodged a complaint of physical harassment with the Harike police that has registered a case against the accused after a delay of more than a month. The victim Paramjit Kaur and her supporter, a social worker Baba Heera Singh, said here on Sunday that the accused Jaspal Singh and his brother Pardeep Singh, workers at the same brick kiln, molested her on April 17 when she had gone to fetch drinking water from the tank of the brick kiln. Paramjit Kaur said that she lodged a complaint with the Harike police the same day. She and her supporter Baba Heera Singh said that they had to go to the police station a number of times but the police was stressing on reaching a compromise. Paramjit Kaur alleged that the accused not only molested her but also stole domestic items from her residence. She said that she along with her family members approached the DSP, Patti, but the police was adopting dilly-delaying tactics. She said that the police finally registered a case under section 77 of the BNS on Saturday on molestation charge and mentioned in the FIR that the matter of stealing articles would be investigated and action taken accordingly. Paramjit Kaur and Baba Heera Singh alleged that the police registered a case after a delay of one month with malafide intentions. ASI Rajpal Singh, Investigating Officer (IO), said that a case had been registered after a delay of one month as both the parties had been making efforts to reach a compromise. He said that a case under section 77 of BNS has been registered. c m y b Body of youth found at Tarn Taran village Police with two of the three accused held with 10.2 kg heroin in Amritsar on Sunday. VISHAL KUMAR Drug cartel busted, three nabbed with 10.2 kg heroin Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 18 The Amritsar police have busted yet another transborder drug trafficking cartel and confiscated 10.2 kg heroin and arrested three persons in this connection. One of the accused, identified as Sandeep Singh (30), a resident of Kotli Vasawa Singh border village in Tarn Taran district, has been active in drug peddling for the past six years. Others arrested include Akashdeep Singh (22), a barber, and Akash, alias Mota (19), both residents of Tarn Taran’s Cheema Kalan village. Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said that apart from the heroin haul, police teams also impounded their two motorcycles being used to deliver the contraband. “As per preliminary probe, Akashdeep and Sandeep were in touch with Pakistanbased smugglers for the past six years. The latter were using drones to push in heroin consignments into the Indian territory, which was then being sent to various locations for further distribution,” said the DGP He added . that further investigations were in progress. Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that acting on reliable intelligence inputs, the CIA staff arrested Akashdeep and Akash from Gurdwara Bohri Sahib Road, along with 1.01 kg heroin and a motorcycle. Following their disclosure during interrogation, the police nabbed their accomplice Sandeep Singh from Chabhal Road and seized 9.2 kg heroin and a bike from him. “Sandeep had been involved in supplying heroin since 2018 and is suspected to have smuggled over 200 kg of heroin till now. The police have obtained their remand for further interrogation and efforts were on to uncover their entire cartel,” said Police Commissioner, while adding that more arrests and recoveries were expected in the coming days. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered at the Islamabad police station in this regard. Tarn Taran, May 18 A body was found in some bushes at Naurangabad village near here on Sunday. Nishan Singh of Warana village has identified the body to be that of Paramjit Singh Pamma of the same village. A video in this regard has gone viral on the social media. Atul Soni, Goindwal Sahib DSP has sent a video to this , correspondent, which shows father of the deceased saying that his son left home after beating his mother, demanding money. He said after some time his mobile phone was found to switch off and after that they heard that his body was lying in the bushes of Nauragabad village. In the past father of the victim said that the latter had stolen many items from the house and sold these. Nishan said that Paramjit was his close friend and died of drug overdose. The deceased had returned from abroad some time back. This is second death due to drug overdose in a week as one youth had died at Dhotian village. — OC Paramjit Singh Pamma Alleging inaction, villagers hold protest outside Ajnala police station for 3rd day Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 18 The indefinite protest by residents of villages near Ajnala outside the local police station for action against culprits involved in various criminal activities entered the third day today. A delegation of the protesters held a meeting with senior police officials and apprised them of various incidents in which the police had failed to take action against persons who had committed various criminal activities. The protest was triggered by a recent attack on Naujwan Bharat Sabha district president Jagga Singh and would continue till the police register a case against the culprits under rele- Residents protest outside Ajnala police station on Sunday. vant sections of law, the leaders added. Satnam Singh Ajnala of Jamhoori Kisan Sabha said the case registered against the accused in this case was not under the relevant strict sections. “We have demanded that the accused be booked for attempt to murder and other relevant sections,” he said. The protesters are also demanding arrest of an accused who had married a 14year old resident of Dalla Rajputtan village. They are further asking the police to help a local farmer who was beaten up by local goons and stopped from harvesting his crop. Satnam said that there were several cases in the area where the police had allegedly failed to deliver justice under pressure from ‘politically connected’ persons. He added that residents of the area are fed up with the rising crime graph in the area and the recent attack on Jagga Singh was the flashpoint when they decided to fight for justice. He said that criminal elements roam freely in the area even as they have FIRs registered against them in various criminal cases. “This erodes people’s faith in justice system. When poor people have to live in fear of criminals, it is a cause of concern,” said Shamsher Singh Dalla, a local activist.