The special investigation team (SIT) report on jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, the mastermind behind Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala’s murder, revealed that his first interview took place at the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) premises in Punjab’s Kharar. The second interview was conducted in a Rajasthan jail. The CIA is a special branch of the Punjab Police. Bishnoi was in custody for a drugs and arms case.
The SIT, led by Prabodh Kumar, special director general of police, PSHRC, submitted the report to the High Court on July 9.
“It is disquieting to note that in the first interview, which was conducted on the night of September 3 and 4, 2022, the interviewee (Bishnoi) was on the premises of Kharar CIA. While giving the second interview, he was in Rajasthan,” the division bench of Justice Anupinder Singh Grewal and Justice Lapita Banerji observed on Wednesday after going through the report.
“Punjab Police are one of the best police forces in the country but they need to be insulated from extraneous influence. The black sheep have to be identified and brought to the book at the earliest,” it said.
The court also criticised the committee established by the state government to investigate the matter. “It is apt to notice that two-member committee set up by the state government to inquire into the matter had submitted a report wherein it was mentioned that it was highly improbable that the interview was conducted either in a jail or Punjab Police custody,” it noted.
“The panel took almost eight months to arrive at this ‘inconclusive finding’. If it was an attempt to hoodwink the court or misdirect the proceedings of the court, it would be serious matter and would be considered at an appropriate stage,” the order said, while pointing out that the SIT “has been able to pinpoint the places where the interviewee was based at the time of the interviews.”
“We hope and trust that the investigations conducted by SIT are not confined to the lower-level officials and they are not made scapegoat while higher officials are protected,” observed the court.
The Punjab chief secretary has been instructed to provide all possible assistance to the SIT whenever required.
The SIT head has also filed an affidavit seeking directions regarding the further course of action concerning the second FIR, as the interview was conducted while Bishnoi was in Rajasthan.
The amicus curiae stated she would file an application to implead Rajasthan in the case. The next hearing is scheduled for September 5.
The court noted that the interviews, which have garnered over 12 million views on YouTube, tend to glorify crime and criminals, potentially influencing impressionable minds. The interviews justify targeted killings and criminal activities, the court had earlier said.
Expressing concern about a possible increase in crime following the interview broadcast, the high court has directed the Punjab director general of police to file an affidavit detailing the number and specifics of criminal cases registered, particularly those involving extortion, threatening calls, ransom demands, abduction, and witness intimidation, between March 2023 and December 2023, when the interviews were ordered to be removed from the website/channel/URL, as well as for the nine months prior to their broadcast.
