12082026-ATR-01.qxd 8/11/2026 10:23 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY TEACHERS PROTEST, CALL FOR REPEAL OF NEP 2020 LIBRARY IN MAJWIND-GOPALPURA A VICTIM OF OFFICIAL APATHY ON INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY, CELEBRITIES SHARE LIFE LESSONS Teachers from across the country gathered at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi for a massive protest dharna. P2 The library at Majwind-Gopalpura, set up to commemorate Gurmukh Singh, has become a victim of official apathy. P3 MAX 31°C | MIN 27°C YESTERDAY MAX 33°C | MIN 27°C I think young people should focus on building skills, taking care of their mental well-being, says Chaitali Kohli. P4 » » SUNSET WEDNESDAY 7.17 PM SUNRISE THURSDAY 5.53 AM » WEDNESDAY | 12 AUGUST 2026 | AMRITSAR 3 killed as car rams bike, drags youths for 100 m Tribune News Service Commuters make way through a waterlogged stretch along Albert Road in Amritsar on Tuesday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR Traffic snarls put off motorists Tribune News Service Amritsar, August 11 Heavy rain on Tuesday brought relief from the sweltering heat, but also led to chaos in the city. Waterlogging was reported from several parts of the city. Long traffic jams too put commuters off. Several busy roads and lowlying stretches were inundated, forcing motorists and twowheeler riders to risk their lives. “The rain has certainly made the weather pleasant after several days of humidity. But waterlogging becomes a major problem whenever it rains. The administration needs to ensure that drains Woman dies by suicide Several busy roads, low-lying stretches were inundated are cleaned before every spell,” said Jagveer Singh, a city resident. Shopkeepers in affected areas said the rain hit their business severely. “Residents avoid stepping out when it rains. For small establishments, even a few hours of disruption can affect the day’s business,” said Rajan, a grocery store owner. A harrowed commuter said: “It becomes risky to ride through waterlogged roads as potholes and open drains SANDEEP SINGH PARDEEP JAGTAR SINGH SILVER FOIL, HALF-BURNT ~10 CURRENCY NOTE, KIRPAN RECOVERED Passersby told the police that the three youths, who were livestock traders, were travelling towards Amritsar on a motorcycle when the speeding car coming from the opposite direction hit them near Kotla Gujran. They added that two men, a woman and children travelling in the car got off after the accident and fled with the mobile phones of the victims. A piece of silver foil, a half-burnt ~10 currency note and a kirpan were reportedly recovered from the vehicle. Eyewitnesses alleged that the silver foil and half-burnt note indicated possible consumption of an intoxicating substance. taken for medical treatment. They added that two men, a woman and children travelling in the car got off after the accident and fled with the mobile phones of the victims. The car was badly damaged in the collision and was left abandoned at the spot as it was no longer in a condition to be driven. The police reached the spot after being informed about the accident and reg- istered a case against the car driver. Sub Inspector Naresh Kumar said efforts were on to trace the accused. A piece of silver foil, a half-burnt Rs 10 currency note and a kirpan were reportedly recovered from the vehicle. The eyewitnesses alleged that the silver foil and halfburnt note indicated possible consumption of an intoxicating substance in the car. They also raised the possibility that the vehicle could have been used for transporting or delivering drugs. The police, however, are yet to establish these allegations. Sources said the car was also suspected to be a stolen vehicle. The police are examining the vehicle and other evidence collected from the spot as part of the investigation. Tribune News Service Amritsar, August 11 A property dealer, who was allegedly attacked with sharp weapons during a dispute over a money transaction in the Rambagh area on Friday, succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital on Monday night. The deceased, identified as Sumit Rai, alias Jony, was a resident of Basant Avenue. Following his death, his family members and supporters of the Waris Punjab De held a protest outside the private hospital on Tuesday afternoon, alleging that the Rambagh police had failed to deliver justice. The protest, led by Waris Punjab De leader Sandeep Singh, resulted in a road blockade in the Civil Lines area for nearly two hours. The protesters lifted the dharna only after the Rambagh police registered a murder case against the accused. According to the family, Sumit was working as a property dealer and also had a financial dispute with Pankaj and his son Ashish. Victim had lent money to accused eight months ago The family alleged that the duo had been threatening Sumit for the past few days over the dispute. A probe revealed that Sumit had allegedly lent Rs 3.20 lakh to the accused on interest around eight months ago. Ashish, who runs an electrician’s shop near Chitta Gummat in Rambagh, had