10072025-JTR-01.qxd 7/9/2025 10:46 PM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune LAND POOLING POLICY WILL SPELL DOOM FOR FARMERS: BJP WATERLOGGING AT DAKHNI ADDA TORMENTS RESIDENTS Residents of Nakodar remain a harried lot due to the inundation at Dakhni Adda and the chowk there. P3 PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 31°C | MIN 27°C YESTERDAY MAX 32°C | MIN 27°C NEPOTISM NOT CONFINED TO JUST FILM INDUSTRY Vijay Sampla said the land pooling scheme would spell doom for farmers and the state’s economy. P2 FORECAST Audiences will reject what is substandard & appreciate, when an actor star kid or not, delivers, says director Santosh. P4 » » SUNSET THURSDAY 7.34 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 5:31 AM » THURSDAY | 10 JULY 2025 | JALANDHAR INBRIEF VILLAGER SHOT AT BY 2 BIKERS Phagwara: Two unidentified armed motorcyclist youths shot at one villager in Bhakhriaana near Rawalpindi (Phagwara) tonight. The injured Paramjit Singh (63), along with his friend Manjit Singh was going to meet village panchayat member when the assailants opened fire and managed to flee. Paramjit Singh was brought to the local Civil Hospital with bullet injuries on his leg. The police recovered two cartridge shells from the spot. OC YOUTH DIES BY SUICIDE Phagwara: A man allegedly died by suicide at his home in the Sheikhanwala locality of Kapurthala on Wednesday. The deceased has been identified as Sunny of the Focal Point area in Jalandhar. Sunny had been staying with his relatives for the past few days. Preliminary investigation suggests that he had been under mental stress. He was found hanging from a ceiling fan in the house. The police reached the spot shortly after receiving information and took the body into custody. OC MAN BOOKED FOR BATTERIES’ THEFT Phagwara: The Shahkot police have booked a man on the charge of stealing batteries from mobile towers. The accused has been identified as Jaswindar Singh of Chak Duhewal village in Muktsar Sahib district. Akash Deep of Mudh village in Nakodar complained to the police that the accused stole batteries from the mobile towers of Airtel on July 4. Raids are being conducted to nab him. OC Pvt operators make hay as roadways buses go off road Earn ~20 lakh more |After govt assurances, unions call off strike Meanwhile, members of the contractual staff staged a dharna outside the Punjab Roadways workshop. Later in the evening, their senior representatives met the Transport Minister in Chandigarh to raise the demand of regularisation of the staff after which the union got some assurances. Minister Bhagat visits ESI Hospital, reviews facilities Aparna Banerji Tribune News Service 3 NABBED FOR SNATCHING CASH Phagwara: The Nurmahal police have arrested three miscreants on the charge of snatching cash and a mobile from a migrant. The accused have been identified as Harpreet Singh, Sunil Kumar and Jaskaran Singh of Lohgarh village. Shankar of UP and resident at Shamshabad village, complained to the police that the accused snatched Rs 500 and a mobile handset from him near the village on July 8. A case had been registered against the accused. OC 2 ARRESTED FOR ABETTING SUICIDE Phagwara: The Nakodar police have arrested two women, including the wife of the deceased, for abetting suicide and criminal conspiracy. The accused has been identified as Gurpreet Kaur, alias Parsini, wife of the deceased Bikram Singh of Mohalla Sarai, Nakodar, her sister Rakhi of Kaji Mandi, Jalandhar. Vipin Kumar, father of the deceased Bikram Singh, had complained to the police that his son was being harassed by both sisters of Gurpreet Kaur. oc TWO HELD UNDER NDPS ACT Phagwara: The Nakodar police have arrested a drug peddler on the charge of selling heroin. Six gram of heroin was recovered from the possession of the accused Badshah Khan of Pandori Khas village. A case under Sections 21-B/ 61 / 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against the accused. The Mehatpur police arrested Kulwindar Singh of Chhohle village with 19 intoxicating tablets. oc Jalandhar, July 9 Cabinet Minister Mohinder Bhagat today conducted a surprise inspection of ESI Hospital, Jalandhar. The Horticulture, Freedom Fighters and Defence Services Welfare Minister visited various departments in the hospital and intertacted with patients to review whether the benefits of government schemes and facilties were being received by them. The minister’s visit comes close on the heels of the government’s declaration of extension of health insurance cover to each family of the state to the tune of Rs 10 lakh per annum under the “Mukh Mantri Sehat Beema Yojna’ from October 2. The minister said all health benefits, including the newly launched scheme, will be ensured for industrial workers. The minister visited the hospital’s various departments, including OPD, emer- Cabinet Minister Mohinder Bhagat talks to the attendant of a patient in ESI Hospital in Jalandhar.TRIBUNE PHOTO:MALKIAT SINGH. gency, eye, orthopaedics, dental, medicine and surgery departments and reviewed the