07062025-ATR-01.qxd 6/6/2025 10:57 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST MOSTLY CLEAR SKY MAX 40°C | MIN 27°C YESTERDAY MAX 38°C | MIN 26°C CRACKS IN RENOVATED CANAL ALARM FARMERS DAKOTA JOHNSON STAYS SILENT ON HER BREAKUP SIRSA’S TURBANATOR GOES TO MR. OLYMPIA Farmers of Tarn Taran were a worried lot as a crack appeared in the renovated canal system. P2 American actress Dakota Johnson preferred to stay silent on her recent breakup with Chris Martin. P4 Bodybuilding is yet to get due recognition, says Sunmeet Gill as he prepares for biggest platform. P4 » » » SUNSET SATURDAY 7.17 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 5.22 AM SATURDAY | 7 JUNE 2025 | AMRITSAR Bandh passes off peacefully, no untoward incident reported Near-complete shutdown witnessed in markets, roads wear deserted look Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service The ~13 lakh hawala money in custody of the Amritsar rural police on Friday. Hawala racketeer held, ~13L seized Pawan K Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 6 Following the interrogation of three cross-border weapon smugglers, the special cell of Amritsar rural police have confiscated around Rs 13 lakh of hawala money from a Ludhiana-based racketeer, identified as Bachitar Singh alias Dalpreet Singh of Dugri. Amritsar rural SSP Maninder Singh said that special cell cops had arrested three transnational drugs and weapon smugglers, identified as Fatehbir Singh alias Gandhi, Jagroop Singh alias Lalli and Ranjit Singh alias Kaka, all residents of Vaniyke in Lopoke area on June 1. They were intercepted at a check-point set up on the village Brar and Kohala link road after intelligence input. The police had recovered eight sophisticated weapons including three Glock Gen 43 pistols (9mm), one Glock 26 Gen pistol (9mm), a .30 bore pistol, a PX5 .30 bore pistol, a Zigana pistol, 10 live cartridges of .30 bore calibre, a motorcycle used for transportation of smuggled weapons and three mobile phones from them. He said the police found that the accused were in touch with Pakistan-based notorious weapon smuggler, identified as Rana. The investigations led the police to Bachitar Singh who was handling the finance of the racket through hawala channels. He was in contact with Dubai-based handlers and the hawala money was being routed through the Arab nation. The special staff immediately rushed to Ludhiana and arrested the accused with Rs 12.99 lakh in cash from his possession. More arrests are likely to be made during further investigations, said the SSP . Amritsar, June 6 Following a call given by the Dal Khalsa and other Sikh organisations, the call for Amritsar bandh evoked a complete response as all commercial establishments remained closed while heavy police force was deputed to thwart any untoward incident. All major roads in the city wore a deserted look. SGPC employees and volunteers of Dharam Yudh Morcha besides Dal Khalsa spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh said the pain of the incident was still fresh. The shopkeepers observed a complete bandh till evening after which some traders started opening their shops. The radical outfit, which had given the bandh call, did not force shopkeepers to shut their shops. All city roads characterised On the call for a bandh given by the Dal Khalsa on the occasion of the 41st Operation Bluestar anniversary, a market wears a deserted look in Amritsar on Friday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR for unending flow of traffic, congestion and noise pollution, wore a deserted look as vehicles remained off roads throughout the day. Consequently, routine life was thrown out of gear as main retail markets, including shops and petrol pumps downed their shutters acceding to the bandh call. The bandh passed off peacefully with no untoward incident being reported. Commercial hubs inside the walled city, including the Hall Gate, wholesale textile markets like Katra Ahluwalia, Shastri market, Tahli Wala Bazaar, Pratap Bazaar and nearby streets, were closed. Similarly, stationery items market, Mai Sewa Wala Bazaar, market for gold and silver ornaments, Guru Bazar, Bhandiyan Wala Bazaar, Chaurasti Attari and Batti Hatta were closed. Grain markets like Daal Mandi, Mishri Bazaar, Swank Mandi, Wadi Dhab, Dhab Wasti Ram, Lachchmansar Chowk and surrounding areas were also found completely shut. Markets on the GT road from the Link road outside the railway station up to Chheharta were completely closed. Upscale commercial establishments in the rest of the city were closed, too. A strict police bandobast was in place as constables were deployed in a large numbers to man different parts of the city besides installing barricades on main roads. Around 6,000 personnel of the Punjab Police were deployed in the city. Hundreds continued on page 2 Health Mission MD Pvt firm told to speed up work on project to Armed persons fire visits govt institutions supply water from Upper Bari Doab Canal at house, hospital in separate incidents Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, June 6 Aradhana Patniak, Managing Director, National Health Mission (NHM), along with her team visited a number of governmentrun health institutions and inspected different programmes and the works being run in the health institutions in the district. Ghanshayam Bori, state Managing Director of NHM, Dr Rajesh Bhaskar, State TB Officer, Dr Gurpreet Singh Rai along with other officials of the department accompanied the team of the NHM. Aradhana Patnaik visited the Community Health Centre, CHC, Chabal, besides the Ayushman Arogya Kendra, Gohalwar, and Pandori Ran Singh villages where Patnaik talked to employees of the department and reviewed the health services regarding pharmacy, laboratory, Xray, nursing wing, TB wind, MCH, mother-child wing, etc. Aradhana Patnaik, national MD, NHM, expressed her satisfaction over the services being provided in the governmentrun health institutions. Civil Surgeon Dr Gurpreet Singh Rai informed the National Managing Director that the department was leaving no stone unturned to provide better medical services to patients from health institutions and the department was apprising people of the health services being provided in the health institutions. State-level officials of the department too accompanied the NHM national MD. Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 6 Municipal Corporation (MC) Commissioner Gulpreet Singh Aulakh has issued strict instructions to private firm L&T (Larsen & Toubro) to ensure timely completion of all works under the Punjab Municipal Services Improvement Project (PIMSIP) here yesterday. Chairing a review meeting, the MC Commissioner assessed the current progress of the large-scale urban infrastructure initiative aimed at supplying clean water from the Upper Bari Doab Canal to every household in Amritsar. The PIMSIP project is being implemented by the Municipal Corporation, Amritsar, with financial assistance from the World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The meeting was attended by Project CEO and Additional Commissioner Surinder Singh, project manager Sunny from the corporation, L&T project manager Rahul Patel, senior construction manager Ashwani Sharma, Shiv Kumar Soni, CFO Jatinder Wassal, and other senior officials involved in the project. During the meeting, L&T’s project manager Rahul Patel presented a progress report and stated that repeated instructions had already been given to complete the work on schedule. However, the company is facing a shortage of labour, which is causing delays. MC Commissioner Aulakh expressed concern over the delay and firmly directed L&T to immediately increase the workforce and bring in additional construction machinery and necessary resources. He emphasized that the project Pawan Jaiswar Tribune News Service The MC Commissioner during a meeting with L&T officials in Amritsar on Friday. must be completed within the set timeframe without any further postponements. The MC Commissioner also instructed the company to ensure public safety and convenience at all construction sites across the city. He stressed that barricading, signage, and traffic management must be handled responsibly so that the ongoing works do not pose any inconvenience or risk to local residents. Highlighting future plans, the MC Commissioner mentioned that the municipal corporation is moving towards digital transformation of its services to ensure faster, transparent, and citizenfriendly delivery. Once implemented, these digital services will enable residents to access various civic utilities easily and in a timely manner. Amritsar, June 6 Two unknown armed persons fired outside the residence of one Kuldeep Singh, a resident of Thathia village falling under Beas police station here. In his complaint lodged with the Beas police, he stated that he had received an extortion call from an unknown person last month. However, he ignored the call. He said that on Wednesday at around 11.30 pm, when he along with his family was sitting in the verandah of the house, two unidentified persons fired around five gunshots. They saved themselves by lying on the ground. The accused later fled away. He said on April 13, he had received a voice message from a Pakistan number in which the caller demanded Rs 60 lakh in extortion money from him. The police have registered a case for attempt to murder and under provisions of the Arms Act against unknown persons for now and further probe was on to identify them. Meanwhile, another local resident Yuvraj Nanda of Bhilowal Pucca village lodged a complaint with the Lopoke police that some unknown persons had fired outside his house yesterday. He told the police that he runs a medical store near Lopoke Civil Hospital while he also had a private hospital at Bhilowal village. The hospital was run by his father. continued on page 2 Five held with arms, stolen bike After years of neglect, restoration of Golden Gate begins Tribune News Service Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 6 The Islamabad police have arrested a gang of three persons who were involved in different criminal activities in the city. The police recovered a .32 bore pistol with two bullets, a .32 bore revolver with two live cartridges and a stolen bike from their possession. The three were identified as Arshdeep Singh, Sumit Sharma, Vishal, alias Happy, all residents of Kale Ghanupur area here. Assistant Commissioner of Police Jaspal Singh said the accused are currently under police remand and further investigations were in progress. He said the accused were arrested from Kot Khalsa area three days ago. He said Sumit faced four criminal cases while Arshdeep Singh had two cases registered against him. Similarly, Vishal One of the accused in custody of the police in Amritsar on Friday. faced one case. Meanwhile, the police arrested a notorious criminal, identified as Nitin, alias Chiku, of Mohini Park and Gursimranpreet Singh of Sri Hargobindpur, Gurdaspur, and recovered a countrymade pistol with five bullets and the bike they were riding from them. The ACP said duo was intercepted in the Kot Khalsa area. During their search, the police recovered a country-made pistol along with two bullets from Gursimranpreet Singh and three live rounds from Nitin. The former was undergoing life imprisonment in a murder case registered in Batala police district in 2021 and had recently come out on parole. Nitin faced six cases. They were brought on police remand for further interrogation. Amritsar, June 6 After years of neglect, the iconic Golden Gate of Amritsar is finally undergoing restoration. The municipal corporation has initiated refurbishment work by hiring a private firm to bring back the fading grandeur of the monumental structure. Originally constructed in 2016 during the SAD-BJP government’s tenure as a part of their city beautification drive, the Golden Gate was intended to serve as a majestic welcome to visitors arriving from across the country and abroad through the Amritsar-Jalandhar GT Road. Built at a cost of Rs 9.50 crore, the gate was once admired for its striking golden dome and architectural elegance. However, over the years, lack of regular maintenance has taken a toll on its appearance. Dust and pollution have dulled its golden c m y b The restoration work underway at the Golden Gate in Amritsar on Friday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR sheen, rust has corroded sections of the iron framework, and peepal plants have taken root in crevices, further dam- aging the structure and its aesthetics. Sandeep Singh, Executive Engineer (Civil), MC, said a team of experts has been engaged to restore the gate to its former glory. He stated that rusted iron plates were the primary concern. Workers began restoration on Monday, starting with the removal of rust, after which the surface will be repainted in golden colour to revive its original look. Apart from the physical damage, locals and visitors have also raised concerns over functional issues at the site. The barricades placed by the police beneath the gate are creating obstructions for commuters, adding to the structure’s woes. Many believe that such an important landmark deserves better upkeep and coordinated efforts between civic bodies and enforcement agencies. PC Sharma, a local activist, said, “Whether the restoration work will live up to expectations remains to be seen, but for now, efforts are finally underway to polish the city’s golden welcome. This symbolic structure is the city’s visual appeal and attract lakhs of pilgrims and tourists every year.”