Sidhana booked for FB video from jail

FAR ID K OT: Gangster-turned-act ivis tL akhb ir Singh alias Lakha Sidhana, who recently posted a video on Facebook from inside the modern jail here, was among seven other inmates booked for cheating on Saturday after two mobile phones were recovered from their barrack.

Sidhana, president of Malwa Youth Federation, was arrested on October 31 after activists of his group and some other organisations smudged Hindi and English on signboards along a highway on October 21. The groups were demanding that Punjabi be placed on top.

In his Facebook video, Sid han a spoke about the problems faced by farmers in managing paddy stubble in their fields. He refers to events of the past two-three days, making it clear that the video was made inside the jail.

The case has been registered against Sidhana and six other inmates under Sections 420 of the IPC and 42 of the Jail Act at the city police station in Faridkot, SHO Jagdev Singh said.

Sidhana’s posting of video on Facebook also raises questions over the three-hour search operation carried out in the jail by the Faridkot police on November 5, wherein they recovered just teo mobiles. As many as 300 police personnel were involved in this operation, led by superintendent of police (SP) Sewa Singh Malhi.

Faridkot jail superintendent Balkar Singh Bhullar said, “We will investigate the matter regarding entry of mobiles in the prison.”