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Hindustan Times
03-07-2025
- Hindustan Times
3 illegal constructions of drug smugglers demolished in Kapurthala village
Jul 03, 2025 08:04 AM IST The police in coordination with the district administration demolished three illegal constructions owned by drug smugglers on panchayati land at Dogranwal village on Wednesday. The police in coordination with the district administration demolished three illegal constructions owned by drug smugglers on panchayati land at Dogranwal village on Wednesday. (HT Photo) Senior superintendent of police Gaurav Toora said they had received a report from Dhilwan's block development and panchayat officer regarding illegal possession of land by three drug peddlers identified as Rajwinder Singh, Sukhchain Singh and Sukhjinder Singh. He informed that these three smugglers were facing 14 cases under the NDPS Act at various police stations. He added that seven cases were registered against Rajwinder, while four against Sukhjinder and three against Sukhchain Singh. 'In addition, Rajwinder's brother Mandee Singh was also facing two cases under the NDPS Act, while his father Bua Singh had three such cases,' he said. The SSP said that the district police maintains zero tolerance against drugs and is fully committed to eradicating this menace. He appealed to the public to stop supporting drug smugglers.
Hindustan Times
07-06-2025
- Hindustan Times
Cross-border arms smuggling racket busted in Amritsar, 2 held with weapons
The Amritsar counter-intelligence (CI) has busted a cross-border illegal arms smuggling module and arrested two of its operatives, said Punjab director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav on Friday. Those arrested have been identified as Sukhchain Singh, a resident of Daoke in Amritsar and Jugraj Singh, a resident of Bhakna Kalan village in Amritsar. 'Police teams have also recovered eight sophisticated pistols— three 9MM Glock, four Px5, and one .30 bore pistol— from their possession, besides, impounding their black motorcycle being used for transporting the consignments,' the DGP said. Yadav said that preliminary investigations have revealed that the accused were acting under the directions of a Pakistan-based smuggler identified as Noor, a resident of Manihala in Pakistan, who has been using drones to drop weapon consignments from across the border. The arrested accused were further distributing the arms to gangsters across Punjab with the intention to fuel criminal activities in the state, he said. Sharing operation details, the DGP said that CI-Amritsar received specific intelligence about the retrieval of a weapon consignment from near Bhaini Rajputtan village in the jurisdiction of Gharinda in Amritsar. 'Acting swiftly, police teams have intercepted duo on Amritsar-Attari GT Road near Khasa in Amritsar, when they were going to deliver the consignment on their motorcycle, and recovered weapons from their possession, he said, adding that further investigations are underway to uncover the network's backwards and forward linkages. A case under Sections 25, 25(1)(A) and 25(1)(B) of the Arms Act and Section 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) has been registered at Police Station SSOC, Amritsar.
Time of India
01-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
PSIC issues show cause notice to Mohali director public instructions for RTI information denial
1 2 3 Mohali: The Punjab State Information Commission (PSIC) has issued a show cause notice to the public information officer (PIO) of the director public instructions (secondary education), Mohali, for failing to furnish information sought under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Following a complaint by Sukhchain Singh, a resident of Fatehgarh Churian, Batala, the commission, invoking Section 20(1) of the RTI Act, has asked the PIO to explain in writing why a penalty should not be imposed for the alleged willful delay or denial of information. The officer has been directed to submit a detailed reply before the next date of hearing. During the proceedings, the commission expressed strong displeasure at what it termed as "complete negligence and laxity" on the part of the public authority in handling the RTI request. The commission noted that the continued failure to respond to such matters reflected not only inefficiency but also a disregard for the RTI Act itself. "The casual and callous approach adopted by the respondent is against the spirit of the RTI Act," the commission observed, adding that the law was enacted to promote transparency and ensure effective access to information. "Such behaviour by a government servant must be condemned," it said, emphasising that exemplary action is necessary to send a clear message to other public officials about their obligations under the Act. The PSIC's stern remarks underlined the need for accountability in governance and warned that non-compliance with the RTI framework undermines public trust in administrative institutions.
Time of India
19-05-2025
- Time of India
Youth assaulted for messaging minor girl, zero FIR filed
Patiala: A video has gone viral in which a 21-year-old Dalit man is seen being brutally assaulted, his hair being forcibly cut, and his face blackened in a village of Patiala. The man messaing a minor girl "for friendship" is alleged to be the trigger for the brutality. The incident took place on Sunday and a zero FIR has been registered at Nabha Sadar police station, confirmed a police official. According to reports, the victim messaged the girl for friendship. Despite repeatedly apologising, he was allegedly beaten by members of the girl's family and other villagers in front of the village panchayat. The youth, who belongs to a scheduled caste (SC) family, is undergoing treatment at Nabha civil hospital. The minor girl belongs to a backward caste (BC) family. Village sarpanch Sukhchain Singh condemned the attack, stating the girl's family was enraged over the message to their minor daughter. "When I reached the spot after receiving the information, they were already cutting the boy's hair. I tried to intervene, but they did not stop," he said. He added police were informed, but they refused to respond. "Eventually, I took both parties to the police post myself," he said. The sarpanch also mentioned that while the boy previously took Amrit, he recently cut his hair on his own and started wearing a cap. Nabha Sadar station house officer (SHO) Gurpreet Singh Samrao confirmed the initial investigation found the girl's family picked up the boy from his workplace in Kalajhar, Sangrur, and brought him back to the village where the assault took place. "On taking legal advice, a case will be filed at the appropriate police station," Samrao said.
