IEP CHANDIGARH/TARN TARAN, October 23        

   The ongoing relentless war against gangsters launched on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann delivered yet another success after Punjab Police has arrested four persons, including two shooters, for murdering a Tarn Taran-based Shopkeeper Gurjant Singh, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Sunday. Gurjant Singh was shot dead at his shop by two assailants at his shop on October 11, 2022.          The arrested persons are close-associates of Canada-based terrorist Lakhbir Singh alias Landa and Europe-based terrorist Satpal Singh alias Satta, who in turn are close associates of a Pakistan-based terrorist Harvinder Singh Rinda of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI).          The arrested shooters have been identified as Gurkirat Singh alias Ghugi of village Sheron in Tarn Taran and Ajmeet Singh of Naushera Pannuan in Tarn Taran, said DGP Gaurav Yadav, while identifying two others as Harmanjot and Akashdeep Singh— both resident of Batala, who were arrested for providing weapons and other logistic support to the shooters. The police had also recovered four pistols including two 9mm and two .30 bore from their possession, he added.          The development came four days after the arrest of two persons, identified as Ravisher Singh alias Ravi of village Sheron in Tarn Taran and Varinder Singh alias Bhindi of Naushera Pannuan in Tarn Taran, who carried out recce and harboured shooters in this case. The Police had also recovered one .30 bore pistol and two cars including Hyundai Verna and Volkswagen Vento— which were used in the crime, from their possession.          CP Amritsar Arun Pal Singh said that following reliable inputs, in a joint operation Tarn Taran Police, Commissionerate Police Amritsar and Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) arrested all the four accused persons.          Preliminary Investigations have revealed that the arrested persons were hatching a conspiracy to commit another target killing in the area of Amritsar at the behest of Landa and Rinda.          SSP Tarn Taran Ranjit Singh Dhillon revealed that there was a family dispute between Gurjant and his estranged cousin Arshdeep Singh alias Batti, who is close-associate of Satnam Satta and Landa, and was arrested by the Delhi Special Cell in Kurukshetra IED planting case. “Landa and Satta avenged the arrest of Arshdeep Batti by murdering Gurjant, who according to them was the informer to the Police and played a pivotal role in getting Arshdeep Batti arrested,” he added.          Pertinently, a case FIR No. 200 dated 11.10.2022 had been registered under sections 302, 506 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 25/54/59 of the Arms Act at Police Station Sadar Tarn Taran.

IEP CHANDIGARH/AMRITSAR, October 21         

  With Punjab Police has tightened noose around the anti-social elements on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Amritsar Commissionerate Police and Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) in a joint operation with Delhi Police has arrested three operatives of a terrorist module and recovered one AK-47 Assault Rifle and three pistols along with ammunition from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Friday. The module is being jointly handled by Canada-based terrorist Lakhbir Singh alias Landa and Pakistan-based terrorist Harvinder Singh Rinda.          Those arrested have been identified as Balraj Singh of Bhikhiwind in Tarn Taran, Aatish Kumar and Avinash Kumar, both resident of village Sarhali Kalan in Tarn Taran. All the three accused persons were working as security guards at a Tile Factory in Gujarat.          The development came days after the Delhi Police had arrested Harminder Singh of Kot Isse Khan in Moga, who revealed that he had picked a consignment of one AK-47 and three pistols on the directions of Lakhbir Landa and handed over to Balraj, Aatish and Avinash.          DGP Gaurav Yadav said that following the inputs from Delhi Police, a manhunt operation was launched in the Amritsar and Police teams led by DCP Detective Amritsar Mukhwinder Singh Bhullar have arrested the trio accused from a Hotel at Ghee Mandi area on Thursday after recovering three pistols including one 9mm along with 22 live cartridges and two .30 bore with 9 live cartridges from their possession.          On the disclosures of accused Balraj, the Police teams have also recovered AK-47 assault rifle along with 23 live cartridges from a location pinpointed by him at village Thathe in Tarn Taran, he added.          Commissioner of Police (CP) Amritsar Arun Pal Singh said that the Police have procured seven days remand of the arrested persons after producing them in the Court. Further investigations are on to identify their other associates and more recoveries of arms and ammunitions are expected from this module, he added.          Meanwhile, a case FIR no. 135 dated 20.10.2022 has been registered under section 25(8)/54/59 of the Arms Act at Police Station E Division Amritsar.

