27072025-ATR-01.qxd 7/26/2025 10:21 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY TWO-DAY TEEJ FESTIVAL CONCLUDES IN TARN TARAN BIO-REMEDIATION TO START AT BHAGTANWALA SOON TAYLOR SWIFT URGES FANS TO WATCH HAPPY GILMORE 2 Tarn Taran-based Universal Academy organised a two-day Teej festival which concluded on Saturday. P2 The bio-remediation process to clear the garbage mound at Bhagtanwala is set to begin next month. P2 MAX 33°C | MIN 29°C YESTERDAY MAX 34°C | MIN 28°C Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift has extended her support to NFL star and boyfriend Travis Kelce. P4 » » SUNSET SUNDAY 7.30 PM SUNRISE MONDAY 5.43 AM » SUNDAY | 27 JULY 2025 | AMRITSAR Streets to be named after three Kargil war martyrs in Ajnala MLA Kuldeep Dhaliwal along with the family members of martyred soldiers in Ajnala on Saturday. Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 26 Former Cabinet Minister and Constituency MLA Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal on Saturday spent time with three families of Ajnala constituency, whose young sons were martyred during the Kargil war in 1999. Marking the 26th anniversary of the Kargil Vijay Diwas, he announced on the occasion that the streets of Ajnala, along which the families of the martyrs are living, will be named after them. These include the names of Shaheed Praveen Kumar Ajnala (residence near the old Tehsil, Ajnala), Shaheed Palwinder Singh of Surepur village (residence Ajnala) and Shaheed Subedar Tarlok Singh Ranewali (now residence Bhagat Namdev Colony, Ajnala). “The country is proud of the sacrifices of our soldiers. It is because of them that the country is stable. Punjabis are true sons of the soil and renaming the streets after them will be our small tribute to them,” he said. He expressed regret that in the last 25 years, no political leader has come to take care of so many families on this day. On the occasion, the MLAs honoured the martyrs’ families. AGTF nabs two with two Glock pistols Amritsar, July 26 The Anti-Gangster Task Force of the Amritsar Rural Police has arrested two persons and seized two Austriamade Glock pistols along with three magazines and a motorcycle (without registration number) from them. Those arrested were identified as Rajwinder Singh and Joban Singh, both residents of Chawinda Khurd village. The police said the AGTF team was on patrol in the Khiala, Chawinda Khurd and Lopoke areas near the IndoPak border when they intercepted two persons riding a motorcycle without registration number. During questioning, the police got suspicious and frisked them. During frisking, the police recovered two Glock 43 pistols along with three magazines from them. The weapons were apparently smuggled from Pakistan. They did not give satisfactory answers to the police queries. — TNS Trade licence recovery falls short, civic body to expand enforcement network Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 26 The Trade License Wing of the Amritsar Municipal Corporation (MC) is facing major challenges in meeting its revenue target for the financial year 2025-26. Despite the presence of nearly 70,000 commercial establishments in the city, only around 13,000 have procured valid trade licences, officials revealed in a recent departmental meeting. The department had set a revenue target of Rs 3.75 crore for this year. However, with such a low number of licences on record, the recovery is far from the goal. Officials cited the shortage of manpower and limited outreach as the main reasons behind the gap. Owing to the lack of staff, field visits to encourage traders to obtain licences have been minimal, A meeting of officials of the Trade Licensing Wing in Amritsar. leading to revenue losses for the municipal corporation. To address the issue, Additional Commissioner Surinder Singh said MC Commissioner Gulpreet Singh Aulakh has issued orders to give additional powers under the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976, to health officers working in various zones. These include Municipal Health Officers Dr Kiran Kumar, Dr Yogesh Arora, and Dr Rama. They will now be authorised to approve trade licences within their respective areas, under various sections of the Act ranging from 276 to 350. Superintendent, License Wing, Lovleen Sharma will continue to verify the licence applications and forward the approved proposals to the respective health officers. These officers will then ensure Unidentified individuals chop trees, activists demand action Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Amritsar July 26 In stark contrast to the administration’s ambitious green drive, two fully grown trees were illegally chopped on Majitha Road near Guru Nanak Hospital, allegedly by some local individuals. Local activists alleged that most of the times nearby traders do this so that their shops are clearly visible from a distance. Environmentalists and local activists have condemned the act, terming it a violation of public and environmental ethics. “There should be a policy and provision to register a case against individuals who damage greenery,” said Pawan Sharma, a city-based activist. “The chopping of trees on Majitha Road should be investigated and strict action must be taken against the culprits.” The incident highlights a growing trend in the city where individuals, in a bid to increase visibility of stores or signage, remove roadside trees planted on public land. Last year, a similar