27052025-ATR-01.qxd 5/26/2025 10:44 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 37°C | MIN 24°C YESTERDAY MAX 36°C | MIN 25°C MINISTER ETO LAYS STONE OF ROAD PROJECTS RESIDENTS RAISE ALARMS OVER RISING DRUG ABUSE AYUSHMANN GEARS UP FOR FIRST BIG DIWALI RELEASE Harbhajan Singh ETO laid the stone of road construction projects worth around Rs 3.5 cr in Jandiala. P2 Residents have identified a location in locality, which, they allege has become a hotspot for drug trafficking. P2 Ayushmann is thrilled to have his first Diwali film as it marks a milestone moment in his glittering career. P4 » » » SUNSET TUESDAY 7.12 PM SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 5.24S AM TUESDAY | 27 MAY 2025 | AMRITSAR Amritsar Focal point industrialists demand infrastructure improvements in area Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 26 With the focal point in the city selected to be revamped, industrialists of the area are elated and expect to get quality infrastructure in the area. Following the instructions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and Jivanjot Kaur, MLA, Amritsar East assembly constituency, a meeting was organised by officials of the municipal corporation with members of the Focal Point Industrial Welfare Association here recently. Recently, the government decided to develop five focal points in Punjab as modern focal points, and Amritsar’s old focal point is one of them. During the meeting, the association put forth demands, including replacement of old street light poles, construction of a new approach road from the backside of plots 165 to 435, devel- Law & order situation poor in Punjab, says Majithia Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 26 Senior SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Monday visited the house of Harjinder Singh, alias Baman, Jandiala Guru councillor of SAD, who was shot dead by armed assailants in broad daylight in Chheharta area on Sunday. He expressed his condolences with the bereaved family and also condemned the incident. He condemned the AAP government for the poor law and order situation prevailing in Punjab. He demanded action against the cops who failed to take timely action on the complaints submitted by Harjinder Singh who had also urged the police to ensure his and his family’s safety and security. It is pertinent to mention here that AAP minister Kuldeep Dhaliwal and SSP (Amritsar Rural) Maninder Singh had stated that the victim and his family had never approached the police for protection or security. Addressing mediapersons, he said the police were terming the brutal murder as a case of gang rivalry. “How the Harjinder was involved in this socalled gang rivalry, the police should clarify,” he pointed out. “Now the police claimed to have solved the murder within hours, but where the police were when Harjinder was attacked on February 19. The same persons fired at his residence for seven minutes but the police did nothing despite repeated pleas to the concerned SHO,” he asserted while showing the video clips of the firing and attacks at the house of the victim. Had the police acted promptly and taken action on numerous complaints submitted by Harjinder, he would have been alive today, he said. Meanwhile, AAP’s minister Kuldeep Dhaliwal, while terming the incident tragic and unacceptable, said the accused would be brought to justice. Meanwhile, another AAP leader Baltej Singh Pannu, while condemning the incident, slammed Majithia for politicizing the incident for his gains. The old focal point in Amritsar cries for official attention. opment of green belts, requirement of gardeners for maintaining green belts, dedicated bucket machine for regular cleaning of drains, dedicated tractor for sucking water from drains, four big signboards with focal point maps, small signboards indicating plot numbers for each lane, installation of cat eyes, thermoplastic lines, speed breakers, 50 new CCTV cameras, plants for green belts, 500 tree guards with plants, big dustbins for roads, highmast lights and three gates. They also urged the MC officials to complete the pending civil works and initiate sewer cleaning with a super sucker machine before the onset of the rainy season. Sundeep Khosla of the association said a new PSPCL sub-station and a Fire Brigade station have already been announced by the Chief Minister and an old building of Punjab State Industrial Export Corporation (PSIEC) is in a shambles. A Fire Brigade station was sanctioned decades ago and a piece of land measuring 1,840 square yards has been lying unused. Another piece of land measuring 6,000 square yards for setting up a substation of PSPCL is also lying unused. Evading arrest for over year, drug peddler held with pistol Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 26 The Islamabad police have arrested a drug peddler, identified as Lakhwinder Singh, alias Fauji, a resident of Nure Shah Wali Gali, and recovered Rs 11 lakh of drug money and a Glock pistol from his possession. He had been evading arrest in connection with a drug and Arms Act case registered at the Islamabad police in December 2023. Till now, the police have confiscated 22.5 kg heroin, Rs 23 lakh of drug money, and seven pistols with 19 bullets of different calibre from 17 persons. Besides, the police had also recovered a drone, three computer scales and four luxury cars in the case. Additional Deputy Com- The accused in custody of the police in Amritsar on Monday. missioner of Police Vishaljit Singh said the accused was hiding in a residential flat in Kharar. “The police seized the drug money and the pistol during the search of the flat,” said the ADCP He said further . investigations were on and more arrests are expected. Lakhwinder had two criminal cases, including the NDPS Act and the Arms Act, against him. Giving details, he said earlier, the police had arrested Sandeep Singh, alias Ladi, of Guru Ki Wadali and Roshan Singh of Gharinda and the Amritsar rural police had seized 19 kg heroin, seven pistols along with nine magazines, Rs 23 lakh of drug money, cash counting machine, drone controller, two computer scales, seven phones and a car from them. During