IEP Chandigarh, October 21

Punjab Housing and Urban Development Minister Mr. Aman Arora on Friday handed over appointment letters to 21 Junior Draftsman at his office, Punjab Civil Secretariat-1, here.

          Conveying Diwali wishes and congratulating the newly inducted employees, Mr Aman Arora exhorted them to work diligently and with full honesty. He said that transparent and corruption-free governance is the sole agenda of Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Mann led state government and no stone has been left unturned to provide employment opportunities to the youth of the state.

          He said that all these employees are being posted at their nearest and convenient station. He wished them all the best for future.

          The Cabinet Minister also informed that the Punjab Cabinet today decided to restore the Old Pension Scheme, besides, giving 6 per cent DA to the state government employees as Mann government was committed to welfare of employees. In less than 7 months, the state government has provided government jobs to as many as 18,543 youths, he added.

IEP Chandigarh, October 21

In yet another move aimed at making optimum use of natural resources, Punjab will soon come up with an Energy Action Plan, which will help in reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission by adopting new and innovative clean energy technologies, informed Mr. Sumeet Jarangal, Chief Executive Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA). He was addressing the capacity building workshop on Training Needs Assessment (TNA) for State Energy Action Plan, here.

          Mr. Jarangal said that PEDA is striving hard to achieve the target of 2500 MW renewable energy capacity in Punjab and the Energy Action Plan will facilitate all stakeholder departments to implement Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy in their institution at the State level. He said that different departments of the state, which were till date merely the energy consumers, will now play a pivotal role in the energy transition & development of the future energy systems as the state is on the journey towards energy transition to ensure a clean and green environment, he added.

          The workshop was aimed to facilitate wider discussions on the strategy paper and to gather the valuable inputs of the stakeholder departments, said the Chief Executive, while adding that the deliberations of the workshop were useful to facilitate wider discussions on strategy paper, proposed training framework and finalize the action plan for capacity building in the state. A comprehensive blueprint will be developed for necessary training and capacity building programs on the basis of inputs received from the workshop. This will be followed by the creation of a network of training institutions and trainers to identify, plan, and roll out training programs for various aspects of energy planning and implementation.

          He said that Punjab will identify potential areas for training of government departments and officials for the multi-sectoral energy planning. The team has already undertaken a survey to understand such needs through interviewing various officers in different departments in Punjab. A strategy document on ‘training and capacity needs framework’ has been developed for the state of Punjab based on findings from this survey.

          Notably, GIZ (German Development Cooperation) has initiated Training Need Assessment with its partner Deloitte India to understand/assess knowledge/skill gaps) and understand the preparedness of departments in taking up new roles in Energy Planning and Sustainability in Punjab.

          Ms. Nidhi Sarin and Mr. Manoj Mahata, representatives of GIZ and Additional Director PEDA Mr. Jaspal Singh were also present in the workshop.

IEP Chandigarh, October 21

          Punjab Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Janjua on Friday categorically directed the concerned Administrative Secretaries of all departments to dispose of all corruption cases in a time-bound manner.

          During a meeting of senior officers of all departments and Vigilance Department in his office, the Chief Secretary said that Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant has adopted a zero-tolerance policy against the corruption and there are clear directions from CM Mann that no leniency should be accepted against any erring official.

          The Chief Secretary said that the state government is committed to provide a clean, transparent and corruption-free system to the people of Punjab and for this purpose bribery from the top to the bottom should be stopped in all circumstances. He said that all the ongoing investigation into the corruption cases should be completed as per the rules and no delay or laxity will be tolerated.

          CS unequivocally said that no accused will be spared at any cost and a strict action to be taken against bribe takers as per law, however, no injustice should be done to any innocent person. On this occasion, he sought information and progress report about pending cases in various departments.

          He directed all the top officials of the state that at any level, the common people should not face any harassment in getting benefits of the government services and the concerned departments should issue instructions to their respective staff. He also appealed to the people of Punjab that if any government employee or officer demands a bribe from them, then they should complain about it at once.