When the matter came up for hearing before the HC on Wednesday, a status report dated July 9 was filed by Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by special DGP Prabodh Kumar, pinpointing the places where the interviewee (Lawrence Bishnoi) was at the time of interview.
As per the report, at the time of the first interview on the intervening night of September 3 and 4, 2022, he was in CIA, Kharar.
Opposition asks CM to quit over Bishnoi interview
SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia and Congress MLA Partap Singh Bajwa on Wednesday sought Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann‘s resignation, claiming that an SIT report submitted to the Punjab and Haryana high court had revealed that gangster Lawrence Bishnoi’s interview to a TV channel occurred at Kharar police station.
Majithia said Mann should take the responsibility for the interview, seeking exemplary punishment for police officers who facilitated interview last year. Leader of opposition Bajwa claimed that the first interview of Bishnoi took place when he was in CIA custody in Kharar, and the second was conducted in a Rajasthan jail.
Majithia said the interview was conducted when Bishnoi was being probed with regard to his role in the murder of singer Sidhu Moose Wala. “This could only happen under the patronage of govt and the CM should explain why his govt, in the same manner as the AAP govt in Delhi, was providing protection to Bishnoi,” said Majithia.
The Akali leader also demanded strict action against police officers who had facilitated the television interview in the police station. “It is also clear that the CM not only withdrew the security cover of Moose Wala, but also publicised the same,” claimed Majithia.
Bajwa accused AAP-led Punjab got of lying about the interview since March 2023. “Now, after this revelation, Mann owes an explanation to the people of Punjab, particularly the parents of Moose Wala,” Bajwa said.
The Congress leader said the interview happened right under the nose of Punjab CM. “There have been black sheep in the police department. As a home minister, Mann must order an impartial investigation, and erring police officials should be given exemplary punishment,” he said.
He said gangsterism in Punjab had been on the rise ever since AAP came to power in 2022. “Contractors who have been building the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway have been getting death threats,” Bajwa added.