Amritsar, November 9
Days after the blast at Wagah in Pakistan, the Amritsar rural police have strengthened the security cover on the road leading to the Attari-Wagah joint check-post.

A team of Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) besides a company of the Punjab Armed Police (PAP) has been pressed into service in order to thwart any untoward incident. The steps have been taken after the massive blast on the Pakistan side of the border that took the lives of over 60 persons, including women and children.

Jasdeep Singh, SSP, Amritsar rural police, said the teams worked under the supervision of a DSP and an SHO-rank official. He said the police teams were also patrolling 1 km inside the fields on the roadsides to check any infiltration bid by unscruplous elements. He said an anti-sabotage team and a dog squad was also deputed on the route from the Attari railway station T-point to the Attari check-post.

“There are three nakas installed from the T-point to the Attari-Wagah joint check-post. This has been done to check every vehicle thoroughly before entering the highly sensitive area near the JCP,” Jasdeep Singh said. He said policemen were also deputed at the parking lots near the JCP.

Meanwhile, the Amritsar rural police have also made elaborate arrangements for the protection of tourists coming to the JCP for witnessing the famous flag-lowering ceremony.

The police were receiving numerous complaints of tourists being robbed of their valuables by unidentified persons. Recently, the police had busted a gang of robbers, who used to loot the tourists, threatening them with sharp-edged weapons. They used to sit in an auto-rickshaw carrying tourists and later rob them of their valuables, including mobiles, cameras and jewellery etc. Being from other parts of the country and the state, the tourists preferred not to register any complaint with the police in order to avoid any hassles of court and the police process.

Jasdeep Singh said patrolling had been intensified during peak hours when the tourists return from Attari. He said there were three police stations and chowkis on the road and the officials here had been given special instructions to keep an eye on anti-social elements, roaming on the road. 

Amritsar, November 9
Yet another clash broke up between two inmates in the Amritsar central jail, leaving one badly injured.

The inmates have been identified as undertrials Satnam Singh, son of Gurdev Singh, a resident of Wadala, Jandiala, and Gurbhej Singh, son of Sukhdev Singh, a resident of Mahlian, Tarn Taran.

Gurbhej Singh, who received head injuries, has been admitted to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital. He has been facing trial under the NDPS Act since December 2013.

On the other hand, Satnam Singh was lodged in the jail in a looting instance since April 2014.

According to information, the two quarreled over a petty issue during the evening meals yesterday. After a verbal duel, they came to blows.

Sources said Gurbhej Singh pushed Satnam Singh forcefully towards the toilet wall, which fell down on him, leaving him injured. Later, Satnam Singh hit back Gurbhej Singh on his head with a broken brick of the wall.

Both were administered aid at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital. While Satnam Singh was relieved after first aid, Gurbhej Singh was admitted for further medical treatment.

Confirming the incident, Jail Superintendent RK Sharma said the two undertrials just entered into arguments during dinner time, which led to the clash. “They were lodged in a barrack alongwith four others. Both used abusive language against each other and hit each other, but are now out of danger. The matter was brought to the notice of the police,” he said.

A case under Section 323, IPC, 42 Prisoners Act has been registered with the Cantonment police station

Superintendent Sharma said though all inmates were under strict vigil, but they engaged in quarrels over petty issues. “The guards are always there, but you never know, in a fraction of a second, they become violent,” he said.

Earlier, on August 26, a jail inmate had died in a clash over a petty issue after he was hit hard by his fellow inmate in a fit of rage. One of the inmates, Raman Kumar, had hit BIkramjit Singh, alias Vicky, so hard on the neckline that it led to his death.

On July 21, in a clash between two inmates, undertrial Amarjit Singh was booked for assaulting his fellow inmate, Balbir Singh.

Old enmity was stated to be the cause behind the scuffle. It has been learnt that Amarjit Singh had sharpened a spoon to shape it like a weapon with which he had attacked Balbir. 

Amritsar, November 9
To consolidate its position at the grassroots level, the District Congress Committee (Urban) will constitute block-level committees.

DCC (Urban) president Rajiv Bhagat said, the Congress Party has constituted 10 blocks in the city. Each Assembly constituency in the district has two blocks. In all, there are five Assembly constituencies.

He said the each block would be headed by a president.

As per the new schedule, a district-level meeting will be organsied on the first Saturday of every month and a block-level meeting will be held on the second Saturday of every month.

