02082025-ATR-01.qxd 8/1/2025 11:13 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 30°C | MIN 25°C YESTERDAY MAX 30°C | MIN 26°C SARHALI FIRING: TWO SUCCUMB TO INJURIES 11 WOMEN, 1 MISSION: CLEAN AMRITSAR SHAH RUKH KHAN BAGS HIS FIRST NATIONAL AWARD A businessman and a gangster injured in a cross-firing incident in Sarhali succumbed to their injuries. P2 Eleven women, one mission — to mobilise local citizens against the exploitation of natural resources. P2 Actor Shah Rukh Khan won his first National Film Award for best actor for the 2023 blockbuster Jawan. P4 » » » SUNSET SATURDAY 7.25 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 5.47 AM SATURDAY | 2 AUGUST 2025 | AMRITSAR Three cross-border weapon modules busted, juvenile among nine held Police also seize 13 sophisticated pistols, motorcycle from their possession Tribune News Service Employees of the Water Resources Department protest outside the DC complex in Amritsar. Fill 6,000 vacant posts of Class IV on priority, demand workers Tribune News Service Amritsar, August 1 The Democratic Water Resources Employees’ Union has sent a memorandum to the Punjab Government through the Deputy Commissioner, Amritsar, demanding to fill about 6,000 vacant posts of Class-IV workers in the Water Resources Department on a priority basis. Speaking on the occasion, the organisation’s UBDC wing president Sukhdev Singh Umranangal and secretary Zorawar Singh said for Kapurthala jail inmate escapes from police custody Amritsar, August 1 A jail inmate of Kapurthala jail, who was admitted to Government TB Hospital here, dodged staff and police personnel and escaped from the hospital here on Friday. The Majitha road police have lodged a complaint in this regard and started a probe into the circumstances of his escape apart from making efforts for his arrest. The accused was identified as Mangat Ram of Dera Saida in Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala district. Ranjit Singh, SHO, Majitha Road police station, said he was arrested by the Kapurthala police on May 6 for possessing drugs. He was in the judicial custody at Kapurthala jail and brought to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital on July 4 for treatment after his health condition deteriorated and was referred by the doctors here. — TNS the last 25 years, the Punjab Government has not recruited beldars, sewadars, postmen, regulation beldars and chowkidars working under Class-4 posts in the department. On the contrary, the Bhagwant Mann government has completely abolished 8,635 posts of these categories and despite repeated requests, they are not being restored. “Due to this, not only has there been a huge shortage of Class-4 employees working on canals and state highways, but the government has also permanently taken away the employment of children from poor families,” said Umranangal. The union leaders demanded that the 8,635 posts that were abolished should be immediately restored and new recruitments should be made and the vacant posts of gauge readers in every section of the department should be filled immediately. They also want a step up should be given as it is a technical post, rooms should be made for gauge readers at all heads and mates should be appointed in all sections of all subdivisions. Amritsar, August 1 The smuggling of sophisticated weapons by Pakistanbased anti-national entities continues unabated with Punjab Police seizing 13 weapons smuggled from the neighbouring country in three separate operations in the past 24 hours. While the city police busted two cross-border modules and recovered seven pistols from four persons, including a juvenile, the Counter Intelligence (CI) wing of Punjab Police here confiscated six pistols from five persons. Giving details, Police Commissioner, Amritsar (city), Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said those arrested have been identified as Sikanderjeet Singh (19) of Bhagwanpura village in Tarn Taran; Pradeep Singh, alias Babbal (43), of Antarjami Colony; Jarnail Singh (34) of New Shaheed The seized weapons in custody of the police in Amritsar on Friday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR Udham Singh Nagar here, and a 17-year-old juvenile from Tarn Taran. The police recovered two Glock pistols, four .30 bore Star pistols and one .32 bore pistol along with six live cartridges. Apart from recovering weapons, police teams also impounded their motorcycle being used for delivering the weapon consignment. Bhullar said initial probe revealed that the accused were in touch with Pakistanbased smugglers and had recently retrieved weapon consignments from near the International Border. “These weapons, which have been smuggled via drone, were meant to fuel gang rivalries and disrupt peace in the region,” he said. According to the police, both Sikander and a juvenile have their home close to the Indo-Pak border. They were in touch with Pakistan-based smugglers. They retrieved the drone-dropped consignments from the