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Lawrence Bishnoi interviews: Committee constituted to probe the incident: Punjab to HC
The Punjab government on Friday informed Punjab and Haryana high court that a probe panel has been formed to look into the incident of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who is in Bathinda jail, appearing on a TV channel for an interview.
The Punjab government on Friday informed Punjab and Haryana high court that a probe panel has been formed to look into the incident of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who is in Bathinda jail, appearing on a TV channel for an interview.
The statement in this regard was made by a Punjab government counsel during the hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by one Akash Manocha.
The state’s law officer informed the high court bench of chief justice RS Jha and justice Arun Palli that a committee under the ADGP (jails) has been constituted to look into the matter. In case the petitioner has any grievance, the same can be taken up with the authorities. In view of this, the high court has disposed of the plea.
Bishnoi had given two interviews to a private TV channel, through video calls. The Punjab police had categorically said that the interviews were not recorded inside the Punjab jails.
The plea had demanded that a Central agency be roped in to inquire and register FIR against the persons responsible for conducting the interview of the gangster, who has more than 30 criminal cases of murder, among other offences, against him.
During the interview, Bishnoi made claims about the murder of Singer Sidhu Moose Wala and also threatened to kill actor Salman Khan.
Apparently, conducted on different dates, the interviews had put a question mark on the working of Punjab police and the security of jails in the state.
In both instances, Punjab Police categorically denied that Bishnoi’s interviews happened while he was lodged in Bathinda jail.
After the first interview surfaced Punjab director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav categorically denied that the interview was conducted from inside a prison in the state.
A few days later Bishnoi another interview with the same TV channel surfaced in which he was seen talking about the latest events involving his gang and even showed the cell where he is lodged on the camera.
When contacted, ADGP jails B Chandrashekhar said even the second interview is not from the Bathinda jail. “We have verified records. This interview is not from Bathinda jail,” he said.