He said that as per the directions of AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi, the Punjab Bachao Campaign against drug addiction would be launched on the Children’s Day on November 14. As a part of it, the DCC will organise a programme at its office and an awareness march from there to the Jallianwala Bagh.

Attari, November 9
A week after the deadly suicide attack at Wagah, minutes after the retreat ceremony, the tight security at the Attari-Wagah joint check-post has resulted in hundreds of tourists being denied entry.

With the spectators’ gallery packed to capacity and the BSF not allowing extra people inside, a large number of tourists were seen waiting or wandering in dejection around the initial security check-post, near the Integrated Check-Post (ICP) gate, at Attari today.

For the ones, who travelled across hundreds of kilometres to watch the retreat ceremony, a huge signboard placed by BSF personnel, which reads “Stadium Full, No Space”, came as a disappointment. A horde of people kept waiting, despite being asked by the BSF personnel to leave, trying their luck. The area outside the Swarn Jayanti Dwar, too, was cleared, which otherwise is packed with tourists, who don’t get entry inside the stadium. The tourist inflow for the retreat on Sunday remained unaffected despite terror attack with almost 10,000 tourists still thronging the border for the event. But the decision to allow tourists only to the capacity of the stadium has disappointed many because most of them came from far-off places.

“We have been trying for the past two days to get entry. Yesterday, the gates closed shortly after 3 pm and today as well, the gates closed early. I have come from Mumbai with my family and extended family of eight people and we are here for another two days. I hope we are lucky tomorrow,” said KK Bali, a businessman from Mumbai. A group of four friends from Bangalore, too, joined the long waiting queue of people denied entry as they waited for two hours, with repeated attempts to get through, without any luck. The only relief comes in the form of the shops near the parking lot, which have become a waiting point for the tourists.

Some of the foreign tourists were in the list, too, as they had to leave despite waiting for over an hour. Rossario de Loure and his friend, Ferdinand, said they were quite excited when they arrived at Attari but today was not the day. “We were informed that the ceremony starts at 5 pm and so we planned our tour around the city accordingly. We came here an hour and a half before as we were told about the increased security. Still, we couldn’t make it inside. We’ll try again tomorrow and again, as we are staying here for another few days,” he said. Those waiting outside found consolation with the security personnel. “Even we don’t feel good as some of the tourists have travelled over 3,000 km just to see the retreat ceremony,” said one of the security personnel outside the gates.

The current seating capacity at Wagah is 5,000, but the tourist inflow crosses the point above 15,000. Given the huge number of crowd during the retreat ceremony, a plan to increase the stadium capacity to accommodate 20,000 visitors has been approved and will shortly commence. But for now, the filter process will ensure the crowd is easily managed.

Amritsar, November 9
Prabhdeep Kaur (19), a resident of Baba Sawan Singh Nagar in Beas, died after an SUV hit her scooter, leaving two others injured. The victim, a 10+2 student, was returning home when the incident took place near Lidhar village.

Sarabjit Singh, the girl’s father, told the police that Prabhdeep studied at a school in Bhalipur Dogra village. She, along with her teacher Poonam Sharma and another girl, was returning home on her scooter.

When they reached near Lidhar village, a speedy Mahindra Scorpio hit her scooter. They fell on the road and sustained serious injuries.

They were rushed to a hospital where Prabhdeep Kaur succumbed to her injuries.

Amandeep Singh, in-charge of the Rayya police post said a case under Sections 304-A, 337,338, 427 and 279 of the IPC had been registered against the driver of the car.

The accused has been identified as Sarabjit Singh of Bahadarpur, Vairowal, Tarn Taran.

No arrest has been made so far.

Amritsar, November 9
The police have arrested seven persons for allegedly possessing narcotic substances and illicit liquor during the past 24 hours.

Those arrested were identified as Deepak Kumar of Guru Nanak Colony, Anil Kumar of Preet Nagar, Balbir Singh of Gurhilla village (Tarn Taran), Harwinder Singh of Guru Nanak Colony on the Tarn Taran road, Jasbir Singh of Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar, Gurmail Singh of Hussainpura and Sonu Kumar of Milap Avenue.

The police seized 110 gm of narcotic powder from Deepak and 90 gm from Anil. Similarly, it confiscated 300 gm, 80 gm and 60 gm of intoxicant powder from Balbir Singh, Jasbir Singh and Sonu Kumar, respectively. Harwinder Singh and Gurmail Singh were held for allegedly possessing 60 and 132 bottles of wine. They could not produce the documents regarding the sale and purchase of liquor. The police also seized 300 intoxicant capsules from Gurmail Singh. Separate cases under the NDPS Act and the Excise Act have been registered at respective police stations against them. 

