Ramkrishan Upadhyay
Chandigarh, November 23
A local court has rejected a request of the Superintendent, Central Jail, Patiala, for lodging an aide of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi in Burail Jail, Chandigarh.
The jail official made the plea on being directed by the court to produce the accused, Deepak, alias Deepu, in connection with the trial of an extortion case registered at the Sector 26 police station in March this year.
The police had booked seven persons, including Deepak, for allegedly making extortion calls to the owners of clubs, restaurants and other businesses in the tricity. The police had alleged that the accused were the associates of gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi, Sampat Nehra and Goldy Brar.
In the plea, the jail superintendent stated that the accused could be lodged in Burail Jail as a majority of the trials in cases registered against him were pending in Chandigarh, Kurukshetra, Panchkula, Ambala, Bhiwani, Mohali and Dera Bassi, and it was difficult to produce him in the court on account of shortage of police guard with the District Police, Patiala.
Vijay Kumar, the counsel for the accused, stated that Deepak faced serious threat to his life in Burail Jail as he was attacked in the jail earlier too.
After hearing of the arguments, the court rejected the jail official’s application. The court observed, “Deepak, alias Deepu, should be sent back to the Central Jail, Patiala, and the jail authorities are at liberty to approach the competent authority for transferring the undertrial to any other jail.”
The court has adjourned the hearing of the case to December 7, while issuing the production warrant of the accused. Deepak is facing several cases of murder, attempt to murder and dacoity besides charges under the Arms in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. The police claimed that he was also behind the firing incident at the house of a liquor contractor in Sector 33.
