19062025-ATR-01.qxd 6/18/2025 10:31 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY TARN TARAN FOCAL POINT A PICTURE OF NEGLECT VILLAGE THAT CRADLED GURU HARGOBIND’S LIGHT TAKING ALL FANS BACK TO DANGEROUS DINOSAUR REALM It started witnessing deterioration in its infrastructure and civic amenities due to lack of official attention. P2 Guru Hargobind was born in Nattan di Wadali, which was renamed Guru ki Wadali in his honour. P3 MAX 37°C | MIN 27°C YESTERDAY MAX 37°C | MIN 28°C Jurassic World: Rebirthfollows a team of specialists that embarks on an expedition to a forbidden island. P4 » » SUNSET THURSDAY 7.27 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 5.22 AM » THURSDAY | 19 JUNE 2025 | AMRITSAR Armed assailants murder 16-year-old in grain market Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, June 18 Bibekbir Singh (16), son of Shamsher Singh, a resident of Thatha village, was murdered on Tuesday by a group of 18 armed persons who attacked him with sharp-edged weapons in the grain market at Sarhali village. Three of the assailants have been identified and the others are yet to be recognised. The three who have been identified are Manjinder Singh, Lovedeep Singh Love (both of Sarhali village) and Harnoor Singh Golan of Bhikhiwind. The deceased was a classmate of the accused Manjinder Singh and Lovedeep Singh who were studying in Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa Senior Secondary School, Sarhali, last year and had Bibekbir Singh. FILE strained relations over minor issues. Sub-inspector Baljinder Singh, SHO, Sarhali, said the accused, armed with traditional sharp-edged weapons, intercepted Bibekbir Singh at the grain market in Sarhali and attacked him. Bibekbir Singh was seriously injured and died on the spot. After committing the crime, the assailants managed to escape from the spot. A police team led by SHO Baljinder Singh reached the spot and collected evidence. A case under section 103, 191 (3) and 190 of the BNS has been registered. The SHO said that none of the accused have been arrested as of yet. Arjinder Kaur, mother of the deceased, is the principal of Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa Senior Secondary School, Sarhali. The two sides reportedly had strained ties from there itself. It may be mentioned that the deceased was a state-level volleyball player. MC Commissioner reviews development works in city The MC office in Ranjit Nagar area of Amritsar. FILE Scheme before the monsoon season. Details were also sought regarding development works carried out on roads allotted by the Municipal Corporation. The MC Commissioner highlighted the positive impact of appointing nodal officers to oversee road maintenance and clarified that the Municipal Corporation would focus on developing roads under its jurisdiction while the other departments would be responsible for maintaining their respective roads. The meeting also dis- Over 77 kg heroin, 965 peddlers Drone, heroin seized near border nabbed, says DGP Railways Our Correspondent OP SAMPARK Pawan K Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 18 The police have confiscated 77.5 kg of heroin and arrested 965 drug peddlers apart from seizing over Rs 2.7 crore in drug money from their possession since the launch of ‘ Yudh Nashiyan Virudh’ from March 1. This was stated by Director General of Police (Railways) Shashi Prabha Dwivedi during a police-public meeting under ‘Operation Sampark’ to make the public aware about the ill-effects of substance abuse. The police have also confiscated around 3.9 kg of opium, 5 kg of ganja and 112 gram of cocaine in the past over three months, she said. Besides Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, other senior police officials also participated in the programme held at Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School at Majitha road here. “The Punjab Police have adopted zero-tolerance policy against the drug smugglers and dismantled the drug supply chain by arresting a large number of peddlers and put them behind bars. Properties of notorious drug traffickers have been frozen after taking permission from the competent authority. The properties amassed with the help of illgotten money from illegal trade were also demolished. Nevertheless, the menace could be stemmed only after the participation of the general public,” she said. Awareness campaigns are being conducted at public places and educational institutes under Operation Sampark to raise awareness against drug abuse. “Around 22 substance abusers were admitted to the de-addiction centres for treatment during this campaign,” said Police Commissioner Bhullar while urging the people to share information about the drug smugglers on the emergency response support system, 112 helpline number or at the Anti-Drug Helpline number 7710104818 for prompt action. Tarn Taran, June 18 The Sarai Amanat Khan police and the BSF conducted a joint search operation in the