Two flesh trade rackets busted
Amritsar, October 1
The city police today claimed to have busted two flesh trade rackets and arrested as many as 16 persons, including eight girls.

Amritsar, October 1
William Masih, a rickshaw puller, hailing from Gurdaspur was found murdered in Ranjit Avenue C-block area here today.

He was apparently strangled to death. His hand and legs were cuffed before he was murdered by the persons. The police has informed his family members.

The body was located by people who were passing through the area. The body was found in the shrubs at a secluded place in the Ranjit Avenue area. They immediately informed the police.

Manjit Singh, SHO, Ranjit Avenue police station, said a case under Section 302 of the IPC was being lodged against unidentified persons. He said the police was waiting for the family members and further action would be taken after recording their statements.

Nishan Singh, in charge, Ranjit avenue police chowki said the preliminary investigations revealed that Masih who belonged to the Dhariwal area in Gurdaspur was strangled to death. The police team found a rope around his neck used in the crime. His hands and legs were also tied by ropes. He said he was killed somewhere else and later his body was thrown in the shrubs. There were no other injury marks on his body.

He said later his rickshaw was also recovered from the Rattan Singh Chowk area. He said further investigations were going on. 

Amritsar, October 1
Already high on success and popularity, the Punjabi music industry is ready to welcome another celebration of its talent. Amritsar will host the first Punjabi Music Festival on October 20.

Bringing the biggest names in the industry and honouring celebrated talent amongst them, the festival to be held at Amritsar College of Engineering, Manawala, will be all about combining the traditional and commercial forms of Punjabi music. Announcing the festival, culture promoter and organiser Navtej Sandhu shared the need for having such an event. “God has been very kind on Punjab in bestowing such a pool of talent in music. We wanted to honour the stalwarts of the industry who have contributed in making Punjabi music a worldwide phenomenon and also motivate young artistes who are ready to take the baton from their predecessors.”

The festival will be a glittering star night where prominent names of the industry would be nominated and honoured in various categories.

Also present on the occasion was renowned singer Hans Raj Hans, who felt that such an event would also become a platform for the music fraternity to join hands for a cause. “It would be an event where who’s who of the industry will be present. It would be an opportunity for all of us to join hands and work towards a cause," said the singer who is nominated for the Legend of Punjabi music category.

Others nominated in various categories include Gurmeet Bawa (Lifetime Achievement Honour), singer Sarbjit Cheema (Goonj Punjab Di), Dolly Guleria (Maan Punjab Da), Tejwant Kittu (Best Music Director) and more. Their would be special honours in memory of some legends of the industry like Kuldip Manak Honour for Harjit Harman, Shiv Kumar Batalvi Honour for Amardeep Gill and Pargat Sidhu and Hakam Sufi Honour for Lakhwinder Wadali. Singer Sherry Maan would be presented with Youth Icon award while Meenu Sandhu will recieve Best Debutant Singer. And Viewer’s Choice honour will go to Rana Ranbir and Yuvraj Hans. 

Amritsar, October 1
The city police has booked three advocates for allegedly duping one Kishan Lal Gupta of Ranjit Avenue area here.

In a statement to the police, Gupta alleged that advocates Kultar Singh, Sukhbir Singh and Karanbir Singh had cheated him of Rs 1.5 lakh.

He said there was a dispute between him and his landlord, Raghbir Singh, over a house. In December 2010, the advocates offered to intervene in the matter and told him that he could purchase the house.

He said a deal was finalised for Rs 36.50 lakh and he gave Rs 1.5 lakh in advance to the advocates. He said on the date of registry on March 31, 2011, they did not turn up. Gupta said on September 21 the accused called him and his daughter and used abusive language against them and also threatened them of dire consequences. He said the advocates also did not return his money.

The police said a case under Sections 420, 506 and 120-B IPC had been registered against the advocates and further investigations were on. 

Amritsar, October 1
The Municipal Corporation has denied information regarding number of private schools being run in the city and house tax being paid by these schools, alleged RTI activist Sandy Randhawa.

He said over the past decade, a number of private schools, national chain of schools and even those run by societies have come up in and around the city.

He said a majority of these schools are housed in palatial buildings, covering hundreds of acres of land which was once under agriculture. He maintained that these schools were charging hefty fees from students and it was the right of citizens to know whether they were paying the entire dues or not.

Furnishing the copy of the letter he wrote to the Public Information Officer, MC, on July 25, he sought that at what rate these schools pay house tax and how much so far has been collected? He also asked that did schools need to seek Change of Land Use (CLU).

When he didn’t get a reply, Randhawa gave a reminder to the same authority on August 27 as a first appeal.

It took another nearly two months to the APIO of the MC to react. The APIO in a communiqué on September 20 intimated him that the information regarding the private schools in the city does not exist and available in material form. “A research work is required to tabulate, to collate and create new information for you which is not permissible as per the RTI Act, 2005.”

In a separate RTI, a city resident PC Sharma alleged that his query regarding the reason of exempting house tax to a school and the powers under which it was exempted did not elicit positive response. He maintained that he was constrained to write to the Secretary, Vigilance, Punjab, regarding the exemption. 

