08102026-ATR-01.qxd 10/7/2026 11:15 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune LEGAL AID ON WHEELS: DLSA FLAGS OFF AWARENESS VAN EARLY DETECTION IS KEY TO PREVENTING HEART DISEASE Cardiovascular diseases account for a significant share of deaths in the country, says expert. P3 PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 24°C | MIN 34°C YESTERDAY MAX 24°C | MIN 35°C AYUSHMANN KHURRANA — THE FORGETFUL PAK SPY Initiative aimed at spreading legal awareness and strengthening outreach activities across the district. P2 FORECAST Memory loss, mistaken loyalties: Ayushmann, Sara Ali Khan-starrer Udta Teer has plenty of noise. P4 » » SUNSET THURSDAY 6:08 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 6:28 AM » THURSDAY | 8 OCTOBER 2026 | AMRITSAR Cops bust 3 arms networks, 7 held BJP steps up heat on AAP Five pistols, two cars, cartridges seized from accused; juvenile also detained Pawan K Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 7 The Amritsar city police on Wednesday claimed to have busted three illegal arms supply networks, arresting seven persons and detaining a juvenile. The police seized 15 pistols, 15 live cartridges and two cars from those arrested. Police Commissioner Harmanbir Singh Gill told reporters that the accused were involved in procuring and supplying illegal firearms to criminals. He said that, in two of the cases, the accused were in contact with foreign-based handlers who were sending weapons from Pakistan into India using drones. Sharing details, he said Satnam Singh and Bhalla Singh of Moga were arrested with five .30-bore pistols, five live cartridges and a car. During the investigation, the police found that Satnam was 3 youths die in road accident Police Commissioner Harmanbir Singh Gill (centre) with other officers during a press conference in Amritsar on Wednesday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR in contact with a foreign-based handler. He allegedly received the consignments and supplied the weapons further with the help of his associate. In the second case, the police arrested Gautam Singh, a resident of Tarn Taran; Manvir Singh, a resident of Ludhiana; and Jaskarandeep Singh, a resident of Tarn Taran. The police seized seven pistols, 10 live cartridges and a car. The Police Commissioner said Gautam was also in contact with a foreign-based arms smuggler and was receiving consignments before supplying them to criminal elements with the help of his accomplices. In the third instance, the police arrested Amritsar residents Simranjit Singh and Abhi. A juvenile was also detained in the case. Three pistols were recovered from them. The police said the accused were procuring firearms from a common source and supplying them at different locations. Three separate cases have been registered under the Arms Act at the Cantonment, Islamabad and Chheharta police stations. The recovered weapons include three .30-bore Beretta pistols made in Italy, a .30bore PX-5 Storm pistol, a .30bore pistol made in China, eight other .30-bore pistols and two .32-bore pistols. Gill said further probing was under way to identify other members of the networks and establish their links, including alleged connections with foreign-based handlers. AAP protests ‘misuse’ of agencies Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, October 7 Three youths from the Bhikhiwind area died in a road accident on Wednesday. The deceased have been identified as Abhijot Singh, a resident of Mari Megha; Harman Singh, a resident of Chela Colony, Bhikhiwind; and Ravi Singh, a resident of Kalsian Kalan. The victims were on their way to Gurdwara Bir Baba Buddha Sahib when the accident took place. While two of them were riding a motorcycle, the third was riding a scooter. Due to high speed, the three collided with each other near a BSF camp. They died on the spot. AAP workers stage a protest outside the residence of BJP leader Tarun Chugh in Amritsar on Wednesday, accusing the Centre of misusing probe agencies for political ends. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR. govt over ‘cash for postings’ Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 7 The BJP on Wednesday staged a protest against the Punjab Government and burnt an effigy of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann amid a political row triggered by CBI raids at eight locations in connection with the alleged “cash-for-postings” scam. The premises raided by the central agency on Tuesday included the camp office of the CM in Chandigarh. Reacting sharply to it, Mann had termed the raids an “attempt to defame him” by the BJP-led Centre. The CBI action came after the Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered a CBI probe into the allegations, prompting the state government to move the Supreme Court against the order. Led by district BJP president Salil Kapoor, hundreds of party workers gathered near Shaheed Harbans Lal Khurana Smarak and burnt an effigy of Mann while raising slogans against the state government. Rajya Sabha MP Satnam Singh Sandhu also joined the protest. Sandhu rejected AAP’s allegations that the BJP-led Centre was using central agencies such as the CBI and ED for political purposes ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections. Referring to the proceedings before the High Court, he said the matter arose after the state police failed to register an FIR despite three letters from the ED over the allegations. “If the allegations are baseless, the state government could have presented its case before the court and ordered an investigation,” Sandhu said. Sandhu stressed that the BJP was only seeking an investigation into the allegations. Kapoor said central agencies functioned under the Consti- Rajya Sabha MP Satnam Singh Sandhu and BJP workers stage a protest in Amritsar on Wednesday. tution and rejected the charge that their actions were politically motivated. BJP MP Tarun Chugh also reacted to the allegations by the AAP . “The CBI has not been sent to Punjab by the Centre. The Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the CBI to register a case and investigate the allegations based on material placed before it by the ED,” he said in a statement. “Let the investigation and judicial process take their course. If the allegations are unfounded, the investigation will establish that as well. Punjab deserves transparency, facts and accountability. Let the evidence speak,” he added. BJP workers attend PM Modi’s live address Hundreds of BJP workers led Law has finally caught up with SGPC-run schools to counter ‘propaganda’ top AAP leaders, says Sukhbir with added focus on imparting Sikh values Attari, October 7 Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday said the law had “finally caught up” with AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, CM Bhagwant Mann and ruling party leader Manish Sisodia. “All these people will now go to prison for looting Punjab and its resources,” he said. Sukhbir