Faridkot jail inmate’s video of threat to CM goes viral
THE ACCUSED, FACING TRIAL IN A MURDER CASE, BOOKED ALONG WITH A FELLOW INMATE WHO MADE THE VIDEO; PHONE SEIZED
FARIDKOT: A video of a murder accused threatening chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh from inside Modern Jail, Faridkot, has yet again underlined how use of mobile phones by prisoners remains brazen. In the three-minute video, Gobind Singh talks about lack of upkeep of the jail gurdwara among other issues. Kuldeep Singh, a convicted drug smuggler, has been booked with him for use of the mobile.
The video was shared by the inmates over Whatsapp with some people who further put it up on video-sharing websites, police said; it came to the notice of the jail authorities on Sunday, after which the phone was recovered from the duo. The jail officials on Monday wrote to the district police and the FIR was registered. Deputy superintendent of the jail, Iqbal Singh Brar, said, “When we received input about the mobile phone active in the jail, immediately we conducted a search and recovered the phone.”
Speaking in Punjabi, Gobind in the video castigates Amarinder for his “false vow” — a prepoll vow taken on a Sikh scripture to eradicate drugs in Punjab — and tells the CM to apologise at the Golden Temple for it. “Your (CM’S) bad days have begun... I will kill you as God has appointed me for this purpose; jail can’t stop me,” he says, alleging that Amarinder has made youngsters drug addicts.
He also says, “I request my brothers and sisters to share this video so that it reaches the CM and DGP (director general of police) because I won’t able to call them directly. I would like to tell the DGP that there is no proper bed for Guru Granth Sahib in the gurdwara inside the jail.” He also speaks of water shortage inside the jail.
This comes three weeks after photos of birthday celebrations of gangster Bharat Sharma alias Bhola Shooter, an undertrial lodged at the same jail on murder charges, were uploaded on Facebook by another gangster, Parampal Brar alias Pala. In 2018 alone, 60 phones have been seized here.
“Either the phones are simply thrown into the jail compound over the boundary wall, or these are slipped to them during court appearances,” a senior police official said on the condition of anonymity.
Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Nanak Singh confirmed registration of a case against the inmate duo under section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and under the Prisons Act.