Amritsar, October 1
It’s an age-old thing, or says an old-age thing. The moment you enter the senior citizen phase in life, everything comes with a perspective. Ageing comes with a fear attached, for most it means end of fun. But for some, it means the fun has just begun.

Amritsar, October 1
Even after a month of taking over the possession of shops or houses inside the Durgiana Mandir Complex for the proposed beautification project by the Land Acquisition Department, none of the owners or the tenants have received compensation.

The authorities have served notices to 54 shopkeepers, while eight shops have already been demolished.

The displaced traders and residents alleged that their claim applications had been rejected on frivolous grounds by the authorities.

On the other hand, officials maintained that the claimants could not furnish the requisite documents to establish their ownership rights on the ‘surrendered’ property.

The Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT), under whose supervision this project would be executed, has awarded the work to construct a commercial complex in the first phase to a local firm, which has already started the work.

The authorities had assured the shopkeepers on new accommodation in the upcoming complex at reserve price.

Raghunandan, who owns a shop-cum-residence in the Durgiana complex, was dejected by the negligence and non-cooperative attitude of the department. “I have been travelling from Improvement Trust office to the MC’s MTP department with the documents of my property deed on the basis of which I had claimed compensation. Even after a lapse of over a month, no department has reached a logical conclusion,” he said.

Gaurav, who runs an ice-cream shop, and lives on the upper floors with his family has decided to move court against the authorities. “Despite numerous reminders about my compensation, no one from the authorities’ sides cared to reply,” he said.

Vipin Sachdeva, who had been running a printing press from three shops for the past over five decades, resented that the authorities should have made an alternative arrangements for them before acquiring their shops.

“The proposed commercial complex would take over a year to complete. Where would I shift my machinery till then?" he asked.

Amritsar, October 1
The Civil Line police has arrested two persons for allegedly betting during the T-20 Cricket World Cup match. However, an accomplice of the accused managed to escape from the spot.

The arrested persons have been identified as Hargoind Singh, a resident of Ranjit Vihar, and Naveen Kumar, a resident of Gali Masit Wali, Islamabad area, while Hargoind’s son, Jaskaran Singh Sodhi, managed to dodge the police.

However, Jaskaran and Sahil Kumar, owner of a hotel on the Albert road, were booked by the Civil Line police on Saturday in connection with a firing incident at Barishta Coffee House in Ranjit Avenue.

The police has registered a case under Sections 420 of the IPC and 13-A/3/67 of the Gambling act against the accused.

The police has recovered five mobile phones and registers and other documents from the spot. The registers contain the names of suspected customers who had betted on the cricket match.

Investigating Officer Nishan Singh said Hargoind was wanted in many cases of smuggling of fake currency, gold biscuits and narcotic substances. He was recently released from a jail on bail. He said further investigations were on and raids were being conducted to nab Jaskarn.

Amritsar, October 1
Revenue offices nowadays are witnessing an unexpected flow of visitors. Reason: The visitors want to register their properties before the new rule of bringing along the original owner while registering properties through the power of attorneys comes into effect.

The new rule would come into force after 2 months.

Hundreds of people gather in front of the windows outside Sub-Registrar office I and II as early as five in the morning.

This inflow of visitors has somewhat worried the limited employees of the department.

Unable to handle the rush of people, a clerk of Amritsar -2 fainted a few days ago and had to be rushed to a private hospital. It prompted the Deputy Commissioner Office Employees Association to submit a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal to review the new “token system” and increase the strength of staff and material.

Association president Ashunil Kumar said the workload had increased alarmingly while the number of employees remained the same. There are only four employees while two computer sets in each branch.

The administration has introduced a ‘token system’ at these offices some days ago.

Once the new rule come into effect, it will be mandatory for the seller who had sold the property through a power of attorney to be present during its registration and should declare that he had received the amount. Similarly, the buyer must disclose the source of the money. Buyers who had procured the plots and houses years ago are flocking the office to escape the new rule.

A resident of Medical Enclave Swarn Singh said earlier model used to consume a day and now at least three days are to be reserved for the same work.

Sunil Kumar, a resident of Lohgarh, said he had procured a plot on Loharka road some years ago. After learning about the rules, he visited the Revenue department office at 6:30 am on Friday and managed to submit his all papers only at 12 pm.

Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia in a press release welcomed the newly introduced token system in tehsil office of Amritsar.

He said the token system had been introduced to streamline the procedure of registration of land and other properties.

He accepted that there is a shortage of manpower and infrastructure in Amritsar tehsil and said it would be taken care of with the appointment of more officials. 

Amritsar, October 1
Various Sikh and human rights organisations would launch a campaign “Forgotten Citizens” on the 28th anniversary of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

This was stated by Supreme Court lawyer HS Phoolka while releasing Jassi Jasraj’s musical album “Tejab-1984”, dedicated to the victims of the riots, here today. The album contains four songs and a narrative of 35 minutes by Phoolka explaining what happened in the communal frenzy.

