Amritsar, November 26
While thousands of auto-rickshaws are plying illegally on the city roads, an RTI plea has revealed that the Traffic Police is apparently lenient over the issue because they have challaned a paltry number of autos for traffic violations.

On the other hand, they have challaned a high number of two-wheelers over the past few years.

The information was gathered by Gurmeet Singh Bablu, a vigilant resident and the president of the Shaheed Udham Singh Society.

“After spending public money worth crores of rupees, the City Bus Service was started here, but these illegal autos resulted in huge losses to the city bus operators. They had even refused to run the service recently. These autos have got a free run in connivance with a section of the Amritsar Traffic Police staff. I was curious to know what action was taken against illegal autos that flout the norms and the information received was eye-opening,” he said.

Ironically, between April 1-December 31, 2005, not a single challan was issued to any auto-rickshaw whereas 3,397 two-wheelers were challaned for violating various traffic norms during the same period.

Between January 1, 2014, to July 31, 2014, only 1,133 autos were challaned, whereas 20 times more challans were issued to two-wheeler riders during the same period. As per information, as many as 23,625 two-wheelers were challaned during this period.

Earlier, in 2013, 4,752 autos was challaned against a whopping figure of 40,154 challans that were issued to two-wheeler riders.

In 2012, only 2,685 autos were issued challans, whereas the two-wheelers’ figure stood at 32,689.

In 2011, only 1,793 autos were challaned. On the other hand, over 70 times more challans (73,956) were issued to the two-wheeler riders. In 2010, as many as 1,406 autos were challaned against 67,014 challans issued to two-wheelers.

It has been observed that the auto drivers violate the Motor Vehicles Act with impunity. Apart from not possessing valid documentation, these overloaded autos are being driven by underage drivers cocking a snook at traffic rules.

Similarly, they ply on the Attari-Wagah route for retreat ceremony at the Joint Check-Post. As per motor-vehicle norms, the autos can operate only within the municipal limits of a city where they are registered. In case of any mishap, no insurance benefit can be claimed under the law. Besides, it is putting the lives of passengers at great risk.

ADCP (traffic) Dhruman Nimbale refused to comment on the issue, but said, “Ever since I assumed charge after August, I can assure you that the challaning figures cannot be like that. We have been continuously arresting auto drivers. Another reason for such a low number of challans for autos could be that as and when the police conducts a drive against them, they pass on the message to their ‘counterparts’ quickly and a majority of them exit out of the city’s jurisdiction for that time frame. We can only take action at the spots that come under the commissionerate jurisdiction. Still, we are planning to take rigorous steps against them in the coming days.”

Amritsar, November 26
Mystery shrouded the death of Anu, alias Sharda (42), a resident of Jagdamba Colony here today.

While her family members alleged that she was killed by her husband and in-laws, police officials said that they were waiting for the postmortem report. The Sadar police, on the other hand, has registered a murder case following the statement of Anu’s brother. The police have also rounded up her husband, identified as Manjit Singh, in this regard.

Balwinder Kumar, brother of the deceased, alleged that he received a phone call from the accused that Anu had jumped from the roof of their house and was serious. He said the family members immediately went to Balwinder’s house and took her to hospital where the doctors declared her dead. He said the deceased had strangulation marks around her neck and there were injury marks on her head.

“Her in-laws did not even bother to take her to hospital so that she could get timely treatment if she had fallen from the roof. Strangulation marks around her neck clearly point out that she was killed and later thrown from the roof in order to make it appear like a suicide,” he alleged. He further alleged that the accused used to harass his sister, who told this to her family a number of times. He said the family had told Manjit Singh to desist from this. They demanded immediate arrest of Manjit Singh, his father Joginder Singh, mother Surjit Kaur and his younger brother.

A neighbour said Manjit woke them up at around 5 am. The families living on the ground floor did not hear any noise of someone falling. He, however, added that quarrels between the couple were frequent.

Nishu, daughter of the deceased, said her father used to fight with her mother over petty issues or for bringing money from her in-laws. Manjit Singh is a tailor. The family lives on the upper floor while they have given the ground floor on rent.

Vavinder Mahajan, SHO, Sadar police station, said a case under Section 302, IPC, had been registered against Manjit Singh on Balwinder Kumar’s statement. He said Manjit Singh had been taken into custody. He said a postmortem examination of the victim was being conducted and the autopsy report was awaited to ascertain the reason behind her death. He said as per initial investigations, the role of Manjit’s parents and his brother in the incident was yet to be ascertained. They live in separate houses, he added. 

Amritsar, November 26
The holy city witnessed two robbery incidents in the past 24 hours in which criminals targeted two goldsmiths. While in one incident, the accused decamped with gold jewellery worth Rs 2 lakh, in the second incident, they took away gold jewellery valued to the tune of over Rs 5 lakh.

