20032024-JTR-01.qxd 3/20/2024 12:44 AM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune CIVIC BODY WING RAZES 2 ILLEGAL COLONIES IN CITY RANA ANNOUNCES HIS TALK SHOW THE RANA CONNECTION GENERAL HOSPITAL ACTOR BETH PETERS PASSES AWAY The building branch of the Municipal Corporation demolished two colonies in the city on Tuesday. P2 Rana Daggubati to come up with a talk show featuring his contemporaries and friends from Indian cinema.P4 Beth Peters, an actor and singer who had a recurring role on General Hospital, passed away in central Florida.P4 » » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 30°C | MIN 12°C YESTERDAY MAX 29.5°C | MIN 11.1°C SUNSET WEDNESDAY 6:34 PM SUNRISE THURSDAY 6:25 AM WEDNESDAY | 20 MARCH 2024 | JALANDHAR INBRIEF TECHNICAL GLITCH HITS DL WORK Phagwara: Hundreds of Phagwara residents seeking driving licence (DL) or renewal of driving licences were a harassed lot as the online system of driving track (server) at Bidh-Puadh near Phagwara was non-functional due to technical error. Sukhbir Atwal, a former officer at ICICI Bank, said he was visiting the driving track for renewal of his driving licence for the past two days, but he was being forced to return in disappointment. Ajay Kumar Basra, track in-charge, said all driving tracks of the state were facing technical error for the past two days. OC CAR STOLEN FROM OUTSIDE HOUSE Phagwara: A car bearing registration number PB-PB07M-8877 was found stolen from outside a house in Amar Nagar here on Tuesday morning. The car owner, Hari Paul, said he parked his vehicle outside his house on Monday night, but found it missing the next morning. The incident was captured on CCTV camera. In the CCTV footage, an unidentified person is seen fleeing with the car. OC YOUTH ‘KIDNAPS’ MINOR, NABBED Phagwara: The Nakodar Sadar police have arrested a youth on the charge of kidnapping a minor. Investigating officer (IO) Janak Raj said the suspect had been identified as Kuldeep Singh, alias Deepu, a resident of Jahangir village. Joga Singh, a resident of the same village, told the police that the suspect kidnapped his minor daughter on the pretext of marrying her. The investigating officer said that a case under Sections 363 (kidnapping) and 366 (kidnapping a woman to compel her for marriage) of the IPC had been registered against the suspect. OC BSNL to close urban telephone exchanges Our Correspondent Phagwara, March 19 After closing rural telephone exchanges serving only less than 20 landline telephone connections last year, the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has now decided to close all urban telephone exchanges serving only less than 50 landline connections. Those serving less than 50 connections to be shut Confirming this, SDO (Telephones) Tilak Raj today said as per the instructions issued by the senior authorities, the BSNL was working on increasing the number of FTTH (Fibre to the Home) connections and was convincing people to convert their landline connections to FTTH only. He said at present, the number of landline connections in Phagwara was only 300 while around 4,000 subscribers had BSNL landline connections till a few years back. Interestingly, no lineman is available in the Phagwara Telephone Exchange. Model Town residents make video to ‘awaken’ electorate One-minute footage on waste mgmt shows apathy of civic authorities INDIA VOTES 2024 Aakanksha N Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Jalandhar, March 19 Ahead of the ensuing Lok Sabha elections, frustrated residents of the Model Town area have made a video with the hope and motive that it will reach the maximum number of people in the city and ‘awake n ’ and guide them on what to ask for if someone comes to them to seek votes. The one-minute long video highlights waste management issues, and how the piles of garbage and mounting hills of waste are posing a serious threat to the wellbeing of city residents. “Despite repeated appeals and concerns raised by citizens, the government has failed to take decisive action to clean up the garbage that has accumulated in the city centre,” reads one of the texts in the video. The residents have been complaining that leaders Sewage accumulated at Gandhi Camp in Jalandhar. TRIBUNE PHOTO cannot even provide basic amenities to people, let alone resolve major issues like unemployment, or education. Recently, The Tribune highlighted that thousands of complaints related to sewerage were lying with the complaint cell of the MC. Varinder Malik, a businessman by profession and Chairman of the Joint Action Committee, said, “Sanu pata nai kis tarah roiye. Asi apne kamm chadd ke inhi kamma vich lagge haan. Now we have made a video so that people get to know what they have to ask the leaders when they start campaigning for the elections,” he added. Jaswinder Singh, a government employee by profession, said that it was sad that things were only worsening in the city with each passing day. A few days ago, people of Gandhi Camp also held demonstrations after suf- fering from seweragerelated issues. Sunny, one of the residents of the area, said that it was an old issue. “For a few days, the problem gets