Amritsar, November 9
The plight of Bhagtanwala residents continues. Thousands of the residents living in different localities around the Bhagtanwala dumpyard have been demanding the shifting of the dumpyard and protesting against the setting up of the solid waste management plant in their vicinity for long.

Except assurances from officials and politicians, nothing has been done to solve the problem. Today, a team of AAP volunteers, led by Dr Daljit Singh and Ashok Talwar, met the aggrieved residents. Earlier, Congress leaders, including former MLA Harjinder Thekesar, and SAD leaders, including the Senior Deputy Mayor and the Deputy Mayor, had visited the area.Dr Daljit Singh said the dumping of waste over the years had made the surroundings unhygienic and many residents of the area were suffering from serious ailments. Ashok Talwar said the issue needed immediate resolution and the dumping site should be shifted to some suitable place. He added that the Solid Waste Management Project was a necessity for the city but the site needed to be selected keeping in view the population explosion in the years ahead.

The Aam Aadmi Party, Amritsar, appealed to the administration to make concrete arrangements for the shifting the dumpyard. “Otherwise, a mass movement rising above the party lines will be started to save lives of the residents,” said AAP volunteer Gurbhej Singh Sandhu.

Vijay Mehta, Jagdeep Singh, JS Gill, HS Dhanjal, IS Bhullar, Sanjeev Lamba, Ashwani Sharma, Princepal Singh, Harpreet Bedi and Jobanpreet were also present on the occasion.

Amritsar, November 9
A cleanliness drive was held at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital under the Swacch Bharat Abhiyan today. Research and Medical Education Minister Anil Joshi and members of the Sri Guru Ram Das Lok Bhalai Society actively participated in the drive.

Society’s patron Surinder Singh Arora said the society would clean the hospital every Sunday. He said employees of the hospital also participated in the cleanliness drive.

Speaking on the occasion, Joshi lauded the role of the society and the hospital employees. He added that people had held a cleanliness drive at Company Bagh last Sunday.

He exhorted the residents to participate in the Swaach Bharat Abhiyan. He said clean surroundings would make the city healthy. 

Amritsar, November 9
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed an insurance company to compensate the owner of a stolen bike, along with 9 per cent interest from the date of the filing of complaint and litigation expenses.

Satpal Gupta, a resident of Pawan Nagar, had filed a complaint against National Insurance Company Limited, stating that he got his bike insured from the company, which was stolen on March 7, 2012, during the validity period of the policy.

He stated that he informed the police and an FIR was registered on the same day. He alleged that the company did not pay him the insurance amount when he filed his claim.The insurance company submitted that the complainant had himself violated the basic condition of the policy to care and had not taken reasonable care of his vehicle.

The company further stated that the non-traceable report of the stolen vehicle was required to be accepted by the Magistrate concerned as provided under Section 173 of the CRPC. It stated that the complainant had not filed any document to comply with the said provision despite repeated reminders.

The forum observed that the complainant had submitted all the requisite documents, including a copy of the FIR and non-traceable report submitted by the police to the Magistrate.

The forum observed that the opposite party was bound to settle the claim of the complainant as he had fulfilled all the requisite requirements under the policy.

Amritsar, November 9
Following a controversy over the allotment of two chemist shops to two persons of the same family at Vidya Sagar Institute of Mental Health here, one of the allottees has surrendered the shop, stating that she could not run the shop because of alleged threats received by her from unknown persons.

The chemist shop no.2 at the institute was allotted to Neetu Singh Arora for Rs 13,32,132 per year in 2010. Arora has surrendered her shop, alleging that she was being harassed by a few unknown persons. In a letter to the institute management, she stated that she could not run the shop in such circumstances.

Earlier, Congress state secretary Dinesh Bassi had accused the institute of allocating the shops to members of the same family. Bassi had said that the allottee of the second shop, Neetu Singh Arora, was the sister-in-law of the allottee of the canteen and the chemist shop no.1, Sanjeev Puri.

The institution has already clarified that the shops were allotted to the highest bidder and there was no rule or regulation barring a person from contesting for more than one shop.

Now, the institute will send her letter to the state government. “The contract was signed between the government and the allottee and it can only be be terminated by the government,” said institute director Dr BL Goyal. 

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