Russia Today
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
‘It was carnage': Kashmiri border residents shattered by night shelling from Pakistan
In the serene village of Mendhar, nestled in the mountains of Poonch district in the southern region of Jammu close to the Line of Control (LoC), a quasi-border between India and Pakistan, the night of tranquility on Wednesday was shattered by intense shelling from across the border. At least 16 civilians, including women and children, were killed and 44 people were wounded. The residents recalled it as the worst shelling in decades. They woke up to the deafening sounds of shellfire as Pakistani artillery targeted civilian areas along the LOC in multiple locations across Jammu and Kashmir. 'This was a night of grief and terror.' We did not know what to do as shells were landing everywhere on houses, killing small children, triggering fire,' said Sukhchain Singh, a farmer, whose two neighbors, Amreek Singh, 55, and Ranjit Singh, 48, both shopkeepers, were killed in the shelling. 'We are in grief and mourning, and now we also fear for our lives,' he said. Analysts have called the assault one of the deadliest in recent years. It was in response to India's 'Operation Sindoor' launched on the night of May 7 and targeting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan in retaliation for a deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgram, Kashmir in April. Tensions between India and Pakistan have sharply escalated following the attack that left 26 people dead. India, which has long accused Pakistan of aiding militant infiltrations in Kashmir, has signaled that it holds Pakistan responsible – a claim Pakistan denied. The two neighbors have fought several wars since their independence from Britain in 1947 as they both claim Jammu and Kashmir in its entirety. 'We have not seen anything like this in years, though we have been living in the border area for decades now. This was a doomsday. It is the innocent civilians who get caught in the fire; how were the small children to blame who were killed?' said Tahira Bano, another resident who along with her family of five was evacuated to a government school in Poonch town. Poonch town was the worst affected, where locals said that the shelling continued for six hours, sparking fear and terror among residents who were caught unaware. The tension between India and Pakistan had been building for days after the Pahalgam attack, in which 26 tourists were killed by terrorists. India has blamed Pakistan, although Pakistan has denied the charge. In retaliation for the Pahalgam attack, India launched 'Operation Sindoor', which New Delhi said targeted nine 'terror bases' in Pakistan. However, Islamabad retorted that 31 civilians were killed in an Indian strike and the attack would be avenged, which has heightened the tensions between the two countries. World leaders have meanwhile appealed for calm between the two nuclear-armed neighbors. Ajaz Jan, a local legislator, said that the entire town in Poonch had been affected by the heavy shelling from across the border. 'This was like a war zone,' he said. The videos shared by the locals with RT show a house turned into ruins, dead bodies of children being carried out in vans, and smoke rising high in the air. Residents have yet to recover from the scenes of chaos, with despairing families huddled in makeshift shelters, mourning the loss of loved ones and the destruction of their homes. ❗️Pakistani Artillery Strikes Kill 15 Civilians in Poonch & Tangdhar43 others were injured when strikes hit civilian areas in Kashmir earlier on Wednesday. 'This was a peaceful village, but now there is smoke everywhere,' says Abdul Salam Khatana, 55, another resident. While the Indian army says that they have responded to the ceasefire violations, the civilian population continues to bear the brunt of the escalating tensions all across the border in Jammu and Kashmir. 'We do not know what lies ahead for us. War is not an option; the innocent civilians pay the price. It takes years to build a life on the mountain, and now it has taken seconds to turn everything into ashes,' Khatana said, adding that the locals long for peace. Mohmad Waseem Malla, a research fellow at the International Centre for Peace Studies New Delhi said that that residents along the LoC are the most vulnerable, being situated directly on the front line. 'There are already so many casualties being reported. Should tensions escalate further, these communities may face not only temporary displacement but also significant restrictions on access to their agricultural lands – an essential source of livelihood,' Malla said. He added that at this juncture, it remains to be seen how the situation will evolve. 'Nevertheless, India's response thus far appears calibrated, aiming to establish deterrence while preventing a broader escalation.' Michael Kugelman, the Director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center, said that this time the violence is much worse than, for instance, in 2019 when India conducted precision strikes on a terrorist camp in Balakot, Pakistan, following an attack on the military convoy in Pulwama that resulted in the death of 40 personnel. Tensions now are 'already higher up the escalatory ladder than any time in the '19 crisis,' Kugelman said. While the borders between India and Pakistan have witnessed skirmishes for decades, the roaring guns had mostly fallen silent after the 2003 ceasefire agreement between the two countries. Experts say that the current scale of cross-border shelling has not been seen since the 1971 India-Pakistan War. Shelling was also witnessed in the northern districts of Uri and Kupwara – two districts close to the LoC. Many civilian homes were damaged and several people were injured, including three children. The locals have been asked to move to safety by the government. The authorities have also ordered the closure of schools and colleges in many districts of Jammu and Kashmir. The three airports in the region – Srinagar, Jammu and Leh – have been closed until May 10. There is chaos and uncertainty among the local population, who fear that hostilities could increase and have started hoarding essentials like gasoline. RT spoke to locals in the villages of Gingal, Dachina, and Salamabad, where residents said that many houses caught fire due to the intensity of the shelling. 'The blazing fire was so intense that within seconds it spread, we found no other option but to leave our livestock behind and flee the village,' said a resident of Salamabad in Uri, who has now left his home behind and gone to a shelter in the town. 'We want peace and not war. This is taking a toll on our lives, our mental health is shattered. We feel helpless,' said Irshad Ahmad, a resident of Garkote village in the same district. While the situation remains tense with fear of more escalation, Ahmad said that he hopes that hostilities will end soon. 'We hope that peace comes back and we can return to our homes.'