health facilities. He also took patients’ feedback regarding health services. Expressing satisfaction over the services being provided to the patients, Bhagat urged the hospital authorities to improve these services so that ESI beneficiaries can receive timely, effective, and quality healthcare. Interacting with the media, Bhagat said every employee, who was contributing regularly to the ESI, should get the best health services. He also emphasised that the authorities should further generate awareness among employees regarding the health schemes and facilities of the ESIC. Our Correspondent Gurpreet Singh, member of Punjab Roadways, Punbus, and PRTC Contractual Workers Union, said the strike had been called off in the evening. “While the strike was to continue till July 11, we have decided to conclude it today. The bus services will resume by late evening”, he said. Man, woman jump before train, dead 3 held with 80 gm heroin in K’thala Narcotics seized from woman jail visitor, inmate Phagwara, July 9 A man and a woman died by suicide on Monday afternoon after jumping in front of a train near the railway tracks between Phillaur and Jalandhar. According to Railway Police officials, the victims — a woman aged 46 and a man around 53 — arrived at the railway tracks near Phillaur around 3 PM on a motorcycle. They reportedly parked the two-wheeler near the tracks and jumped before an oncoming Amritsar-bound train, leading to their instant death. The Railway Police outpost in-charge SHO Prem Nath stated that preliminary investigation is underway. “The motive behind the suicide is still unclear. We are in the process of identifying the victims and contacting their families,” he said. The motorcycle found at the scene bore the registration number PB-91-5624, which is registered to Narinder Singh, a resident of Pratap Nagar, Ludhiana. — OC Our Correspondent Our Correspondent Phagwara, July 9 In a major crackdown on drug trafficking, the Kapurthala police have arrested three individuals in two separate operations and seized 80 gram of heroin. The arrests were made under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and further investigation is underway. In the first incident, a team of the CIA staff led by ASI Keval Singh apprehended a woman near the Lakhan Kalan village turn. The accused has been identified as Meeko, a resident of Lakhan Khole village. During the search, the police recovered 40 gram of heroin from her possession. A case has been registered at Sadar Police Station, and the woman was produced in court and sent to judicial Phagwara, July 9 A woman visitor and an undertrial prisoner were caught with narcotics during separate search operations at Kapurthala Modern Jail. The contraband included 28 gram of suspected narcotics recovered from the woman and 10 gram from the inmate. According to SHO Harinder Singh of Kotwali Police Station, the woman has been arrested and produced in a court, which granted her a one-day police remand. In a complaint filed by Assistant Jail Superintendent Satpal Singh, it was reported that woman Kirandeep Kaur of Dogranwal village in Subhanpur came to visit an inmate. Acting on suspicion, security personnel searched her and allegedly found 28 gram of narcotics in her possession. She was taken into custody and a case was registered at Kotwali police station. In a separate incident, Assistant Jail Superintendent Dheeraj Kumar reported that inmate Gurmehak Sharma was searched at the jail’s entrance gate, where 10 gram of narcotics and some tobacco were allegedly found in his possession. A separate FIR has also been lodged against him. Jalandhar bus stand wears a deserted look amid strike by trade unions. PHOTO: MALKIAT SINGH harassment. “The private operators ply buses as per their whims and fancies. They stop at every intersection on the way, every small town, which makes the travel time longer”, said Sumandeep, a government school teacher, commuting to Jalandhar daily from Kapurthala. Short-circuit likely reason, losses pegged at lakhs of rupees Phagwara, July 9 In a tragic incident, Novelty Sweets shop in the posh Hargobind Nagar locality here was gutted by a major fire. The blaze caused extensive damage to property, reducing the interior of the shop, including furniture, air conditioners and sweets inventory, to ashes. Only the main building structure was left standing. According to Shankar Dass Dhir, the owner of the shop, the fire was first spotted by a night watchman. He noticed smoke emanating from the premises around midnight. Acting swiftly, he rushed to inform the family members of shop owner Mintu, Aneek and Sudarshan, who immediately proceeded to the scene. Realising the seriousness of the situation, they contacted the local Fire Brigade. However, by the time fire engines reached the spot, the fire had engulfed much of the shop. The intensity of the blaze made firefighting a challenging task. It took five fire tenders and more than three hours of continuous effort to bring the situation under control. Tribune News Service Jalandhar, July 