Lawrence Bishnoi interview: Seven Punjab Police personnel suspended

The Punjab Police has suspended seven personnel including two deputy superintendent rank officers in connection with an interview of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi while in police custody reported news agency PTIA Special Investigation Team SIT of the state police led by the special director general of police human rights found that one Lawrence Bishnoi interview was conducted when he was in Punjab Polices custody in Mohalis Kharar while the second was done in Rajasthan reported PTIThe suspension came after the SIT found dereliction of duty on the part of the seven personnelAccording to an order of the Punjab home secretary issued on Friday SP Gursher Singh Sandhu DSP Sammar Vaneet subinspector Reena CIA Kharar subinspector Jagatpal Jangu subinspector Shaganjit Singh assistant subinspector Mukhtiar Singh and head constable Om Parkash have been suspended reported PTIKeeping in view the sensitivity of the case all the above officers have been suspended said the order reported PTIThe order read In pursuance of the orders passed on 21122023 Shri Prabodh Kumar IPS Special Investigation Team SIT was formed under the leadership of the Special Director General of Police Punjab State Human Rights Commission Apple FIR No 01 Bhadi 05012024 AP 384 201 202 506 116 Bhadi 120 Ghee Bhaspti Was m Section 46 of The Prisons Act 1894 later replaced with Section 52A1 of The Prisons Punjab Amendment Act 2011 Pulim Matemath Matet Karayam SAS The report was presented in the city According to it on the night of 0304092022 accused Lawrence Bishnoi lodged under the reference of CIA Kharar gave an interview through video conference to a shared TV channelThe SIT report identified several officers for negligence in their duties related to the incident involving gangster Lawrence Bishnois interview from prison Those named include Gursher Singh PPS DSP of the 9th PAP in Amritsar who was the then DSP Investigations in SAS Nagar and Sammer Vaneet PPS DSP of the Economic Offences Wing in SAS NagarAdditionally Sub Inspector Reena from the CIA in Kharar Sub Inspectors Jagatpal Jangu and Shaganjit Singh from the AntiGangster Task Force ASI Mukhtiar Singh the then Duty Officer and Head Constable Om Parkash the then Night MHC of the CIA in Kharar were also cited in the report for their roles in the matterThe home secretarys order referred to the SIT report which found that Lawrence Bishnoi interview aired on a private TV channel was conducted through video conference on the intervening night of September 3 and 4 2022 reported PTIIn March last year a private news channel ran two interviews of BishnoiThe first Lawrence Bishnoi interview was conducted on the premises of CIA crime investigating agency staff Kharar which falls in the jurisdiction of SAS Nagar MohaliThe second Lawrence Bishnoi interview was conducted when Bishnoi was lodged in Central Jail in Jaipur according to the probe by the SIT which submitted its report to the Punjab and Haryana High Court in July in a suo motu matter related to the use of mobile phones by inmates on jail premisesBishnoi is one of the accused in the 2022 murder case of Punjabi singer Sidhu MoosewalaWith inputs from PTI