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Bring gangster Lawrence Bishnoi to Chandigarh in handcuffs, under watch of 20 policemen: HC
Curt directs that the Rajasthan jail to Chandigarh transit be supervised by deputy inspector general, UT, Omvir Singh Bishnoi, with the escorting team led by a deputy superintendent of police with two inspectors and 17 policemen.
After fears expressed by incarcerated gangster Lawrence Bishnoi that he could be eliminated in a ‘fake police encounter,’ during transit to Chandigarh and Haryana for interrogation in various criminal cases, the Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday directed Chandigarh police to bring him to the city in handcuffs and “under the watch of 20 policemen,” with videography done of the entire transit.
The directions were issued by high court bench of justice Gurvinder Singh Gill after Bishnoi, currently in a Rajasthan jail, pleaded that he would be killed in a “fake encounter” similar to criminal Vikas Dubey’s “elimination” by Uttar Pradesh police.
The court directed that the Rajasthan jail to Chandigarh transit be supervised by deputy inspector general (DIG), UT, Omvir Singh Bishnoi, with the escorting team led by a deputy superintendent of police with two inspectors and 17 policemen.
Escort details
Laying out precise movement instructions, the court said the convoy would have a pilot vehicle followed by the prison van carrying Bishnoi and the escort vehicle. The DSP travelling in the last vehicle would be in charge of the transit.
Bishnoi will travel in a bullet proof or armoured vehicle duly escorted by trained commandos, armed with sophisticated arms and ammunition, the court directed.
After he is interrogated by Chandigarh police, Bishnoi will be handed over to a Haryana police team supervised by Inspector general (IG), Hisar, Sanjay Kumar. If Haryana fails to get production warrant for the case in which Bishnoi has to be presented in court, the gangster will be taken back to Chandigarh with the same protocol to be followed.
Officials to be held responsible for lapses
Officials concerned will be held personally liable and responsible in case of default, the court warned.
Bishnoi has imprisoned in Bharatpur for two years, with a custody period of almost five years.
Haryana police is probing his role in a July 2020 FIR on the murder of two persons in Dabwali, Sirsa. In Chandigarh, police is investigating his role in four FIRs registered this year, most of them involving use of weapons.
Bishnoi has pleaded that he be allowed to appear in court through videoconferencing or be handcuffed if brought in transit,
He has also alleged being framed in criminal cases in Punjab (where he was named in 16 FIRs at one point), Haryana and Chandigarh.
While denying Bishnoi’s videoconferencing plea, the court observed that the police could not be deprived of its right to interrogate an accused and that physical interrogation was necessary in a case where he had place a background role in the criminal cases.