9 Private bus operators in the region had a field day on Wednesday as their buses remained in high demand owing to the strike by the contractual staff of PUNBUS, the PRTC and Punjab Roadways. The private bus operators are learnt to have made over Rs 20 lakh additional income in a single day from Jalandhar. The staff had been on strike on a call by trade unions to hold a nationwide strike for three days from today. As many as 200 buses connecting the city with other parts of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, New Delhi, Jammu and Rajasthan remained off road in Jalandhar. On all these routes, transport firms had deployed more buses and staff to take advantage of the strike. Punjab Roadways officials said the department incurred losses to the tune of Rs 2.25 crore from across Punjab. Even the daily commuters, especially the women who get to travel for free in government buses, had to face ‘Novelty Sweets’ gutted by massive fire in Phagwara The blaze caused extensive damage to property. Eyewitnesses described the fire as fierce and fast-spreading, with flames shooting high into the air and thick smoke blanketing the area. Despite the swift response, the rapid spread of the fire left little room for salvage. Most of the goods, including expensive electrical fittings, display counters, storage cabinets, and raw materials, were destroyed. Preliminary investigations point to a short circuit in the internal power lines as the likely cause of the fire. The financial loss, though custody. In a separate operation, the Subhanpur police intercepted a car at the Subhanpur Chowk. Two men, identified as Varinder Singh, alias Mangli, and his associate Ravipal, both residents of Jalandhar, were taken into custody. After their interrogation, the police seized 40 gram of heroin from near Kala Bakra during the search. SHO Amandeep Kumar of Subhanpur Police Station confirmed that a case has been registered under the NDPS Act and the suspects are being interrogated. The Kapurthala police continue to intensify their efforts against drug trafficking in the region. 114-yr-old ‘Sheesh Mahal’ faces collapse amid heavy rain, neglect Sanjiv Kumar Bakshi Hoshiarpur, July 9 The recent heavy rain has posed a threat to the existence of the iconic ‘’Sheesh Mahal’’, which is considered the identity of the city. Due to heavy rainfall, the firstfloor wall of the 114-year-old building has sustained damage, with several bricks having collapsed. Shopkeepers in the crowded, narrow lanes of Sheesh Mahal Bazaar are concerned about the potential risk of the building collapsing. The ‘Sheesh Mahal’ building, a historic masterpiece constructed by Lala Hans Raj Jain in 1911, has stood as a symbol of Hoshiarpur for over a century. This three-storey structure features intricate glass craftsmanship, with beautifully Part of main wall of first floor damaged, nearby shopkeepers in fear carved statues of deities, British officials and soldiers, and a striking depiction of the coronation of King George V. The ceilings are adorned with elaborate glasswork and scenes of fairies and heavenly realms have been artistically rendered. Closed to the public for many years, the building has steadily deteriorated, and recent heavy rain has further worsened its condition. During last week’s downpour, part of the first-floor wall was damaged, heightening the risk not only to the Sheesh Mahal itself, but also to the surrounding shops. During the previous Congress government’s tenure, a restoration project worth ?1 crore was proposed to preserve the historic ‘Sheesh Mahal.’ Although there were later assurances that funds would be released, the project has yet to materialise. The recent rain-related damage has further deteriorated the building, raising serious concerns about its structural safety. Local shopkeepers have urged the administration to take immediate action and carry out necessary repairs, citing the potential danger it poses to both the heritage site and nearby businesses. The damaged building of ‘Sheesh Mahal’ in Hoshiarpur. c m y b >> yet to be assessed, is expected to run into several lakhs of rupees, considering the scale of the damage and the shop’s commercial value. Novelty Sweets was one of the most well-known sweet shops in the area, attracting customers from across the city, especially during festive seasons and weddings. No casualties or injuries have been reported in the incident as the fire broke out after business hours and the premises were unoccupied at the time. NGO member attacked; chain, bracelet looted Talwara, July 9 The police have booked four people for assaulting and snatching a gold bracelet and chain from Manohar Lal, a leader of the Khanan Roko, Zameen Bachao Sangharsh Samiti. He told the policethat he was closing his shop in village Bhol Kalota around 7:30 pm on July 4. Four youths on a bike came to his shop. Three of them entered the shop and attacked him with sticks. When he fell on the ground, they took away the gold bracelet from his hand and the gold chain from his neck and fled. OC