Chandigarh:

Punjab Police in a joint operation with central agencies have busted a Pakistan-backed arms smuggling module with the arrest of two operatives from Tarn Taran, Director General of Police (DGP), Gaurav Yadav, said on Thursday.

“The operation led to the recovery of four sophisticated Glock-19 pistols, including one with ‘Made for NATO Army’ imprinted on it, along with four magazines and seven cartridges, besides Rs 4.8 lakh hawala money,” the DGP said, adding that police teams have also impounded a Maruti Swift car in which the accused were travelling.

The arrested duo has been identified as Harpreet Singh and Lovepreet Singh. Both have criminal history with cases pertaining to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) registered against them.

DGP Yadav said Harpreet Singh had links with a Pakistan-based smuggler, who used to influx drugs and weapon consignments from across the border using drones.

Further investigations are underway to establish backward and forward linkages in this case, he added.

Sharing more details, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Tarn Taran, Gaurav Toora told the media that the police were carrying out checking of suspected vehicles near Sheron in Taran Taran when a Maruti Swift car being driven rashly was signalled to stop. The occupants tried to flee but rammed the vehicle into the barricade at the check-post.

The two persons in the car were rounded up and weapons and hawala money were recovered upon their search, the SSP said.

He also said that preliminary investigations have revealed that Harpreet had developed some contacts when he was lodged in Faridkot Jail, who got him in touch with the Pakistan-based drug smuggler.

The probe has also revealed that Harpreet had delivered multiple weapon consignments to criminal elements, the SSP said, adding that further investigation is on and more arrests are expected to be made in this case.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Chandigarh:

Punjab excise collections have increased by a whopping 37% in the past financial year, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has told Governor Banwarilal Purohit, detailing the sustained growth in revenue under the AAP government.

Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections have increased 16.6%, vehicle tax collection 13%, stamps and registration collection 28%, Mr Mann said in a letter to Mr Purohit on Tuesday.

The letter was in response to the Governor seeking details about of the utilisation of the Rs 50,000 crore funds the state government had borrowed.

From April 1, 2002 till August 31, 2023, Punjab’s debt increased by 47,107 crore, the letter said. A major part of that, Rs 27,016 crore, went towards interest repayment for inherited debt.

“During my tenure as Chief Minister of Punjab, lingering issues left behind by previous governments were dealt on priority…We used both debt and our own revenue resources to fund organisations/schemes ignored by my predecessors, utilised the new debt to create capital assets and undertake development activities in the State,” Mr Mann said.

At the same time, employment was provided to over 36,000 youth in the state, he added.

Mr Mann requested the Governor to convince the centre to release the pending Rural Development Fund of Rs 5,637 crore and temporarily stop debt repayments for at least five years.

“This will provide much needed relief to the strained financial position of the State and would give some fiscal elbow room to your government to accelerate the growth of revenue and the pace of development,” said Mr Mann.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann speaks during the ongoing session of Punjab Legislative Assembly, in Chandigarh on October 3, 2022.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday announced increasing the price of sugarcane to ₹380 per quintal from the existing ₹360 per quintal.

He announced a hike in SAP (State agreed price) of sugarcane on the floor of the Punjab Assembly on the concluding day of its brief session.

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In August 2021, the then Congress government had announced a ₹50 per quintal hike in SAP of sugarcane to ₹360 per quintal.

Mr. Mann said farmers will get an additional ₹20 per quintal under SAP of sugarcane as compared to last year.

With this decision, the State government will spend an additional ₹200 crore annually to benefit the farmers.

Mr. Mann said the farmers of the State eagerly want to adopt sugarcane crop under crop diversification, but they are hesitant for it due to lack of adequate price and timely payment of the crop.

At present, sugarcane is cultivated on just 1.25 lakh hectares of land in Punjab, while the total crushing capacity of sugar mills was around 2.50 lakh hectares. This is why the State government has decided to enhance the price to supplement the income of farmers, he said.

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Informing the House about the present status of the payments, the Chief Minister said the cooperative sugar mills have already paid the entire dues of the farmers but two private sugar mills have not paid the dues yet.

He informed that the owners of these mills have fled from the country, adding that the state government has already initiated the process to confiscate their assets to pay the pending dues of the farmers.