their interrogation, the police had nominated Lakwhinder Singh Fauji in the case while the police had seized 3.5 kg heroin and three more luxury cars, besides arresting 15 more smugglers in the case till now. Lakhwinder had gone underground and been evading arrest. Now he was arrested from Kharar following intelligence inputs. Amritsar airport achieves record monthly, KMSC, Benwalipur farmers protest each other over power supply annual passenger traffic in FY 24-25 Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 26 The Amritsar airport has achieved a record passenger traffic, on both monthly and annually basis, if the comprehensive analysis of the passenger traffic data of Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport, Amritsar, is to go by. The analysis is based on the Airports Authority of India’s (AAI) published data for March 2025, which confirms that the financial year 2024–25 has been the most successful in the airport’s history. The Amritsar airport closed the financial year FY2024-25 with a record 3.54 million (35,42,880) passengers, a 14.8 per cent increase over 3.08 million (30,85,598) in FY202324. This includes both domestic and international travellers and marks a major milestone for Punjab’s primary international gateway. In March 2025 alone, the airport handled 343,384 total passengers, comprising 231,756 domestic and 111,628 international travelers. This marks an 8.5 per cent increase in total traffic compared to 316,495 passengers in March 2024. Domestic traffic rose by 6.6 per cent while Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport in Amritsar. international traffic grew by 12.8 per cent compared to the same month last year. It surpasses the previous record set in December 2024, when the airport handled 231,699 domestic and 340,408 total passengers. The FlyAmritsar Initiative, led by its Global Convener Sameep Singh Gumtala, said, “This is the highest-ever monthly total and domestic passenger traffic recorded in the airport’s history.” Gumtala also pointed out an interesting trend. “Despite the growth in domestic passengers in March 2025, domestic aircraft movements decreased by 3.8 per cent, from 1,487 in March 2024 to 1,430 this year. “This suggests higher passenger loads per flight, reflecting increased operational efficiency on domestic routes. This is a proud Prolonged closure of gates at rly crossing irks commuters Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 26 Commuters are fed up with the Railways as the gates at the railway crossing on the Jhabal road are not swiftly opened after the passage of a train. They say that the gates are kept closed for as long as 20 minutes or for a longer duration on occasions, which is unbearable in the scorching heat. They even made a video of the problem and sought help from the authorities concerned to intervene and ensure that the gates at the railway crossing are opened as early as possible. While going from Gate Khazana towards Jhabal village on Monday, the gates at the railway crossing were closed and a train passed the crossing at around 1 pm. Commuters claimed that the gates at the railway crossing should not be opened after a couple of minutes of the passage of the train. However, they said prolonged closure (say for 26 minutes) of the gates made them suffer in the afternoon when the sun was emitting blistering heat. People made a video of the traumatic experience and uploaded it on social media, which became viral in no time. c m y b moment for the Amritsar airport and the region,” he said. The consistent growth in passenger footfall highlights Amritsar’s emerging role as a major air hub in Northern India — not only for domestic traffic but for international connectivity as well. The airport is currently connected with 10 international destinations, which are Dubai, Sharjah, Doha, London Gatwick, Birmingham, Milan, Rome, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok. Yogesh Kamra, convener (India), FlyAmritsar Initiative, said a large share of domestic traffic to and from Delhi is composed of international transit passengers bound for Amritsar, reinforcing the need to expand direct international flight options. “Despite this continued growth, the airport still lacks basic public transport services by the Punjab Government, such as a dedicated bus connection to the city or other major cities in Punjab. Instead of initiating this much-needed service, the state government seems more focused on promoting and expanding bus connectivity from Punjab cities to the Delhi airport,” he said. Deputy Chief Engineer Mohtam Singh assures KMSC activists of protecting their interests in Tarn Taran on Monday. PHOTO: GURBAXPURI Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, May 26 Tension prevailed when residents of Benwalipur village and workers of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee came face to face over granting of power supply from the 66 kVA sub-station at Rasulpur here on Monday. They also staged dharnas in front of the Circle Office of Powercom here on Monday. A heavy police force was deployed by the administration to prevent any untoward incident. The workers of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, mostly farmers, were demanding not to supply power to the farmers of Benwalipur. On the other hand, residents of Benwalipur were adamant on getting power supply from the Rasulpur sub-station. Satnam Singh Manochahal, district president of KMSC, said as the sub-station is already overloaded, it must create disruption in power supply with the additional supply load. On the contrary, the farmers of Benwalipur village, led by the sarpanch, were demand- ing to provide power supply from the Rasulpur sub-station as it was nearer to them. Both the sides shouted against each other on many occasion. Leaders of the KMSC in their respective addresses alleged that Cabinet Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar was supporting the demand of the Benwalipur residents. Deputy Chief Engineer Mohtam Singh, while assuring both the sides, said before taking any step on the issue, interests of all the concerned must be considered to avoid trouble to anyone.