Amritsar, July 5
The Government Railway Police (GRP) today nabbed four robbers, allegedly involved in looting of train passengers.

The four robbers in the Government Railway Police custody in Amritsar on Friday. Photo: Sameer Sehgal

They were arrested near the railway station when they were planning to loot passengers. The robbers were identified as Gurbhej Singh of Sultanwind, Ravinder Kumar of Ludhiana, Jaswinder Singh of Kapurthala and Raju of Rohtak (Haryana). They were arrested from beneath a foot bridge that connects the GT Road with the Goal Bagh area following a tip-off, revealed Dharminder Kalyan, SHO, GRP police station.

While detailing he said the robbers confessed to have committed four such lootings. The robbers used to target migrants coming from Uttar Pradesh or Bihar. The police recovered two sharp-edged weapons, besides a toy pistol from their possession.

About their modus oprendi, he said, the robbers used to catch train from Beas or Manawala railway station and identifying the target, who were alone. As soon as the victim reached near a secluded place they used to waylay him and snatch whatever he had.

He said a case under Section 401 of the IPC and Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act was registered against them. They were remanded in a three-day police custody, he said.

Meanwhile, the Majitha Road police claimed to have arrested three thieves and recovered four gold bangles, two gold chains, two lockets, a mobile phone and a debit card from their possession.

The thieves have been identified as Rupinderjit Singh, Bikramjit Singh and Satinder Singh, all residents of Kale village in the Chheharta area. The police said the thieves had stolen the recovered material from a residence located in Nirankari Colony on June 25.

Amritsar, July 5
Thirteen persons have been booked for attempt to murder by the Gate Hakima police.

Balwinder Singh, resident of Kirtangarh village, had complained to the police that Mohinder Singh had won the post of sarpanch by defeating Satnam Singh of opposite group by a margin of several votes. After celebrating his win at the residence of one of their group member they were going to leave Mohinder Singh to his home when they were attacked by Satnam and his accomplices, who were armed with pistols and sharp-edged weapons.

He alleged that Satnam and his accomplices shot at them injuring three of them. The injured were rushed to the Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial Civil Hospital, from where they were referred to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital.

The incident occurred late in the evening of June 3. However, the case was only registered only last evening, following the statement of Balwinder.

Those booked are Satnam Singh, his son Sukhdev Singh, Gurnam Singh, Ram Singh, Shamsher Singh, Taba, Amit, Gurdev Singh, Nirmal Singh, Jarnail Singh, Gurdev Singh, Buta Gujarpuria and Ranjodh Singh, all residents of Kirtangarh village.

Salwinder Singh, investigating officer and in charge of the Fatahpur police post, said a case under Sections 307, 324, 323, 148 and 149 of the IPC was registered, while no arrest had been made so far as the accused had been absconding since the incident.

Amritsar, July 5
Setting a benchmark worth emulating by all religious nagar kirtans in future, various Sikh organisations, led by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), in collaboration with EcoAmritsar today took out a "green" nagar kirtan to celebrate the foundation day of Amritsar.

The participants in the religious procession ensured that the city roads were not littered. The nagar kirtan started from Gurdwara Patshahi Chhevi, Ranjit Avenue.

Children holding placards with messages of water harvesting, reducing waste, conserving energy and promoting organic farming to achieve the mission of the EcoAmritsar of a "cleaner and greener city" by 2017 inspired the residents.

Stalls of "chhabeel" and "langar" were installed en route the nagar kirtan, but it did not leave the trail of litter and garbage behind. Instead, volunteers made it a point to throw the refuse in dustbins.

Disposable plates and glasses, besides other refuse, were collected and thrown in dustbins.

Chairman of the EcoAmritsar Gunbir Singh said from the very beginning the focus was on small initiatives that would help the city go cleaner and greener in the longer run. To achieve the target of "green" Amritsar they were roping in industries, which had pledged to curb effluent discharge. "This is a people's project and needs popular support to succeed and become effective as no single individual or organisation can accomplish what we have set out to achieve, but the collective will and endeavour by residents can bring about a change in the city. Our slogan is Amritsar - My City, My Pride, My Responsibility!"

