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First Bishnoi interview held in Kharar CIA custody: SIT to HC
Second interview conducted in a Rajasthan jail, reveals report that was submitted to court on July 9
The first interview of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, the mastermind in Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala murder case, was held in CIA police station Kharar while the second was conducted in a Rajasthan jail, reveals the special investigation team (SIT) report submitted to the Punjab and Haryana high court.
“It is disquieting to note that in the first interview, which was conducted on the night of September 3 and 4, 2022, the interviewee (Bishnoi) was on the premises of Kharar CIA. While giving the second interview, he was in Rajasthan,” the division bench of justice Anupinder Singh Grewal and justice Lapita Banerji observed on Wednesday after going through the report. The SIT, headed by Prabodh Kumar, special director general of police, PSHRC, had submitted the report to the HC in a sealed cover on July 9.
The bench also observed that the black sheep in the state police have to be identified and brought to the book at the earliest.
“Punjab Police are one of the best police forces in the country but they need to be insulated from extraneous influence. The black sheep have to be identified and brought to the book at the earliest,” it said.
The court also came down heavily on the committee constituted by the state government to look into the matter. “It is apt to notice that two-member committee set up by the state government to inquire into the matter had submitted a report wherein it was mentioned that it was highly improbable that the interview was conducted either in a jail or Punjab Police custody.”
“The panel took almost eight months to arrive at this “inconclusive finding.” If it was an attempt to hoodwink the court or misdirect the proceedings of the court, it would be serious matter and would be considered at an appropriate stage,” mentions the order, while pointing out that the SIT “has been able to pinpoint the places where the interviewee was based at the time of the interviews.”
“We hope and trust that the investigations conducted by SIT are not confined to the lower-level officials and they are not made scapegoat while higher officials are protected,” observed the court.
The Punjab chief secretary has been asked to “render all possible assistance” to the SIT as and when sought.
The SIT head has also filed an affidavit seeking directions with regards to further course of action to be adopted in pursuance to the second FIR as the interviewee was in the Rajasthan when it was conducted.
Amicus curiae submitted that she shall be filing an application to implead Rajasthan. The next hearing has been scheduled for September 5.
While observing that the “interviews tends to glorify crime and criminals”, the court said these have over 12 million views on the YouTube which could have an adverse effect on impressionable minds.
Expressing apprehension of “spurt in crime” after the interview telecast, the high court has directed Punjab director general of police to file an affidavit listing out the number and details of registration of criminal cases, especially those relating to extortion/ threatening calls, calls of ransom, abduction and intimidations of witnesses, in Punjab from March 2023 till December 2023 when the interviews were directed to be removed from website/channel/URL and nine months prior to its broadcast.