reportedly taken the money. The amount was to be repaid through daily instalments, but the accused allegedly stopped making payments. The dispute reportedly escalated on Friday when Sumit and the accused first argued over the pending payment. Sumit was subsequently called to the Rambagh area, where a heated argument broke out. The accused allegedly attacked him with sharp weapons, seriously injuring him before fleeing the spot. Sumit was rushed to hos- pital, where he underwent treatment for three days before succumbing to his injuries on Monday night. The family told the protesters that Sumit had earlier expressed concern over the financial dispute and had told them that he was being repeatedly threatened. The Rambagh police took possession of the body and got the autopsy done. A murder case has been registered against the accused and further investigation is underway. PARTITION PANGS After sugar, jaggery sees steep price hike Neeraj Bagga Mindfulness left them before their shelter did ManmeetSingh Gill Tribune News Service Officials rescue cows from dairies in Adarsh Nagar-Inderpuri. Civic body cracks down on illegal dairies in city Tribune News Service Amritsar, August11 The Municipal Corporation on Tuesday rescued cows from five unauthoriesd dairies in the Adarsh Nagar-Inderpuri area of Kot Khalsa and shifted them to a gaushala. The action followed the directions of Municipal Commissioner Bikramjit Singh Shergill and Additional Municipal Corporation in compliance with the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court regarding the removal of unauthorised dairies from areas within the MC limits. Civic officials said illegal Tarn Taran, August 11 After a purported video of drug sale at Jagatpur village went viral on the social media, the Chabal police got into action and launched a probe. The video has put the police administration in a spot, with allegations that such substances are allegedly being sold in the village without any fear of police action. In the video, a person is seen claiming that narcotics have not disappeared from the village, alleging that their sale hasn’t stopped. The authenticity of the video and the identities of the persons seen in the video are yet to be verified. On the video, Jugraj Singh, SHO, Chabal police station, said the Punjab Police had taken cognisance of the video. “We have sent a police team to the village. The persons allegedly involved in the drug trade have been identified and efforts are being made to arrest them,” the SHO said. The SHO added that those who made the video should have immediately shared the information with the police and helped identify the alleged drug dealers instead of merely circulating the video on the social media. Experts say the rising prices would have a severe impact on sweetmeat sellers. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR Tribune News Service CharanjitSingh Teja Gurbaxpuri Attacked over money dispute, realtor succumbs to injuries Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, August 11 The police have booked a resident of Naushehra Pannuan for abetment of suicide after his wife ended her life by hanging herself at her in-laws’ place. The deceased, Gurvinder Kaur (35), is learnt to have had a strained relationship with her husband.The couple tied the knot in 2019 and had no child out of the wedlock. Sub-Inspector Lakhbir Singh said a case under Section 108 of the BNS was registered. are difficult to spot,” said a commuter. Auto-rickshaw drivers also reported difficulties navigating flooded stretches. Meanwhile, farmers welcomed the rainfall, saying the showers would benefit standing crops and reduce the need for irrigation, although excessive rain could create problems in low-lying agricultural fields. The drop in temperature following repeated showers has brought considerable relief to residents. Weather officials have predicted more rainfall in the coming days, with the wider monsoon spell expected to remain active across the region. Amritsar, August 11 Three youths were killed after a speeding car rammed into their motorcycle on the Kotla Gujran-Sangatpura road on Monday evening. The deceased have been identified as Pardeep, Jagtar Singh and Sandeep Singh, all residents of Hardowal village. While Pardeep and Jagtar Singh died on the spot, Sandeep Singh succumbed to his injuries in hospital. Passersby told the police that the three youths, who were livestock traders, were travelling towards Amritsar on a motorcycle when the speeding car coming from the opposite direction hit them near Kotla Gujran. The car allegedly dragged the motorcycle and the three youths for nearly 100 m. By the time the vehicle came to a halt, the motorcycle had broken into three pieces. Eyewitnesses said the three injured youths were found lying on the road. Pardeep and Jagtar Singh died before they could be Video of drug sale in Tarn Taran village goes viral dairies led to problems related to sanitation, cleanliness, environmental pollution and public health. Such dairies also caused inconvenience to residents, they