fields of Chheena Bidhi Chand village and recovered a packet of heroin and a drone that is suspected to have come over from across the border in Pakistan on Tuesday. ASI Gursahib Singh of Sarai Amanat Khan police informed that the recovered packet weighed 560 gram and it had 507 gram of heroin and 53 gram of packing material. The ASI said that a case has been registered in this regard. A total of 127 grams of heroin was recovered by the police and four persons were arrested while consuming heroin on Tuesday. Drone and heroin seized from Chheena Bidhi village. Admn mulls increase ingreen cover to mitigate heat impact Neha Saini Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 18 With monsoon expected to arrive in the region in the days ahead, Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney has instructed the district heads of all departments to immediately identify the places for planting trees in their respective offices. Addressing a special meeting on this subject today, the Deputy Commissioner said that to mitigate the impact of heat and reduce surface heat across Amritsar, increase in green cover is a must. Emphasis on earmarking empty spaces for plantation will be done and officials have been directed to find such open spaces for plantation of shady trees at the earliest. She said that this work of merit should be done voluntarily and not considering it as a government duty. Given that monsoon is Saplings planted along the BRTS lane have dried due to lack of maintenance in Amritsar. VISHAL KUMAR about to begin, identifying places, digging holes and planting trees, is of significance. The Deputy Commissioner clarified that under the tree conservation policy, cutting of trees is not allowed, even on non-forest land without the permission of the SDM, and in future, no such work will be taken lightly. Showing the heat map obtained from satellite, she said that special attention should be paid to places in the district where heat affects more The Deputy Commissioner said that all depart- ments should take the help of Miyawaki technology to plant mini forests in high surface heat areas. She laid special emphasis on planting five plants on each tube in the city’s parking lots, petrol pumps, school-college complexes, residential colonies and on boundary pillars used for dividing the fields. According to data, the surface temperature in Amritsar during peak summer months of May and June ranges between 25 degree to 39 degree Celsius. The highest temperatures are generally found in areas with more builtup surfaces like the city centre and industrial areas. Conversely, areas with more vegetation, like parks and agricultural land, would show lower surface temperatures. The DC also asked officials to collect data on the saplings planted last year and how many of them were able to survive. Meanwhile, the ground reality is that saplings planted during previous plantation drives along the BRTS lanes, roadsides and marked commercial areas including Ranjit Avenue, have dried up due to lack of maintenance. Harassed by in-laws for dowry, 25-yr-old woman dies by suicide Amritsar, June 18 Division B police have booked five persons of a family on charges of dowry death after a 25-year-old married woman ended her life. The victim was identified as Rupinder Kaur of Krishna Nagar, located on Tarn Taran road area here. Among those booked included her husband Inderjit Singh, his father Kuldeep Singh, mother Beero, sisters Kanwaljit Kaur of Jagdev Khurd (Ajnala) and Karanjit Kaur of Naushehra Pannuan village in Tarn Taran. Narinder Singh, a resident of Dashmesh Naga of Jandiala Guru, stated to the police that her niece Rupinder Kaur was married to Inderjit Singh around one and a half years ago and she was now three months pregnant. He alleged that her sister-in-laws used to interfere in the house and taunt her for bringing insufficient dowry. c m y b He alleged that a few days ago, a quarrel had occurred over the issue. He said yesterday, he got a call from the accused who said that Rupinder Kaur had hanged herself. — TNS Pawan K Jaiswar Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 18 MC Commissioner Gulpreet Singh Aulakh today chaired a meeting with officials from the civic body, Traffic Police, PWD and L&T, the executing company for the Canal Water Supply Project, to review the city’s development works. The MC Commissioner directed ADCP (Traffic) Amandeep Kaur to collaborate with Municipal Corporation officials to remove illegal encroachments from the main roads, ensuring smooth traffic management. PWD officials were instructed to carry out necessary roadworks within the municipal limits. Aulakh emphasised the importance of maintaining city roads and instructed Project Director Rahul Patel of L&T to complete the repair of roads damaged during the pipeline-laying work under the Canal Water Man held with 10,000 banned tramadol tablets cussed joint efforts by the Traffic Police and