Unlikely that gangster Bishnoi was interviewed in Punjab jail, says SIT report

Chandigarh: It is highly improbable that the two interviews of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi were conducted in any Punjab jail when he was in police custody, according to the findings of an SIT.

The report of the special investigation team probing the back-to-back interviews of the gangster was submitted in the Punjab and Haryana High Court by the additional director general of police (prisons) during a hearing in the matter on Thursday.

Bishnoi is one of the accused in the 2022 singer Sidhu Moosewala murder case.

In March this year, a private news channel ran two interviews of Bishnoi.

A division bench of justices Anupinder Singh Grewal and Kirti Singh had earlier taken note of Bishnoi's interviews, while hearing a suo motu matter related to the use of mobile phones by inmates within jail premises.

During the hearing in the high court on Thursday, ADGP (prisons) Arun Pal Singh submitted the report of the SIT formed to probe how and where the two interviews of Bishnoi took place.

According to the court order, the ADGP submitted that the report of the two-member SIT had been submitted to the chief secretary on December 11.

As per findings of the SIT, it is highly improbable that the interviews of the accused had been conducted in any of the jails within the state of Punjab when he was in police custody.

Bishnoi was also not within the jurisdiction of Haryana during the period the interviews were conducted, it was submitted.

He had been taken outside the states of Punjab and Haryana as he is also wanted in cases registered outside the two states, the report said.

It was also submitted that it had been written to the concerned quarters to remove the interviews so that they are not available for public viewing.

The copy of the SIT report was submitted in a sealed cover which has been opened, resealed and retained in the court.

The ADGP submitted that several measures which include installation of jammers, CCTV cameras, body scanners, and putting up nets on the boundary walls to stop throwing of mobile phones are being taken to strengthen the jail security.

Augmentation of the jail staff as at present it is working at 60 per cent of its strength is being taken to strengthen prison security.

The authorities are also trying to augment the landlines to enable the jail inmates to make phone calls to their family members, it was submitted.

The court said it is of the considered view that the measures as contemplated by the prison authorities appear to be in the pipeline for several years and therefore, they cannot brook any further delay, especially when several instances of usage of mobile phones by inmates for commission of crime have come to its notice.

The ADGP sought time from the court to apprise it about the timeline for implementation of the measures to augment security in jails and prevent the unauthorised usage of mobile phones and other electronic devices on jail premises.

The order said the director, Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh is directed to depute an expert in the field of electronics/communications to assist this court on the technical aspects of usage of jammers and other equipment to prevent the unauthorised use of mobile phones and other electronic devices within the jail premises.

The court has fixed December 20 as the next date of hearing in the case.