case was reported at Novelty Chowk, where an The remaining part of the two chopped trees along Majitha Road in Amritsar on Saturday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR advertisement agency cut down trees to make their glow signboard more visible. Ironically, this incident comes just weeks after Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney launched a major plantation drive on July 8, announcing that nearly three lakh saplings would be planted across Amritsar district during the monsoon. She also introduced an incentive programme to honour citizens who not only plant but also nurture saplings, offering them appreciation certificates as a token of recognition. Despite these well-intentioned initiatives, there appears to be a loophole in enforcement. While there are policies in place to penalise those who harm green spaces, local activists argue that implementation is often lax and cases like these go unchecked. As the city grapples with rising pollution and the diminishing green cover, environmentalists stress the need for both strong deterrents and public awareness. “Planting trees is not enough. We must also protect what already exists,” said Sharma. action is taken under Sections 323 and 343 to 350 through Sanitary Inspectors. To further boost field enforcement and recovery, Sanitary Supervisors will also be deployed alongside Sanitary Inspectors across the city. They will be responsible for collecting trade licence fees using POS (Point of Sale) machines and depositing the revenue into MC funds. These efforts will be closely monitored to ensure proper implementation. In a related step, the MC Commissioner has also ordered the transfer of certain existing staff of the License Department to other departments to streamline operations and improve coordination. The MC hopes that these measures will help increase licence registrations, improve revenue collection and bring more businesses under regulation. Extortion racket member injured in police encounter Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 26 Amandeep Singh, a member of the extortion racket busted two days ago, was injured in a police encounter near the AmritsarAttari bypass road here on Saturday. He was taken to the spot for recovery of weapon. He was injured in the leg and was admitted to hospital for treatment and a fresh case has been registered against him. Amandeep was one of the shooters who had fired outside an under-construction banquet hall of a businessman for extortion. Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said the police had earlier arrested four members of the gang. Apart from Amandeep Singh of Saidoke village, the police had arrested Simratpal Singh of Saidoke village in Mehta, Harpreet Singh, alias Happy, of Bhaini Miyan Khan village in Gurdaspur and Simratpal Singh, alias Simran, of Rampura village in case. Harpreet was also arrested following a brief encounter near the Company Bagh two days ago. Man’s body found near girls’ college DSP knocks HC door, seeks probe in banned drug seizure cases Amritsar, July 26 Panic gripped in the Civil Lines area after the dead body of an unknown man was found near the boundary wall of SR Government College for Girls here on Saturday. Notably, Deputy Commissioner of Police Alam Vijay Singh’s residence is located just a few metres away from the spot. The police have taken the body into their custody and kept it in the Civil Hospital’s mortuary. No identity proof was found from near the body. The police said a passerby informed the police about the dead body in the morning. Foul smell was emanating from the spot as the body had started decomposing. They said the antecedents of the deceased were not immediately known. They said the exact cause of the death was also yet to be ascertained. — TNS Pawan K Jaiswar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar at the encounter spot in Amritsar on Saturday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 26 Vavinder Mahajan, Deputy Superintendent of Police, formerly attached with Special Task Force (now Anti-Narcotic Task Force), has approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking probe into around 300 FIRs regarding seizure of habit-forming drugs containing Alprazolam salt, registered with various police stations in Punjab. This was revealed by his legal counsel and daughter Sansha Mahajan during a press conference here on Friday. She was accompanied by her colleagues, Manjinder Singh Sandhu, Avik Mehra and Harpartap Arora. She said these FIRs were registered in the year 2023, but ironically, no official bothered to carry out a detailed probe into these cases beyond arrest- He said on Saturday that following disclosure, Amandeep was taken to the spot for recovery of a .30 bore pistol. He said while the cops were busy in documentation, the accused tried to flee from the scene after snatching the pis- ing couriers. Ideally, the police should have probed the backward and forward linkages to ascertain the pilferage of drugs in an illegal manner. Interestingly, Vavinder Mahajan had earlier approached Punjab Police’s top cops seeking investigations into these cases. However, no action was initiated forcing him to approach the High Court, she said. It may be mentioned here that in September last year, Mahajan was booked on charges of corruption by the STF He was accused of tak. ing Rs 45 lakh from a pharmaceutical firm for shielding the owner in a case of seizure of