added. Additional Municipal Commissioner Jai Inder Singh said violators would be dealt with sternly. The civic body has advised dairy owners to comply with rules and shift their dairies to authorised locations. Shergill said action against unauthorised dairies would continue as part of efforts to improve sanitation and maintain a clean and healthy urban environment in the city. Amritsar, August11 The scars of Partition and its aftermath have only deepened with the passage of time. A chill runs down spine if one tries to gauge the mental health trauma and the societal breakdown that followed. Among the millions who fled, fought, or fell, there existed a quieter tragedy, one almost erased from memory. A total of 450 psychiatric patients — Hindu and Sikh — were lifted and carried across a border they could neither see nor understand. They came from hospitals of Lahore, Sindh and Peshawar, and arrived in Amritsar, a place most of them had never seen before. While the world around them burnt with the logic of religion and nation, these men and women lived in a different reality. One of locked wards, familiar corridors and the small routines that had become the centre of their universe. They could not choose. They could not protest with any lasting voice. They simply were moved as if history itself had decided their bodies no longer Displacement of 450 psychiatric patients nobody talked about Patients from Lahore found home in Dr Vidya Sagar Institute of Mental Health in Amritsar. belonged where their memories still lived. By 1950, around 317 had been brought from Lahore’s Mental Hospital. Another 133 arrived from institutions farther west. They were sheltered first in a building once used by the Department of Criminal Tribes, the same ground where Dr Vidya Sagar Institute of Mental Health stands today. Of the 450, as many as 282 Punjabi patients remained in Amritsar. The remaining were sent to Ranchi. The cruelty had begun earli- c m y b er than the official exchange. On the last day of July 1947, Lord Mountbatten noted in his diary that Punjab Mental Hospital would remain shared for a time. He recorded the quiet protests of Hindu inmates who feared being left behind, and the reassurances given to them that their dread was imagined. History, of course, proved otherwise. Of the 650, who had lived in a Lahore asylum before Partition, only 317 were still alive three years later while 210 in 1947 alone. No writer captured their bewilderment more perfectly than Saadat Hasan Manto. In Toba Tek Singh, the character Bishen Singh stands in the barren strip between two new countries and refuses to move. He cannot accept the logic that has declared his birthplace foreign. He dies there, in the noman’s land, a man without a nation because the idea of nations has become too strange for his mind to hold. The patients of Lahore, Sindh, and Peshawar never continued on page 2 Amritsar, August 11 As if a rise in sugar prices was not enough, the soaring cost of brown sugar, shakkar and jaggery between 10 and 15 per cent in the past one month has put a dent in consumers’ pocket. Experts say the rising prices would have a severe impact on sweetmeat sellers. Sandeep Gupta, one of the leading grocers in the city, said a kilogram of sugar cost anything between Rs 54 and Rs 56. Earlier, the price was between Rs 46 and Rs 48. Shakkar’s price rose from Rs 80 to Rs 90, jaggery from Rs 80 to Rs 90 and brown sugar from Rs 75 to Rs 90. Gupta said the sudden jump in the prices of sugar and other products had left them wondering if essential items would remain affordable anymore. He stated that sugar diversion for ethanol production needed to be regulated by the government to keep sugar prices within a stable range. At the same time, the government must ensure that unsolicited persons should not be stocking up on sugar to sell it at higher prices. Rakesh Thukral, president of the Achaar Murabba Association, Punjab, said: “Apple has already started arriving in the Sellers feel diversion of sugar for ethanol needs to be regulated market from adjoining hill states of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. There is always a high demand for apple murabba. “Consumers will have to shell out more to buy products having sugar as the main ingredient.” Sanket Kamboj, proprietor of a leading traditional sweetmeat outlet, ruled out any price rise in the cost of sweets at this juncture. There was no increase after the recent hike in dry fruit prices by about 7 per cent recently. RSS Kaler, professor, sugar technology, department of food science, Guru Nanak Dev University, said the country had surplus sugar stocks. “There is no shortage of sugar. Prices of sugarcane and labour charges have been increasing and the Punjab Government is paying the highest procurement price of sugarcane to farmers in the country,” he added. He said cost of sugar increased by Rs 7 to Rs 8 and it was good for the industry. “It will infuse liquidity in the sugarcane industry. Health awareness among consumers have driven them to cut down on sugar,” Kaler stated.