The one-year anniversary of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab was marked with both celebration and controversy. While Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann counted the government’s achievements in a live address, Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav held a press conference to deny that a viral interview of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi was filmed in a Punjab jail.
During the press conference, DGP Yadav explained that Lawrence is being held in Bathinda’s high-security zone, where there is only one prisoner per barrack, 24-hour monitoring, CCTV cameras, double guards, and no mobile phones. He also said that the yellow T-shirt worn by Lawrence in the interview was not found during the search.
Furthermore, the DGP claimed that Lawrence had spent a significant portion of his criminal career outside of Punjab’s jails and had approached the Supreme Court to evade the state’s police force. The DGP also pointed out that Lawrence’s appearance in the interview was inconsistent with his current situation.
In the interview, Lawrence referred to gangster Jaggu as his brother. However, the DGP said that there had been a gang war between Lawrence’s and Jaggu’s gangs in Goindwal jail, during which two of Jaggu’s shooters were killed. Therefore, the DGP deemed it impossible for Lawrence to call Jaggu his brother in the interview.
However, the Punjab Police had previously called the news of the gang war a fake story before the video went viral. Despite this, the DGP made it clear that the police would not seek an investigation from any other agency and vowed to take action against those who spread fake news. He also accused some of plotting to defame the Punjab Police.
Meanwhile, the Leader of the Opposition and Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa criticized the AAP government, calling it a government of misgovernance.