Chandigarh: An interview of dreaded gangster and main conspirator of singer Shubhdeep Singh aka Sidhu Moose Wala’s killing Lawrence Bishnoi --- who is currently lodged in a Bathinda jail --- to a private news channel, on Tuesday evening sent the Punjab prisons department into a tizzy.
Hours after the telecast, the prisons department said the interview was not recorded inside any jail in the state.
The interview comes days after video clips showing jailed gangsters linked to Bishnoi gang bragging about killing two members of rival Jaggu Bhagwanpuria gang inside Goindwal jail went viral on social media, causing huge embarrassment to the state government following which five officials, including the jail superintendent, were arrested.
According to the information procured from the prisons department, Bishnoi was taken on a production warrant from Bathinda jail to Rajasthan on February 15.He was brought back to Bathinda on March 10.
Bishnoi was taken to Rajasthan in a case registered on February 3 in which three gunmen had fired 19 shots at a Jaipur hotel and left a note asking for ₹1 crore from its owner. Bishnoi was said to be kept in Jaipur central jails during the production warrant after his interrogation by the local police.
In an over hour-long interview, Bishnoi purportedly admitted to his role of a key conspirator in Moose Wala killing. The gangster is heard saying that he had arranged everything as per the plan which was hatched along with another gangster Satinderjit Singh alias Goldy Brar. Goldy, who is based in Canada, has also been booked in the case.
{{/usCountry}}In an over hour-long interview, Bishnoi purportedly admitted to his role of a key conspirator in Moose Wala killing. The gangster is heard saying that he had arranged everything as per the plan which was hatched along with another gangster Satinderjit Singh alias Goldy Brar. Goldy, who is based in Canada, has also been booked in the case.
{{/usCountry}}The interviewer asks Bishnoi how he managed to procure a phone for the video interview from inside a jail to which the gangster replies that he knows how to exploit the loopholes in the prisons department. He is also purportedly admitting to running various rackets from jail.
The interviewer, however, doesn’t ask Bishnoi about the name of the jail from where he is giving the interview. There is no network glitch and the video streams smoothly.
Bathinda jail superintendent MD Negi rebutted the claims about the possibility of the interview from inside the high-security jail, saying that they have placed the gangster in a cell where any interaction from phone is not possible.
The Punjab jails department was also quick to issue a statement, saying that the rumours about Bishnoi’s interview being recorded inside a Punjab jail were baseless. “It is further clarified that this prisoner is at present confined in a high security zone of Bathinda jail where strict surveillance is kept over his activities 24x7. If anyone is caught spreading fake news maligning the image of the Punjab prisons department, action shall be initiated as per the law,” said the statement.
Bishnoi, who was lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail was brought on production warrant by Punjab Police in June last year. Since then, he is in custody of Punjab Police and he was taken to Jaipur for some days. Bishnoi is wanted in more than 50 cases of murder, attempt of murder, dacoity and abduction in different states across north India.