huge quantity of pharmaceutical drugs. He, nevertheless, had termed it as ‘false’ and ‘fabricated’ case in order to pressurise him not to pursue the case. The High Court had given him reprieve in the Attari to get a tourism makeover worth ~24 cr Tribune News Service Amritsar, July 26 Attari, a historical significant but quaint village touching the India-Pakistan border in Amritsar, will get a tourism facelift as announced by the AAP government. The village founded in the early eighteenth century by two Jat Sikh brothers, who were Sikh Martials, is already an international tourist destination due to the Attari-Wagah border hosting the Beating Retreat ceremony. Now, the village, which hosts a large number of tourists every day, will get Rs 24 crore makeover. AAP’s push to promote tourism infrastructure, a project to add to the already existing tourism infrastructure, has been announced. Aimed at enhancing the visitor experience at one of India’s most iconic ceremonial locations, Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney shared that under the Swadesh Darshan 2.0 scheme of the Ministry of Tourism, the Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board (PHTPB) will invest in building entrance c m y b tol of ASI Amrik Singh who entered into a scuffle with him in order to get the weapon back. During this, one bullet hit Amandeep’s right leg leaving him injured. He was taken to hospital for medical care. A fresh FIR was registered against Amandeep at the Sadar police station in this regard. Apart from them, the police have also nominated their Spain-based accomplice Sukhdev Singh, who originally hails from Rampura village and is brother of Simratpal Singh. He was making the threatening extortion calls to a local businessman. They used to identify their potential targets. They were using the name of notorious gangster Bony Bal for extortion, said Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar. The Attari railway station now wears a deserted look. gates, tourist centres and other tourist-friendly spots in Attari. “The project will be in collaboration with the Border Security Force (BSF) and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The construction of an entrance gate, which will be extending up to the border with a total budget allocation of Rs 24.65 crore, will be done. The project is expected to be completed within nine months, with maintenance to be managed by the execution agency for the next five years,” she said. The project also includes a vehicle check post, tourist information centre, shaded pathways leading to joint check post with upgraded amenities, immersive gallery with AR/VR technology at the JCP upgraded security , checking infrastructure and adventure zone for kids. “The project aims to promote cultural heritage and ensure a more comfortable, informative and engaging visitor experience,” said the DC. This comes when tourist inflow at Attari reported a downfall after the Pahalgam terror attack. Tourism in the small village town is heavily dependent on the Beating Retreat ceremony at Joint Check Post, while the ceremony attracts international tourists as well, several other historically significant places in Attari have been sidelined, waiting for infrastructure push. Only 22 km away from Lahore, Attari is the birth and resting place of Sham Singh Attariwala, a Sikh general in the army, who was famous for his bravery during the AngloSikh Battle at Sabraon. A few metres after entering the town, one sees the samadhs constructed in memory of Sikh martyr Sham Singh Attariwala, his father Nihal Singh and other family members. There is also Pul Mooran, a historic heritage structure, which lies in close proximity to the JCP The place lies in . oblivion despite being a potential tourist spot. case and asked the CBI for conducting preliminary probe into this. Sansha Mahajan said that during his tenure with STF , Vavinder Mahajan had registered a case and seized huge quantity of pharmaceutical drugs worth hundreds of crores apart from raw chemicals from pharmaceutical factories in Himachal Pradesh and some other parts of the country in February last year. The investigations had exposed a welloiled and influential nexus between the pharma companies and the trafficking rackets. During the probe, he had found that the company had manufactured around 20 crore tablets containing Alprazolam salt that was smuggled into Punjab. Vavinder Mahajan is currently posted with the 9th battalion of PAP in Amritsar. 38-yr-old man dies by suicide Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, July 26 A man of Kakka Kandiala village near the local Amritsar bypass ended life, leaving behind a note here on Friday. The deceased has been identified as Gurbhej Singh (38). He leaves behind his wife and two daughters (aged 10 and 6 years old). Their married life was full of stress. Being under mental stress, the victim consumed some poisonous substance and was rushed to the local Civil Hospital in a serious condition, where he died. Gursharan Singh, brother of the victim, in his statement recorded with the police stated that Gurbhej Singh was being mentally tortured by his wife and in-laws. The police, on the basis of the suicidal note and the statement of the victim’s brother, have registered a case under Section 108 of the BNS against his wife Sandeep Kaur, her father Gurmeet Singh, mother Sarabjit Kaur, brother Jobanjit Singh, sisters Rajbir Kaur and Gurpreet Kaur.