A day after a video clip of call between notorious cow vigilante Monu Manesar and gangster Lawrence Bishnoi went viral on social media platforms, Punjab Police on Monday clarified the video call was not made from any of the jails in the state.
The undated 38-second video clip shows Monu Manesar talking to Lawrence Bishnoi on video call while travelling in a car with another person. Bishnoi can also been with another individual by his side in the jail.
Inspector General (Prisons) RK Arora said that after an enquiry into the matter, it was found that the purported video call was not made from any of the jails in Punjab.
“We identifed the person sitting with Bishnoi (in the video call) Rajkumar alias Raju Basodi. It was found Basodi was in Muktsar jail (In Punjab) for 28 days between 25 January 2022 to 22 February 2022. Bishnoi was not in any of the Punjab jails between 4 January 2018 and 23 September 2022. He (Bishnoi) was brought to Bathinda jail on 24 September 2022. So the duo (Bishnoi and Basodi) were not togather in any of the Punjab jail. So I have concldued that it’s not a video of any jail in Punjabm,” Arora told a TV news channel.
The IG said even now Bishnoi is not in any of the jails in Punjab. “From 24 August 2023, he is in Gujarat jail. Bishnoi and Raju were not locked togather in any jail in Punjab. So it’s an old video and not of any Punjab jail. Raju Bishodi is not in any jail present. He was here for 28 days and trabefrerd to Sonipat jail in February 2023. Bishnoi was not any of the jail in Punjab at that time,” he said.
Opposition party Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia earlier accused Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann of protecting gangster Lawrence Bishnoi who, he claimed, is lodged as a state guest in Bathinda High Security Jail.
“His (Bishnoi’s) repeated interviews are proof that the Aam Aadmi Party government has protected him, thanks to which he is committing crimes like murder, extortion, and extortion while sitting in jail. Bhagwant Mann should immediately resign as Chief Minister, Home Minister and Jail Minister,” Majithia said.
A senior leader of AAP claimed the video call was made from a jail in Gujarat.
Mohit Yadav alias Monu Manesar was recently sent to 15 days in judicial custody by a Rajasthan court in connection with the murder of two Muslim men in Haryana earlier this year.
Two Muslim men, Nasir and Junaid, were found charred to death in February this year in Bhiwani district in Manesar’s native Haryana.
The victims had been allegedly abducted, murdered and their bodies torched along with their vehicle to erase evidence.
Manesar is also accused of triggering communal violence in Haryana’s Nuh in July this year, which also spilled over into neighbouring Gurugram and led to deaths of six people.
Manesar was reportedly in touch with Lawrence Bishnoi and wanted to join the jailed gangster’s criminal syndicate.