Estate Department to remove illegal encroachments. Officials were directed to ensure that roads dug up by the private company during the water pipeline project are fully repaired before the monsoon arrives to prevent issues during the rainy season. Additional MC Commissioner Surinder Singh, Supervising Engineer Sandeep Singh and other officials from various departments attended the meeting. Police arrest woman taking drugs in video Amritsar, June 18 After the video of a woman and man injecting drugs in the 100-foot area went viral on social media, the police have arrested the woman concerned under the NDPS Act. Sukhbir Singh, SHO, Division B police station, said that the woman belonged to Chohla Sahib and was a drug addict. She was arrested by the police earlier also and had been admitted to the Swami Vivekanand Deaddiction Centre for treatment. However, she again started consuming drugs after being discharged. She was produced in a local court and would be admitted to the hospital for further treatment. — TNS Amritsar, June 18 Gate Hakima police have arrested a man with a huge quantity of banned tramadol tablets here yesterday. The arrested accused was identified as Saurav of Dashmesh Avenue, located in Maqboolpura area. The police have seized 1,000 strips containing 10,000 tramadol tablets. A case under the NDPS Act was registered against him. Vishaljit Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, while sharing the information, said that he was arrested by a team from Anngarh police post. “Saurav was arrested by the police during checking on Peeru Shah Road in Anngarh area. He was carrying 1,000 strips containing 10,000 tramadol tablets,” he said, while adding that the accused was produced in court and brought on police remand for further investigation to ascertain the source of the tablets. This is one of the biggest seizures of tramadol tablets in the recent past. ASI Ashwani Kumar, incharge, Anngarh police post and investigating officer in the case, said that three similar cases were earlier registered against him. “The police had earlier seized 1,100, 2,400 and 7,000 intoxicating tablets from his possession,” he said, adding that he was produced in court and brought on three-day police remand. Initial probe revealed that an unknown person had delivered the tablets to him. He was going from Anngarh to Gate Hakima side on a scooter when he was intercepted by the police team. The tablets were kept in a black polythene bag near his feet. He could not produce the bill regarding the sale or purchase of the sedative pills and a fresh case under the NDPS Act was therefore registered against him. Octogenarian transfers property, fails to get ‘Inteqal’ registered even after 3 years Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 18 In stark contrast to the state government’s claims of introducing “easy registry” and other measures to facilitate citizens’ access to revenue department services, residents continue to face difficulties and are at the mercy of patwaris. A glaring example of this is the plight of 80-year-old retired Professor Avtar Singh Uppal, who has been struggling for three years to get the “inteqal” of his property registered. Prof Uppal had transferred his property in Leharka village of Majitha sub-tehsil to his son and grandson in February 2023, but despite paying the registration fee and other charges, the patwari concerned has failed to do his duty. Prof Uppal expressed his frustration, saying, “I fail to understand why the patwari hasn’t registered the ‘inteqal’ despite receiving the fee and documents. It’s been over a year since I submitted all the papers, and I’m still running from pillar to post to get my work done.” To make matters worse, Prof A view of the sub-registrar office in Amritsar. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR Uppal’s Right to Information (RTI) application filed on May 12 to inquire about the delay, has not elicited any response. “It’s been over a month and I haven’t received even a phone call from the department. I’ve lost faith in the government’s claims of streamlining revenue services,” he said. Prof Uppal’s experience highlights the chasm between the government’s initiatives and the reality on the ground. Despite the introduction of “easy registry” and online services, the role of patwaris remains crucial, and citizens are still dependent on them to get their work done. The professor’s anguish is palpable as he questions the effectiveness of the government’s efforts. “How can the government claim to have streamlined services when patwaris are still harassing the public? It’s the government’s responsibility to ensure that services are delivered efficiently, but here I’m left to fend for myself at this age,” he lamented. Prof Uppal’s case underscores the need for the government to take concrete steps to ensure that its initiatives are implemented effectively and that citizens can access services without hassle.