In the first instance, a jewellery shop owner, identified as Paramjit Singh, was robbed by several unidentified armed persons in the Sultanwind area late last evening.

Paramjit, a resident of Guru Ram Dass Nagar, stated to the police that around five armed persons barged into his shop on the Sultanwind road at around 9.30 pm, just before he was going to close his shop. He alleged that the accused took away gold jewellery weighing around 200 gm worth over Rs 5 lakh.

The Sultanwind police have registered a case under various sections of the IPC and the Arms Act against unknown robbers.

According to police sources, the police managed to get CCTV footage of the incident in which five armed persons with covered faces were seen committing the robbery at gun point. Parampal Singh, ADCP city-I, said police officials were working on several clues and hopefully the accused would soon be in the police net.

Meanwhile, in another incident, three unidentified persons barged into a house in the Mohan Nagar area on the Sultanwind road and took away gold jewellery worth Rs 2 lakh after keeping an elderly woman hostage.

The accused were armed with sharp-edged weapons. The incident occurred late last evening when the victim identified as Kanwaljit Kaur was alone at home.

She stated to the police that her husband, Harjit Singh, who is a goldsmith and used to manufacture nose pins and ear-rings, had gone out of Punjab for business. Her elder son, Gurinder Singh, along with his wife had gone to some relatives’ home while her younger son, Preet Kamal, had gone to pay obeisance at Gurdwara Shaheed Baba Deep Singh.

She said that a youth knocked at the door and asked for her husband, Harjit Singh. When she told him that he was out of station, he asked for her son. He later said that he had come to give manufactured material to Harjit. As soon as she invited him in, two more unidentified persons with covered faces entered the house. They overpowered her and tied her with a string. Brandishing sharp-edged weapons, they took out the keys of the safe while threatening to kill her. They later covered her mouth with cloth and decamped with a gold chain, five gold rings, four gold locket sets, two gold bangles, ear-rings and a wrist watch. The gold jewellery weighed around 70 gm.

Amrik Singh, SHO, Division B police station, said a case under Section 392, IPC, had been registered and further investigations were on. He said an insider’s hand could not be ruled out.

Amritsar, November 26
The railway authorities have snapped the power supply to the food plaza that had opened at the railway station a few months back as the plaza owner has reportedly failed to pay the electricity bill of Rs 3.40 lakh and other charges.

Without the power supply for the past two days, the company operating the plaza today installed a generator set to run the establishment.

After a long wait, the food plaza was opened for the public in July. It had come up a couple of months back, but its opening was stuck in the rigmarole of formality and documentation.

A Mumbai-based company got the contract to run the plaza at the station here.

It has been a long-pending demand of tourists and visitors at the railway station that there was no regular quality outlet serving multi-cuisine food at the railway station. The footfalls at the railway station are increasing day by day.

As many as 130 trains arrive and depart from the Amritsar railway station every day. It records a daily footfall of over 30,000.

Though company officials were reluctant to comment on the matter, it was learnt that high power tariff, taxes and other costs made eatables costly.

For instance, the railways is charging Rs 11 per power unit from commercial establishments operating from the railway station. On the other hand, the PSPCL charges Rs 6.57 per unit up to 100 kw and above it Rs 6.71 per unit from the non-residential sector.

Vendors allotted shops at the platform said high power rates raise their investment cost and they were forced to charge high cost from consumers. This deprived them of the competitive edge from shopkeepers selling eatables and other merchandise immediately outside the railway station.

The railways had released the power connection after the company deposited the refundable security amount of Rs 6.20 lakh with the Ferozepur division of the Northern Railway under whose control the local railway station falls.

The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) approves the rate list of food items. The food plaza is operating from over 2,250 square feet area (250 square yards). The IRCTC has conceived four food plazas at the railway stations in Chandigarh, Amritsar, Ferozepur and Ambala.

Amritsar, November 26
The star cast of upcoming Punjabi film “Proper Patola” entertained and interacted with their fans in Amritsar on a promotional tour. Young actors Harish Verma and Yuvraj Hans with Pollywood star Neeru Bajwa in tow seemed to be in a fun mood as they talked at length about the upcoming entertainer that releases this Friday.

“I am excited as I’ll be playing a double role for the first time. This project was like a roller coaster ride as I was switching my character from Preet to Jeet and vice versa all the time. It was challenging, interesting and super fun,” said Neeru.

Pairing up with two faces of Neeru are Hans and Verma. It is a story of twin sisters, Jeet and Preet, and their lovers, Yuvi and Raj. A lot of lies fly in order to get things right. But the ultimate result is a lot of confusion and fun. This presentation of Country Media and Speed Records has been produced by Deepak Lalwani and directed by Harish Vyas. Amit Saxena is the writer and co-director of the film. Other actors include Ashish Duggal, Anita Devgan, Harpal Singh, Neeta Mohindra, Bunny, Teji Sandhu, Harby Sangha and Master Prabhjot.

