16102025-TTC-01.qxd 10/16/2025 PAK, AF AGREE TO 48-HOUR CEASEFIRE WORLD /thetribunechd 12:31 AM Page 1 13 LANKA PM ON INDIA VISIT FROM TODAY BACK PAGE CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 9 NO. 286 | 18 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 thursday | 16 october 2025 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Hry IPS officer cremated after Can lethal jab replace gallows? SC says govt not readyto evolve autopsy, 9-day standoff ends Satya Prakash Tribune News Service Puran Kumar’s wife gives consent after assurance of fair, timely probe Sheetal Tribune News Service Chandigarh, October 15 Nine days after Y Puran Kumar allegedly shot himself dead, the Haryana IPS officer’s cremation was performed here on Wednesday following his autopsy at the PGIMER amid tight security and under magisterial supervision. The standoff between the family and the Haryana Government ended as the deceased’s wife, Amneet P Kumar, an IAS officer, gave her consent to the autopsy early in the morning. She agreed after reportedly receiving an assurance from the Chandigarh Police of a “fair probe” and a “commitment from the Haryana Government that action would be taken against erring officials”. “I have full faith in the judiciary and the police. I have given my consent to the postmortem and am hopeful the investigation will be fair, transparent and time-bound,” she said in a statement. Around 8.45 am, Amneet, accompanied by her brother Amit Rattan Kotfatta, who is an AAP MLA from Bathinda (Rural), and other family members arrived at the PGIMER’s Advanced Anatomy Centre for the autopsy. The area remained under continued on page 8 NewDelhi, October 15 As the Centre opposed a petition seeking removal of the present mode of execution of death row convicts by hanging from the statute, the Supreme Court on Wednesday questioned its “status-quoist” attitude on the contentious issue. “The problem is the government is not ready to evolve... it’s a very old procedure, things have changed over a period of time,” a Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta said. The Bench was hearing senior advocate Rishi Malhotra’s 2017 petition seeking abolition of the practice of executing death row convicts by hanging and replacing it with less painful methods such as “intravenous lethal injection, Petition wants hanging to make way for less painful methods shooting, electrocution or gas chamber”. The PIL referred to the 187th Report of the Law Commission advocating removal of the present mode of execution from the statute. “I will demonstrate that the best way is lethal injection because 49 out of 50 states in the US have adopted lethal injection,” Malhotra told the Bench. He said execution by administering lethal injection was quick, humane and decent as compared to hanging, which was cruel and barbaric as the body lies lingering on the rope for around 40 minutes. Justice Mehta asked the Centre’s counsel to advise the govern- ment on the petitioner’s proposition regarding providing an option to the death row convict. “This is also addressed in the counter (affidavit) that this may not be very feasible to give an option”, the counsel said, adding it was a policy decision and the government can take a call on that. The counsel referred to the top court’s May 2023 order in which it had noted Attorney General R Venkataramani’s submission that the government was mulling appointing an expert committee to review the issues raised in the PIL. As the Centre’s counsel said she would seek instructions on setting up the expert committee, the Bench posted the matter for hearing on November 11. In an affidavit filed in April 2018, the Centre had continued on page 8 Actor Pankaj Dheer, Mahabharat's Karna, passes away MUMBAI: Television star Pankaj Dheer, known for playing Karna in BR Chopra's Mahabharat and king Shivdutt in the fantasy drama Chandrakanta, died at the age of 68 on Wednesday. “He passed away due to cancer this morning. He had been in and out of hospital in the past months,” producer and friend Ashoke Pandit said. Dheer is survived by wife Anita Dheer and son Nikitin Dheer, who is also an actor. Dheer hailed from Punjab and started out as an actor in the 1980s. — PTI Haryana IAS officer Amneet P Kumar performs the last rites of her husband Y Puran Kumar, an IPS officer, at the Sector 25 cremation ground in Chandigarh on Wednesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: RAVI KUMAR FIR REGISTERED IN ROHTAK ASI ‘SUICIDE’ CASE The Haryana Police have registered an FIR in connection with the alleged suicide by Assistant Sub-Inspector Sandeep Kumar in Rohtak, a police official said on Wednesday. Following the FIR, the deceased’s family has agreed to autopsy and last rites, which would take place on Thursday. Sandeep Kumar allegedly shot himself dead on Tuesday, leaving behind a 'final note' that levelled corruption allegations against the late IPS officer Y Puran Kumar, who also served in the same district. INSIDE Pb sees 5-fold rise in arms smuggling from Pak Seizures up post-Op Sindoor | 362 recoveries compared to 81 last year Jupinderjit Singh Tribune News Service The grieving family members of Haryana Police ASI Sandeep Kumar, who allegedly died by suicide, in Rohtak on Wednesday. Chandigarh, October 15 A five-fold surge has been witnessed in smuggling of arms from Pakistan through the Punjab border, with 362 weapons, including AK-47 rifles, grenades and improvised explosive devices, seized so far this year compared to 81 last year. A security expert attributed the sharp rise to the precision strikes carried out by c m y b AK-47 rifles seized for first time in three years Security officials say Pakistan spy agency ISI is leveraging a nexus of gangsters, drug smugglers and terrorists to create unrest in Punjab. The officials said the scale of smuggling this year exceeded the combined total from 2021 to 2024. India during Operation Sindoor on terror hideouts in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The expert said Pakistan’s Inter-Ser- vices Intelligence (ISI) appeared to have launched a retaliatory campaign by stepping up arms smuggling in an attempt to destabilise Punjab. Nearly one-third of the seizures have occurred after Operation Sindoor. Over 50 persons had been arrested, some caught collecting weapons dropped via drones while others were the intended recipients tasked with carrying out terror strikes, said an official. For the first time in three years, three AK-47 rifles were seized, highlighting how sophisticated weaponry was continued on page 8