locations provided by them. In the second module, accused Pardeep and Jarnail are associates of deceased Ravneet Singh, alias Sonu Mota, who was in rivalry with the Jaggu Bhagwanpuria gang. These weapons are sophisticated pistols, which have been received from Pak- istan smugglers and were handed over to them by slain Sonu Mota prior to his death, he said, adding that the recovery of these weapons averted major criminal activity in the area. Meanwhile, the Counter Intelligence wing, Amritsar, following the intelligenceled operation held five operatives and seized six pistols. The seized weapons include four Glock 9mm pistols, two .30bore pistols along with magazines and eight bullets. Those arrested included Jagroop Singh of Dhun village in Tarn Taran, Navdeep Singh and Joban Singh of Sur Singh village (Tarn Taran), Arshdeep Singh of Shaliwal here and Gurlal Singh of Rajoke village (Tarn Taran). The police said they were intercepted from the Panjwar village bus stop where they were waiting to deliver the weapon consignment of gangsters. Anti-dengue campaign kicks off Govt hospitals across state being connected with power hotlines, says Health Minister Tribune News Service Amritsar, August 1 Even as Punjab Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh kicked off a campaign against dengue here on Friday, staff found dengue larvae at four places in the city. A function was held at Senior Secondary School located at Karampura in Ranjit Avenue. Besides school children, ASHA workers and nursing students participated in it. On the occasion, teams of the Health Department conducted inspections for dengue larvae in the school and surrounding areas, during which they found dengue larvae from about four places. After this, the Health Minister made all the students, ASHA workers and nursing students aware of this by showing dengue larvae. He said it was natural for water to accumulate in many places during the rainy season, but along with this, mosquitoes will also breed. It is the responsibility of all of us to cooperate with the Health Health Minister Balbir Singh speaks during a campaign against dengue in Amritsar. Department to prevent mosquito breeding and not allow water to accumulate anywhere, because to avoid dengue, it is most important to prevent mosquito breeding. Besides, the use of sprays, fogging and mosquito repellent creams can also save us from dengue. On the occasion, Civil Surgeon Dr Kirandeep Kaur said teams of the Health Department are going to all the hotspot areas of the city. She said dengue is a viral fever, which is caused by the bite of a mosquito called Aedes aegypti. The mosquito lays eggs in clean water which in a week turns from egg to larva and from larva to adult mosquito. Therefore, a dengue campaign is being run every Friday of the week so that the life cycle of the mosquito can be broken and it can be eliminated at the larval stage itself. The common symptoms of dengue include severe headache, high fever, muscle and joint pain, pain behind the eyes, vomiting, bleeding from the nose, mouth and gums. Therefore, in case of suspicion of dengue fever, one should immediately get a free check-up and treatment from a government hospital. Among others, District Epidemiologist Dr Harjot Kaur, District MEIO Amardeep Singh, Dr Kuldeep Kaur, Principal Anu Anand, along with all ASHA workers and students of Government Nursing College were present on the occasion. Gurbaxpuri Tarn Taran, August 1 The government hospitals across the state are being connected with power hotlines to ensure an undisrupted power supply, trouble-free services to patients and trouble-free working condition to medical officers and other staff. It was disclosed here on Friday that Punjab Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh paid a surprise visit to the local Civil Hospital. The minister also visited the emergency ward and the oxygen plant, which was installed during the Covid-19 period. The minister talked to patients and their attendants and got feedback regarding the services being provided to them by the hospital. Though the hospital was facing an acute shortage of specialist doctors, the minister did not utter even a single word in this regard. The minister said besides all the district-level hospitals, other hospitals too would be con- Punjab Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh and other officials during a visit to the Civil Hospital in Tarn Taran. PHOTO: GURBAXPURI nected with power hotline. He issued instructions to the heads of the government hospitals to ensure the availability of generators and UPS services all the time. Dr Balbir Singh said under the ‘Health Revolution’, the state government will be taking remarkable steps regarding health services in the coming days. The minister was apprised that better medical services were being provided to people at the Aam Aadmi Clinics. Treatment for the noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), the facilities of baby delivery and rabies