Initially hesitant to play the double role, Neeru said her co-stars made it possible for her to maintain the different moods of the two characters. The pair of Hans and Verma promises to prove third-time lucky after “Yaar Anmulle” and “Buraaaaah”. “Harish is like my elder brother and we never miss a chance to work together. I suggested his name immediately after the story was narrated to me,” said Yuvraj. Harish also feels that his timing with Yuvraj is God-gifted as the actor believes that the real bond starts from real life and then proceeds to the reel business. The music of the film has been composed by Jassi Katyal and Saurabh Kalsi. Producer Deepak Lalwani said they did not leave any stone unturned while working on this project. “No compromises were made in any department as we are looking forward to a long innings in this industry and entertaining the audiences every time we hit the floor. The film is good production-wise as well.”

Amritsar, November 26
A local court has sentenced three persons to 10 years of imprisonment for throwing acid on a person in June 2013. The court has also imposed of fine of Rs 15,000 on each of the convicted persons.

Earlier the Division A police station had registered a case against three persons, Ravi Kumar, Amandeep Singh and Dina Nath on a complaint filed by Harpal Singh, a resident of the Haripura area.

In his complaint, Harpal Singh had stated that he worked at a shop owned by Narayan Dass, who had an ongoing property dispute with his brother, Dina Nath. Harpal Singh had stated that on June 21, 2013, the trio had entered the shop and thrown acid on him.

The court has also imposed of fine of Rs 15,000 on each of the convicted persons.

Meanwhile, the family members of Amandeep Singh said that they would approach the high court for justice as he was not guilty of the crime.

Amritsar, November 26
Baba Kulwant Singh Ajnalewale, his followers and officials of the Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board (PHTPB) campaigned from door-to-door today to convince the residents living along the heritage walk route to cooperate in keeping the area free from garbage.

Baba, along with his followers, has been voluntarily cleaning the heritage walk route and the area around the Golden Temple for the last two years.

The PHTPB provided equipment and machinery worth Rs 40 lakh to the NGO run by Baba Kulwant Singh to carry out cleaning in the area. Volunteers of the NGO start the cleaning operation at 11 pm and finish the task at 3 am in the morning. Over 60 villages from Ajnala block are enrolled with the NGO.

Garbage cleaning equipment includes two big tippers, a small tipper, a tractor-trailer, a water tanker and four autos for carrying garbage and a water suction pump.

Volunteers of the NGO started cleaning of the Golden Temple surroundings today. They also distributed pamphlets among the residents to maintain cleanliness around the shrine.

They communicated through a public address system and motivated the residents and shopkeepers to maintain hygiene around the Golden Temple.

While talking to the Amritsar Tribune, Baba said they had been cleaning the heritage route and surroundings of the Golden Temple at night. However, they felt there was a need to communicate with the residents and shopkeepers, which was possible in the day. He said the people were throwing garbage everywhere instead at a designated place in their area. “We want to educate the residents to dump garbage in a plastic bag. We also urge the Municipal Corporation to install garbage bins,” he added.

The heritage walk, launched a few years back, takes tourists on a guided tour of the historic landmarks in the holy city. Baba with the support of the Tourism Department, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and hundreds of devotees has been leading a revolution of cleaning roads on way to the heritage route. Hoping that one day it will build up into a movement and a habit, the volunteers not only clean filth and litter from streets, but also educate residents to dump refuse properly and participate in the campaign.

Baba said after cleaning roads for sometime, he met residents and apprised them of various solutions to the problems that were hampering the cleaning drive. The impact was astonishing and the people respected them for taking up the job without any monetary consideration, he added. He said the people were changing their garbage throwing habits gradually.

Garbage lying on heritage walk route exposed the inefficiency and inability of the Municipal Corporation to clean roads, besides distracting tourists.

Harpreet Kaur of the PHTPB said, “As many as 200 tourists enjoy the heritage walk every month. Three guides have been engaged for conducting the walk.” She said the number of tourists could rise manifold if the residents kept the route clean. 

Amritsar, November 26
In the ongoing crackdown launched by the police against drug peddlers in the city, as many as 25 persons have been arrested during the last 24 hours.

The police seized 3.2 kg of narcotic powder, besides 100 gm charas and 30 gm of heroin from their possession. The police also confiscated over 3,200 proscribed drugs from four persons.

The Rambagh police arrested Deepak Kumar alias Dipu of Indira Colony, Verka, Gurdit Singh of Vallah, Gurwinder Singh of Batala and Amanpreet Singh of Mararhi Kalan and seized 270, 250, 210 and 170gm of narcotic powder, respectively from their possession. Officials of the division B police station arrested Rajinder Singh of Rajasansi and Rjiinder Singh of Preetam Nagar and recovered 90 and 100gm of intoxicant powder.

