New Delhi: The Punjab government on Thursday (January 2) dismissed a DSP rank officer from service for his alleged role in facilitating the recording of an interview of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi with a private news channel while the former was in police custody.
The dismissal orders were issued by the state Home Department, with the government invoking powers under Article 311 of the Constitution to dismiss DSP Gursher Singh Sandhu, reported the Press Trust of India.
Earlier, in October last year, the Punjab and Haryana high court had said that police officers in Punjab “provided a studio-like facility” to gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and facilitated his interview with a news channel.
According to the dismissal order, a special investigation team of the Punjab police had concluded that Sandhu, who is a Punjab Police Service (PPS) officer, facilitated the recording of the interview when Bishnoi was in the state police’s custody in Mohali’s Kharar around two years back.
“His failure to perform his duty properly is a gross violation of the discipline and conduct rules of the Punjab Police,” reads the dismissal order.
“The police officers allowed the criminal to use electronic device and provided a studio like facility to conduct the interview which tends to glorify crime with the potential to facilitate other crimes including extortion by the criminal and his associates. Involvement of the police officers may suggest receipt of illegal gratification from the criminal or his associates and constitute offences under Prevention of Corruption Act. Therefore, the case requires further investigation,” a bench of Justices Justices Anupinder Singh Grewal and Lapita Banerji of the Punjab and Haryana High Court had said in October last year.
The Canadian police had recently accused Indian diplomats in Canada of using Bishnoi’s gang for “involvement in homicides, extortions and other criminal acts of violence” in the country.