He said the entire campaign would be aimed at drawing the attention of the nation towards delay in getting justice for the victims of the carnage. He said a peaceful programme in the memory of nearly 3,000 persons who perished in the riots would be held at the India Gate on November 3. Meanwhile, a mobile photo exhibition, which would start from Jallianwala Bagh on October 21, would culminate in New Delhi on November 1.

For the first four days, the exhibition would remain in the holy city and after that it would reach Sultanpur Lodhi on October 25 and after covering Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Fatehgarh Sahib, the exhibition would remain opened at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib in Delhi from November 1 to 5.

Amritsar, October 1
Shanti Devi Arya Mahila College, Dina Nagar, won the Championship Trophy of 'A' Division and Sikh National College, Qadian, won the Championship Trophy of 'B' Division of Zonal Youth Festival of 'B' Zone of the Guru Nanak Dev University.

The festival concluded here today in the Dashmesh Auditorium of the university. More than 600 students from university-affiliated colleges from Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran districts participated in 24 events.

In 'A' Division, RR Bawa DAV College for Girls, Batala, was runners-up while SRPA AB College, Pathankot, finished third. In 'B' Division, Guru Arjun Dev Khalsa College, Chohla Sahib, was the runners-up.

Dr Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, Professor, in charge (F & D), said the cultural activities were also essential for students along with studies. He exhorted students to work hard. “The students should make sure that their studies should not suffer with these activities. The youth festivals provide a platform for youth to show their hidden talent and to develop their personality,” he said.

Amritsar, OCtober 1
Six years back, Gavie Chahal was just another aspiring actor in Punjabi cinema, who shifted base to Mumbai, struggled to get work and didn’t even had any right connections. But that didn’t stop him from making the best possible debut in Bollywood and doing what any newcomer has not yet done – punching Salman Khan on screen. Well, the Punjabi hunk has hit it right with 'Ek Tha Tiger' and is back to his first love, Punjabi cinema. On his recent visit to Amritsar to promote his Punjabi film 'Pinki Moge Wali' opposite Neeru Bajwa, the actor got candid about his latest release, a dream debut and finding his own space in tinseltown.

“I’ll be coming back to Punjabi cinema after a long time with 'Pinki Moge Wali'. It’s an amazing comedy and a sweet love story that will surely entertain audiences. I have already received messages from fans and peers on the film doing good in Punjab.”

The Punjabi actor who was earlier seen in movies like 'Yaaran Naal Baharan', 'Mehndi Wale Hath' et al believes in quality work and is not bothered by the numbers. “I waited for the right kind of projects and scripts to come by. I wanted to do roles that people appreciated and not just be another blink-and-miss character. The Punjabi cinema has hit its purple patch and we have the luxury to choose and experiment with our characters as actors now," he shares.

As for his Bollywood dreams, Gavie took his time before getting his dream debut. “I consider myself lucky to have bagged a film like 'Ek Tha Tiger', working with one of the best production houses, director Kabir Khan and the superstar of Bollywood Salman Khan. I’d call it a perfect combo,” he says. Well, a word of appreciation from the man himself, Yash Chopra, was the icing on the cake. “I felt elated and motivated after his kind words after watching my performance. I’ll remember that forever.” After an impressive debut, gathering appreciation and awards for it as well, Gavie finally seems to have paved way for more Punjabi actors to be a part of the big game.

Amritsar, October 1
Yet again, another set of traffic management plan which has been launched recently, seem to be nothing but an old wine in a new bottle.

In 2007 too, a traffic plan hosted with similar fanfare was released in collaboration with the MC and the police department, but it was largely restricted to paper only.

Nevertheless, the ground realities like the ill equipped traffic police department, lack of infrastructure for road safety, the unauthorized plying of vehicles and the MC’s inability to remove the massive encroachments on the roadsides-could never be addressed. Sources said that the Amritsar traffic department which contributes over Rs 50 lac in the state exchequer by way of depositing the penalties collected from the traffic violators, could never find prominent place on the agenda of the government.

There are around 200 police men in Amritsar traffic police. This included an ADCP, an ACP, two inspectors, four Sub-inspectors, 15 Assistant Sub Inspectors and the rest as head constables and constables. They share the responsibility of governing over 10 lakh vehicles plying on city roads and often find themselves helpless to curb the blatant traffic violations for want of equipments.

Numerous times it has been observed that the two wheelers driving without helmets or the ones who jump the traffic signal or use mobile phones while driving, manage to flee and the cops on duty become helpless because they do not have wireless communication which could enable them to nab the offenders at next point. Similarly, the alcometers to check the drunken driving and the CCTV cameras on the key points remained as mere announcements on political dais.

A traffic cop told that most of the times, they have to use their own private vehicles to perform the official job.

The police department has two tow-away vans to deal with the wrongly parked vehicles. Interestingly, it was their operators only who told that these vehicles would often remain out of fuel.

“We avoid using the tow away vehicles because of fuel constraints. On many occasions, we thought of including the fuel expenses in the wrong parking penalties but that too is a tedious exercise because the offenders here manage to get scot-free after using their influential contacts”, said a cop.