Akal Takht jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh today kickstarted a green drive by planting five saplings in the garden in front of Guru Ramdas Langer Hall inside the Golden Temple complex. These saplings were of neem, imli (tamarind), reetha, amla and amb (mango). Later a kirtan darbar was held at Gurdwara Bibeksar.

Meanwhile, as a part of the celebration of the foundation day of Amritsar a painting exhibition, focusing on the holy city, especially the Golden Temple, made by 22 artists, was inaugurated at Thakur Singh Art Gallery by its president Mohinderjit Singh.

Amritsar, July 5
Following directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the district administration has designated some sites where organisations or residents can hold demonstrations and agitations. From now on, organising protests and demonstrations in parts of the district other than the designated sites would invite serious penal action.

Deputy Commissioner Rajat Agarwal said the administration had designated several places at the district and subdivisional levels for organising protests, dharnas and rallies.

He said in the city the dharnas and rallies could be organized only at E-Block of Ranjit Avenue, while the Ajnala grain market and Sathiala grain market had been designated for Ajnala and Baba Bakala subdivisions, respectively.

“The step has been taken following the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and nobody would be allowed to violate the norms,” he said, while adding that if anybody tried to flout the rule punitive action would be initiated against him.

Earlier, various organisations used to hold protests at the Hall Gate, Bhandari Bridge or any other road where they wished to, thus leading to severe traffic chaos. Sometimes it led to serious brawls between agitators and commuters. The traffic police also used to have tough times while diverting the traffic to other roads.

Children play in the rainwater in Amritsar on Friday

Amritsar, July 5
Heavy rain lashed different parts of the holy city today and brought respite from the hot and humid conditions prevailing in the region for the past over a week.

It has exposed the hollow claims of the civic authorities as the key roads in the city were inundating with the rain water which gave a tough time to the commuters.

A majority of roads in the walled city, low-lying areas, Putlighar, Elevated Road, Taylor Road, Madan Mohal Malviya Road, Lawrence road were the affected areas.

Commuters, especially the two-wheeler riders, were finding it difficult to drive through the knee-deep water logged on various city roads. They were found stranded after their vehicles stopped right in the middle of the water-logged road.

This also brought forward the ill-preparedness of the Municipal Corporation as the monsoon is likely to hit the city in a day or two. Every year the city faces the problem of water logging, but the civic authorities have failed to devise an appropriate plan to end the problem. The de-silting of drains initiated by the MC authorities also proved inadequate. After the de-silting process, they were confident that there would be no such problem this year, but what happened was just opposite to their claims. They are now blaming the old topography of the city, besides encroachments on the roads. Lack of civic sense, deficient infrastructure and rising population are the other major reasons for the water logging.

As the rain lashed the city, the commuters were forced to take shelters in the roadside shops and trees to save themselves from the incessant rain that continued for over two hours.

It also uplifted the mood in the city as the people are eagerly waiting for the monsoons. Children and youth were seen enjoying rain.

Amritsar, July 5
Even as the Indian Railways has launched a new train connecting the Amritsar city with Takht Sri Hazur Sahib in Nanded (Maharashtra), passengers rue that the long distance Amritsar-Nanded Express does not have a pantry car to serve freshly-cooked food.

Amritsar-Nanded Express departs on every Monday and returns on Wednesday. Gurbaksh Singh, a passenger who returned here by the train yesterday, said he preferred the train as its route was a little shorter than the daily Sachkhand Express.

However, he was surprised after knowing that there was no pantry in the train. He urged the Railway authorities to introduce pantry.

Sachkhand Express takes about 35 hours to cover nearly 2,081 km. While the newly-launched Amritsar-Nanded Express takes a little over 33 hours to cover a distance of 1,941 km.

Amritsar, July 5
Sharman Kaur of BBK DAV College for Women has topped the Guru Nanak Dev University in BA (Hons.)in English final year examination held in April this year.

Sharman secured 66.55 per cent while Pallavi Gupta of the same college stood second in the merit list with 66.35 per cent. Sharman attributes her success to her parents and the college teachers for their able guidance.

About her future plans, Sharman informed that she would join GNDU for her post graduation in English (Hons).