injections have also been started in these clinics. He was accompanied by Manjinder Singh Lalpura, MLA, Khadoor Sahib, Harmeet Singh Sandhu, who has recently been made AAP Halqa In-charge for the Tarn Taran Vidhan Sabha constituency, Deputy Commissioner Rahul, Civil Surgeon Dr Gurpreet Singh Rai, among others. ‘Every city touched by Guru Teg Bahadur to be developed’ Body of 48-year-old Harjinder reaches home from Greece Tribune News Service Amritsar, August 1 The Punjab Government has announced grand events across the state to celebrate the 350th martyrdom anniversary of ninth Sikh master Guru Teg Bahadur. Punjab Cabinet Minister S Harbhajan Singh ETO and Cabinet Minister Tarunpreet Singh Saund on Friday held a meeting with MLAs and district officials in Amritsar about the outline of the religious events to be organised. The ministers said wherever Guru Sahib had set foot, special events will be organised by the government and these villages and cities will be developed on a large scale. They said kirtan darbars will also be organised in four big cities, including Amritsar, where Guru Sahib had his Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO (centre) addresses mediapersons in Amritsar on Friday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR presence, including in Baba Bakala Sahib, Jalandhar and Anandpur Sahib. MLAs Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Jeevanjot Kaur, Dalbir Singh Tong, Jasbir Singh Sandhu, Tourism Department Adviser Deepak Bali and Tourism Department Director Sanjeev Tiwari were present in the meeting held today at the DC complex. ETO briefed the district administration and officials of various departments about the entire programme in detail and issued instructions regarding the arrangements to be made for the convenience of the devotees. Saund said yatras will reach Anandpur Sahib from four places, including Gurdaspur, Bathinda and Faridkot. The yatra from Gurdaspur will stop in Amritsar. “A grand Sri Akhand Path Sahib will be inaugurated on November 23 at Virasat-e-Khalsa, in which Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and prominent religious figures from the country and abroad will be present. On the same day, a digital exhibition depicting the martyrdom of Sri Guru Teg Bahadur will be inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Punjab at Virasat-e-Khalsa,” he said. He said a special session of the Legislative Assembly will be called on November 24. The celebrations will also include Mohalla Khalsa exhibition organized by Nihang Singhs. Kavi Darbar, Dhadi, Kavishri programmes related to the life and teachings of Guru Sahib will also be held. “Light c m y b and sound and drone show” programmes will be organized in every district of Punjab. Cabinet Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO said on November 25 at 7 pm, government buildings across the state will be illuminated in the light of Mishale-Shahadat, dedicating it to the martyrdom of Guru Sahib. The Cabinet Minister said there will be tent city for the accommodation of the sangat coming to Sri Anandpur Sahib and e-rickshaws will be arranged for visiting various religious places. The Cabinet Minister said these programs will start with the inauguration of the Yadgar of Rangrete Guru’s son Bhai Jaita at Anandpur Sahib on September 5. Four major cities of Punjab — Anandpur Sahib, Amritsar Sahib, Baba Bakala and Patiala — will be completely decorated with lighting. Tribune News Service Amritsar, August 1 The body of 48-year-old Harjinder Singh, son of Dilbagh Singh, belonging to Dhol village near Balachaur tehsil of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district, was sent to his home by the free ambulance service of the Sarbat Ka Bhala Charitable Trust after reaching Sri Guru Ramdas International Airport Amritsar this morning. Dr SP Singh Oberoi, a Dubai-based Indian businessman and head of the Sarbat Ka Bhala Charitable Trust, said Harjinder Singh, like other youngsters, had been working hard in Greece for the last 20 years for the better future of his family. The body of the deceased being brought to his home in Amritsar. He said the victim’s family had contacted his Amritsar team and informed that Harjinder Singh died in a tragic motorcycle accident in Greece on July 14. He said this morning, the body was received from the Amritsar airport by the Trust’s representative Rajbir Singh in the presence of the victim’s family and sent it to his home. Harjinder Singh has left behind his 95-year-old parents, wife, daughter and son. Dr Oberoi said soon after the district team of the Trust informs about the financial condition of the family, Harjinder Singh’s family will be given monthly pension as per their needs. So far, the bodies of about 421 Punjabi youth, who passed away in foreign shores, have been sent to their families and for some time now, a free ambulance service has also been started to transport the bodies of the deceased from the Amritsar airport to their home.