said the CBI raid on Mann’s camp office in Chandigarh had made it clear that the Chief Minister’s Office “had turned into a den of corruption”. The SAD president, who visited five households in an Attari village, urged people to list five expectations they had from the SAD in forms given to them. Urging people to fill out the forms, he said that after taking feedback from the grassroots level, the party would finalise its election manifesto and release it on November 1. Sukhjit Kaur (23) summed up her problems during Sukhbir's door-to-door programme, saying, “My father is unable to work. My mother is a housewife. Both my brothers are unemployed. They need jobs for this family to prosper.” Sukhbir assured her that he would bring industry to the border area by offering incentives if the SAD came to power. He said the SAD was committed to filling three lakh vacant posts within one year of forming the government. — TNS Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 7 Schools run by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) have decided to intensify efforts to impart Sikh religious values to their students to counter propaganda and misinformation targeting community institutions. A unanimous decision in this regard was taken at a special meeting of principals of the SGPC-run schools here on Tuesday. Special emphasis was laid on the need to make the schools effective centres of the Sikh Siddhant Mission and to create awareness among students about their religion and heritage. During the meeting, concerns were expressed over the “propaganda” targeted at Sikh institutions, which was termed an “unfortunate and worrying phenomenon”. The speakers said it was the need of the hour to identify propaganda that distorted facts regarding Sikh institutions and Sikh principles on various social media platforms. In such cases, instead of becoming part of any propaganda without verifying the facts, people should be provided with correct information and play a constructive role in strengthening Sikh institutions, they stressed. SGPC executive member Harjinder Kaur said it was necessary to respond to onesided or unfounded statements about the organisation with restraint and facts. She said that under the leadership of Harjinder Singh Dhami, the SGPC had always played a leading role in Panthic activities and made great efforts to upgrade educational institutions. “Today, continuous efforts are being made to weaken Sikh institutions,” she alleged. Women volunteers to join men for crowd management at Langoor Mela Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 7 For the first time, women volunteers will join men in managing crowds at Amritsar's famous Langoor Mela, as the nine-day festival at Durgiana Temple gets underway this Sunday. The temple committee has stepped up preparations for the annual festival, which draws thousands of devotees and children dressed as langoors. Durgiana Temple Committee president Laxmi Kanta Chawla said around 50 women volunteers would help manage the crowd. Chawla said the decision to rope in women volunteers was inspired by the Ramayana, as Sita was kept under the watch of a force led by a woman, Trijata. Similarly, before Lord Hanuman entered Lanka, he was challenged by Lankini, again a woman who guarded the borders of Lanka. “Every year, around 400 volunteers are engaged and given photo identity cards to manage the crowd and streamline the queues to facilitate trouble-free darshan,” she said, adding that the temple committee would deploy its volunteers for crowd management alongside the police. She said the volunteers would be divided into different groups, each assigned a four-hour shift. “Each volunteer will carry an identity card and will be responsible for maintaining order in his or her zone,” she said. Chawla said the committee had already released 650 langoor dresses free of cost for devotees. These dresses had been offered by devotees last year. According to tradition, children dressed in sparkling bright silver-coloured outfits interspersed with red vertical lines and wearing conical caps visit the historic Bada Hanuman Temple, situated inside the Durgiana Temple complex, once a day during Navratras. Thousands of children dressed as langoors pay obeisance at the temple. Legend has it that the temple was built at a place where Luv and Kush, sons of Lord Ram, had tied Lord Hanuman to a banyan tree when he came to take them back to Ayodhya. According to temple priests, couples who wish to have a son c m y b come to the Bada Hanuman Temple and pray. Those whose wish is fulfilled bring their children dressed as langoors to thank Lord Hanuman. The Bada Hanuman Temple is among the only three temples in the country where the idol of the deity is in a resting state. “The other two temples are in Prayagraj and Hanuman Garhi in Ayodhya,” said Chawla. She said children and their parents follow strict rules during Navratras. They remain barefoot, sleep on the floor, consume 'satvik' food, shun finery and visit the temple every day. A father picks a dress for his son ahead of Langoor Mela in Amritsar on Wednesday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR by Kapoor gathered at the party’s district office here to listen to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s live address at the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Sabha. Sandhu and Kapoor congratulated party workers on the completion of 25 years of Modi’s public service and highlighted his contribution to the country ’ s development. Sandhu said Modi’s leadership had brought a qualitative change to India’s economy, infrastructure and social development. Kapoor said the Modi government had strengthened infrastructure, welfare schemes and India’s global standing while promoting women-led development through initiatives such as Beti Bachao Beti Padhao and the Nari Shakti Vandan Act. BSF seizes 5 kg heroin Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 7 The Border Security Force (BSF) has seized over 5 kg of heroin and around 5 kg of opium in separate incidents along the India-Pakistan border in Amritsar. The BSF has handed over the contraband to the Amritsar rural police for further necessary action and investigation. In the first instance, a BSF patrol party seized a packet during a search operation in the Kahangarh police chowki area. On checking, the packet was found to contain over 5 kg of heroin. Along with it, the force also recovered a drone. A case has been registered under relevant sections of the NDPS Act and the Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam, 2024, at Gharinda police station here. In the second instance, BSF personnel seized around 5 kg of opium from the Pul Moran area. The consignment was found in a packet, which also contained 490 gm of packaging material. The drug was handed over to the Lopoke police for further investigation. A case under Sections 18, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered in this regard.