resolved, but then it comes back again,” he added. On March 17, a former councillor of the city had also gone to the MC Commissioner’s office with a dustbin filled with garbage. He had also highlighted the problems of waste and sewerage in his ward. Youth administered oath to cast ballot Tribune News Service Jalandhar, March 19 In order to create awareness among youths regarding voting rights, the district administration launched a massive awareness drive under the Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programme. Chairing an awareness campaign at CT Institute, Shahpur campus, ADC Jasbir Singh said the administration had already adopted a multipronged strategy to spread awareness among voters for their right to franchise so that maximum voting was ensured on the poll day i.e. June 1. Jasbir Singh urged students to ensure their maxi- ADC Jasbir Singh urged students to ensure their maximum participation in the biggest festival of democracy. TRIBUNE PHOTO mum participation in the biggest festival of democracy by making Jalandhar a leading district in terms of voting turnout. He mentioned that the Election Commission had also launched a mission to achieve over 70 per cent polling in the country and this mission could only be accomplished with the active Gang involved in making fake documents busted, 1 arrested Fake licences, registration certificates recovered Jalandhar, March 19 In a major breakthrough, the Jalandhar Police Commissionerate claimed to have busted a gang involved in making fake documents by seizing fake licenses and registration certificates. Divulging the details, Joint Commissioner of Police Sandeep Sharma said the police got a tip-off that a gang involved in making fake driving licences and registration certificates was active in the city. It was established that an individual, with the assistance of RTA and Transport Office employees, was running this racket. He said on the basis of the information, the police registered a case against an unidentified person and started investigation into the matter. Joint CP Sharma said the police arrested a suspect, identified as Arvind Kumar, a resident The police address a press conference regarding the arrest of a suspect in Jalandhar on Tuesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO of Upkar Nagar in Jalandhar. They recovered a laptop, two printers, stamp papers, insurance certificates and application forms with supporting documents from his possession. Besides, insurance certificates of 159 vehicles (without QR code), certificates of 222 vehicles (with QR code), transfer files of 57 RCs, 35 registration certificates and 180 application forms with docu- ments were also recovered. He said a case under Sections 420, 465, 467, 468, 471 and 120B of the IPC had been registered. “A case was already registered against the suspect and further investigations are on in this regard. We are also investigating the involvement of other persons, including officials and employees at the RTA office. Others will be nominated in the case soon,” he said. — TNS c m y b participation of youngsters in the elections. Meanwhile, hands-on training was also imparted to youngsters about the working of EVM and VVPAT machines. He mentioned that this demo would also act as a catalyst in motivating young voters to participate in the elections. He also thanked NGOs and educational institutions for their active participation in this campaign. He stated that no stone would be left unturned to make this awareness campaign successful in the district. Earlier, he also administered an oath to young voters to exercise their franchise in coming elections. 3 bikers killed in road mishap Phagwara, March 19 Three youths died after the motorcycle they were riding collided with a JCB machine near Jagjitpur village on the Phagwara-Hoshiarpur road here this evening. The bikers were coming from Hoshiarpur. Station House Officer (SHO) Rawalpindi said the deceased had been identified as Rohit (21), a resident of Gobindpura, Phagwara, Aakash (22), a resident of Nangal Colony, Phagwara, and Manoj Kumar (21), a resident of Kherra Colony, Phagwara. The SHO said the bike collided with the JCB mishap when its driver was taking a turn towards Jagjitpur village. One of the deceased died on the spot. Two others were shifted to the Civil Hospital here, where they were declared dead on arrival. The police had registered a case and kept the bodies in the mortuary of the hospital for post-mortem examination, said SHO Labh Singh. — OC Election Commission transfers DC Sarangal shifted out as he got his home district changed Tribune News Service Jalandhar, March 19 In the very first transfer order moved by the Election Commission just on the fourth day since the implementation of the model code of conduct, District Election Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner Vishesh Sarangal got transferred out. The IAS officer, who hailed from Jalandhar, had reportedly got his home district changed so that he could continue to work from here even in election time. But the ECI ordered his transfer and announced that he would be posted out of Jalandhar till the elections, perhaps trying