Punjab: Bishnoi interviews: Court allows polygraph tests of six Mohali cops
The six personnel were posted with the CIA, Mohali, at the time of the interview; the cops had consented to the polygraph tests
Judicial magistrate first class (JMIC ) Manpreet Kaur allowed an application seeking a polygraph test of six Mohali police officials in connection with the probe into interviews of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi conducted from inside jails in September 2022.
The order passed during a hearing on April 16 was uploaded on Friday.
The six personnel — assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Mukhtiar Singh and constables Simranjit Singh, Harpreet Singh, Balwinder Singh, Satnam Singh and Amritpal Singh — were posted with the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA), Mohali, at the time of the interview. The cops had consented to the polygraph tests.
They were present in court along with the public prosecutor and Mohali anti-narcotics task force (ANTF) additional director general of police (ADGP) Neelabh Kishore.
In the order, the court said, “In compliance with the guidelines issued by the apex court, consent is necessary to ensure voluntariness for undergoing scientific tests.” It added that the cops have agreed to undergo polygraph tests, and their statements have been taken.
The order came while hearing of the case trial titled ‘State vs Lawrence Bishnoi’, registered under sections 384, 201, 202, 506, 116, 120-B of the Indian Penal Code, and section 52-A(1) of The Prisons (Punjab Amendment) Act, 2011, at the Phase 4 police station in Mohali.
A Punjab Police special investigation team (SIT), headed by the special director general of police (human rights), had earlier found one of the interviews was conducted at a CIA facility in Kharar on the intervening night of September 3 and 4, 2022. The SIT said the second interview was conducted in Rajasthan. The investigation of the case over the second interview has been transferred to Rajasthan.
The controversy erupted in March 2023 when a private news channel aired two interviews of Bishnoi.