Lawrence Bishnoi interview: 7 Punjab Police personnel suspended
Chandigarh (PTI): 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.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the state police, led by the special director general of police (human rights), found that one interview of Bishnoi was conducted when he was in Punjab Police's custody in Mohali's Kharar while the second was done in Rajasthan.
The suspension came after the SIT found dereliction of duty on the part of the seven personnel.
According to an order of the Punjab home secretary issued on Friday, SP Gursher Singh Sandhu, DSP Sammar Vaneet, sub-inspector Reena (CIA Kharar), sub-inspector Jagatpal Jangu, sub-inspector Shaganjit Singh, assistant sub-inspector Mukhtiar Singh and head constable Om Parkash have been suspended.
"Keeping in view the sensitivity of the case, all the above officers have been suspended," said the order.
The home secretary order referred to the SIT report which found that Bishnoi's interview, aired on a private TV channel, was conducted through video conference on the intervening night of September 3 and 4 2022.
In March last year, a private news channel ran two interviews of Bishnoi.
The first interview was conducted on the premises of CIA (crime investigating agency) staff, Kharar which falls in the jurisdiction of SAS Nagar, Mohali.
The second 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 premises.
Bishnoi is one of the accused in the 2022 murder case of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala.
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Sambhal violence: SP MP Zia-ur-Rehman Barq, SP MLA's son booked; 25 arrested so far
Sambhal (UP) (PTI): Police have lodged seven FIRs in connection with the violence over a court-ordered survey of a Mughal-era mosque here, naming Samajwadi Party MP Zia-ur-Rehman Barq and local SP MLA Iqbal Mehmood's son Sohail Iqbal as accused, officials said on Monday.
The district administration has already imposed prohibitory orders and barred the entry of outsiders into Sambhal till November 30. Internet services are suspended in Sambhal tehsil and the district administration declared a holiday in all schools for Monday.
Three people were killed and scores of others, including security personnel and administration officials, injured on Sunday as protesters opposing the survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid clashed with police. A fourth injured person died on Monday.
Addressing a press conference on Monday, Superintendent of Police Krishan Kumar said seven FIRs have been lodged in connection with the violence. Six people, including Barq and Iqbal, were named and 2,750 others have been mentioned as unidentified, he said.
"Due to Barq's statement earlier, the situation became worse here," he added.
The officer said 25 people have been arrested so far in the case and attempts are on to identify others involved in the violence.
He added that there was peace in the city and people have opened their shops even though it is the day of the weekly closure of markets.
District Magistrate Rajender Pensiya said late on Sunday that the prohibitory orders had been issued under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
"No outsiders, other social organisations or public representatives will enter the district border without the permission of the competent officer," said the order, which came into force with immediate effect.
Violation of the order will be punishable under Section 223 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the BNS.
Earlier, Muniraj told reporters that Naeem, Bilal and Nauman -- the three men who died in Sunday's violence -- had been buried.
All three were aged about 25.
Tension had been brewing in Sambhal since November 19 when the Jama Masjid was first surveyed on the court's orders following a petition claiming that a Harihar temple had stood at the site.
On Sunday, trouble started early when a large group of people gathered near the mosque and started shouting slogans as the survey team began its work.
District officials said the survey could not be completed on Tuesday and was planned for Sunday to avoid interference with afternoon prayers.
Supreme Court lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, who is a petitioner in the case, had earlier said the Court of Civil Judge (Senior Division) ordered the constitution of an "advocate commission" to survey the mosque.
The court has said a report should be filed after conducting a videography and photography survey through the commission, he had said.
On Sunday, Jain urged the Archaeological Survey of India to take control of the "temple".
Gopal Sharma, a local lawyer for the Hindu side, had earlier claimed the temple that once stood at the site was demolished by Mughal emperor Babur in 1529.