Meshi of Noori Mohalla and Shamsher Singh of New Ishwar Nagar were held by Division C police station with 150 and 278 gm of narcotic powder. The Kotwali police nabbed Deva of Hoshiarpur, who is now residing at Gali Suniaran, near Mata Koulan Gurdwara with 200 gm narcotic powder. The Cantonment and Islamabad police arrested Palwinder Singh of Sher Shah Suri Road and Raman Kumar of Mohalla Ghumiara with 260 and 110gm intoxicant powder, respectively.

The Sultanwind police confiscated 150 and 278 gm narcotic powder from Paramjit Singh of Pandora Sultanwind and Joginder Singh of Kot Atma Ram. The Maqboolpura police arrested Hardeep Singh of Vallah village with 270 gm powder. The airport police seized 100 gm intoxicant powder from Daani Masih of Gharial village.

In major catch, the Gate Hakima police seized 100 gm charas from Amir Singh of Anngarh while Lakhbir Singh alias Tota was arrested with 260 gm toxic powder. The police also seized 125 litres of illicit liquor from his possession.

The Chheharta police arrested Gurditta Singh of Sun Sahib Road, Dilbagh Singh of Dhakka Colony and Jagga of Bhakha Hari Singh village with 100 gm narcotic powder, 30 gm heroin and 100 gm intoxicant powder, respectively. The Civil Lines police arrested Som Nath of Tungbala with 50 gm intoxicant powder. 

Amritsar, November 26
With no respite in sight, the residents living in the localities around Bhagtanwala continued their agitation for the shifting of the garbage dump.

They resented the political colour being given to their protest by certain parties. They emphasised that it was their own fight for a common cause and that every resident of affected localities has been contributing his or her bit to maintain the continuity of the 24-hour protest, be it providing food or staying out overnight.

Sanjay Sharma, a resident of locality, said political parties could have got their vested interests through our protest. It was they, who had been suffering, he added.

“Several politicians have made Bhagtanwala a political battle ground but none of them could find a solution to problems we are facing due to this dumpyard. We want to make it clear that no particular political party or group has been backing us, as was being projected. We are thankful to those political leaders who visited us, but it is not a politically-sponsored protest. It is a genuine cause for which indefinite fight is on,” he added.

Braving the chilly weather conditions, the residents have been assembling in open tents at Chowk Kot Mangal Singh, which has been the protest site for the last 22 days.

There are around 18 localities around the Bhagtanwala dumpyard, which have been facing health problems.

Each day, one of the localities serves food and its volunteers stay in tents during the protest on rotational basis.

Nawal Chawla, a resident said, “Each home of the chosen locality has been entrusted with the task of serving at least 15 chappatties, besides dal or vegetable to the protesters for a day. Ten persons of the particular locality stay in tents for the whole night.”

Amritsar, November 26
A city-based NGO, Jagriti Sanchetna, launched a skill development programme for rural youth at Amritsar College of Engineering and Technology.

The NGO has already been working for various societal improvements. President of Jagriti Sanchetna, Ragini Sharma, said the aim was to encourage children of class four employees to seek education and impart training for skill development.

The NGO has adopted 50 children in the age group of eight to 15 years. Girl students will be given training in stitching and embroidery work.—TNS

Amritsar, November 26
Global Institutes organised the fourth state-level science fest “Srishti-2014” on its campus recently to encourage technical, managerial and scientific temper of students.

As many as five thousand students from more than 112 schools attended the event. A number of activities were undertaken during the festival, which include presentation of science projects/ models, recycling, science quiz, collage making, extempore, giddha, bhangra, skit, face painting and many more. Students were given prizes for excelling in activities.

The overall trophy was won by Ram Ashram Public School, Mall Road, Amritsar. The runners up trophy was bagged by Saint Francis Convent School, Amritsar. 

Amritsar, November 26
As many as 20 schools running under the aegis of Chief Khalsa Diwan Charitable Society (CKDCS) are participating in the three-day 16th CKDCS Sports Tournament, which began here today.

The event is being held on the premises of Sri Guru Harkrishan Senior Secondary Public School, Majitha Road.

Students and teams would compete under the 14,16 and 19 age groups. The inauguration ceremony began with the recital of a shabad. Principal of the school, Dapinder Kaur, welcomed office-bearers of the CKDCS.

In her address, Principal stressed on the importance and participation in sports for the development of the personality of students. The CKD sports flag was hoisted by Rajmohinder Singh Majitha, member in charge of the school. He also addressed the students, who took an oath to participate in the tournament with sportsman’s spirit. Jaspal Singh declared the tournament open.

Navdeep Singh, member in charge of the school, proposed a vote of thanks.