Bishnoi interview from jail: PEC, IIT Ropar experts roped in to check mobile use in jails: Punjab to HC
Additional director general of police ( ADGP prisons) Arun Pal Singh informed the HC that technical assistance was being availed from the institutes and infrastructure was being upgraded
The Punjab government has submitted in the Punjab and Haryana high court that it has roped in experts from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Ropar and Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh to check incidents of mobile use by jail inmates.
Additional director general of police ( ADGP prisons) Arun Pal Singh informed the HC that technical assistance was being availed from the institutes and infrastructure was being upgraded. He also provided a timeline for the same.
The court was hearing a suo motu petition initiated after two interviews of jailed gangster Lawernce Bishnoi surfaced in March this year.
Advocate Tanu Bedi, amicus curaie in the matter, pointed out that the timelines given had also been submitted earlier in similar matters, but were not adhered to. In view of this, Singh sought time to seek fresh instructions on the issue.
During the hearing, Bedi highlighted that she was not satisfied with the probe conducted by police and referred to “gaps” in the investigation.
The high court bench of justice Anupinder Singh Grewal and justice Kirti Singh orally observed that deeper probe was required in the matter. They, however, did not pass a formal order. The hearing will continue on December 21.
On December 14, the government had told the high court that it was “highly improbable” that the interview conducted was from Punjab jails or in Punjab Police custody.
“…as per findings of the committee, it is highly improbable that interview of the suspect had been conducted in any of the jails in Punjab or within the state when he was in police custody. The suspect was also not within the jurisdiction of the Haryana during the period the interview was conducted,” Singh had told the high court, adding that Bishnoi had been taken outside Punjab and Haryana as he was wanted in cases registered outside the two states.
According to subsequent reports based on SIT filings, one of the interviews was conducted from a jail in Rajasthan.