to rule out his interference in the Deputy Commissioner Vishesh Sarangal. TRIBUNE PHOTO electioneering in Jalandhar. A new Deputy Commissioner in Jalandhar is yet to be appointed. For the past four days since the code got implemented, he had held several meetings with the officials and had even held a media briefing on the preparations being done. Even this morning, he had been actively working, unaware of the action coming by evening. He got imparted detailed training on C-Vigil, Election Seizure Management System (ESMS) to all Assistant Returning Officers, Flying Squads and Static Surveillance Teams. Presiding over the training session at the District Administrative Complex here as the District Election Officer, Sarangal said that the C-Vigil, ESMS applications had been prepared by the Election Commission of India for complaint registration but he himself got transferred upon one such complaint against him. Panchal visits Sultanpur Lodhi Takes stock of poll preparedness, interacts with officials Tribune News Service Sultanpur Lodhi, March 19 To review poll preparedness, Deputy Commissioner-cumDistrict Election Officer Amit Kumar Panchal today visited local areas where he interacted with officials and directed them to ensure adequate arrangements as per the guidelines of the Election Commission. Accompanied by Kapurthala SSP Vatsala Gupta, DC Panchal said all requisite preparations had already been accomplished and the district administration was all set for free, fair and smooth conduct of general elections in all four constituencies. “The purpose of the visit to Sultanpur Lodhi is to assess the preparedness for Lok Sabha polls,” said Panchal, adding that the election machinery had geared up to facilitate voters at all 195 polling stations of Sultanpur Lodhi Assembly constituencies. He said two volunteers would be deployed at each polling station to facilitate voters, especially persons with disabilities (PwDs) and senior citizens. While interacting with mediapersons, the District Election Officer said EVMs, Deputy Commissioner Amit Kumar Panchal interacts with officials at Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala on Tuesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO VVPATs, electoral rolls and sufficient manpower for the election purpose were fully prepared for seamless conduct of the polls. He said violation of the model code of conduct would not be acceptable and political parties should abide by the guidelines issued by the Election Commission in this regard. He also appealed to representatives of political parties to take prior approval of any political activities from the competent authorities. He said adherence to the directives of the ECI was must and all stakeholders should act with responsibility so as to ensure smooth polls. Meanwhile, SSP Vatsala Gupta also reiterated that law and order would be main- tained at all costs. She said vigil had already been enhanced across the district. Police check posts (nakas) had been laid at different locations in the district so as to keep a close eye on suspicious activities. The Punjab Police and paramilitary forces were keeping constant vigil in view of the elections. Pertinently, the Kapurthala district has four Assembly constituencies of which two Phagwara and Bholath - fall in the Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha constituency, while Kapurthala and Sultanpur Lodhi are part of the Khadoor Sahib constituency. The district has a total of 6,20,819 voters as on January 22 comprising 3,24,179 male and 2,96,608 female. Interstate drug smuggling racket unearthed, 2 nabbed 2.5 kg opium, ~2.25 lakh drug money, car seized Tribune News Service Jalandhar, March 19 The Jalandhar Police Commissionerate claimed to have busted an interstate drug smuggling racket with the arrest of two persons. The police also recovered 2.5 kg opium, ~2.25 lakh drug money and a car from their possession. Divulging the details during a press conference, Joint Commissioner of Police Sandeep Sharma said in its crusade against drugs, the Police Commissionerate had enhanced vigil in the city. He said the Rama Mandi police observed a car approaching from the Surya Enclave side during a checking at Kamal The suspects in police custody in Jalandhar. TRIBUNE PHOTO Vihar. On seeing the police, the car driver tried to flee. On suspicion, the police chased the car and nabbed its driver. Sharma said during checking, the police recovered 1 kg of opium from Mandeep Nangal, a resident of Santokhpura, Jalandhar, and 1.5 kg opi- um was recovered from Harjinder Singh, a resident of Gurdaspur. The police also recovered drug money worth ~2.25 lakh from the car. Joint CP Sharma said during investigation, it came to light that Harjinder purchased opium from Jharkhand at ~90,000 per kg and sold it between ~1.10 lakh and 1.30 lakh per kg. Mandeep purchased opium from Harjinder at ~1.10 lakh per kg and sold it to other suppliers at ~1.70 lakh per kg. He said a case under Sections 18, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act had been registered against the suspects at the Rama Mandi police station. Further investigations were on in the case.