Gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who is behind bars at Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati Central Jail, has been subject to restrictions since August, which were renewed for an additional year by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. This implies that the only location to question him would be on the jail premises.
Bishnoi is the subject of multiple investigations by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), both of which are connected to the death of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Baba Siddique last week.
The restrictive order issued under section 268 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), which was valid until August this year, has now been extended under section 303 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), which replaced the CrPC in July.
According to a new order from the Ministry of Home Affairs, this extension will remain in effect until August 2025, and it is also confirmed by Deputy Inspector General Shweta Shrimali, Superintendent of Sabarmati Central Jail.
According to media reports, Bishnoi was the subject of an order under Section 268 of the Criminal Procedural Code (CrPC) issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in August 2023. This order prohibited Bishnoi from getting out from prison for any reason.
“303. (1) The state government or the central government, as the case may be, may, at any time, having regard to the matters specified in sub-section (2), by general or special order, direct that any person or class of persons shall not be removed from the prison in which he or they may be confined or detained, and thereafter, so long as the order remains in force, no order made under section 302, whether before or after the order of the state government, shall have effect in respect of such person or class of persons,” reads Section 303 of BNSS.
DIG Shrimali states, “If any police or agency wants to interrogate him, they must provide a judicial order and any investigation pertaining to his person must be carried out in the prison premises itself. We have not received any such requests recently.”
Additionally, top Gujarat Police officials refused to say whether Bishnoi was being held in an isolation cell at the jail or not “because this having a bearing on national security as well as law and order.” However, they did say that he was still able to exercise his rights at the Ahmedabad jail facility, just like any other prisoner.
A man named Shubham Lonkar, who had posted on social media under the username “shubuu lonkar,” claimed that Lawrence Bishnoi’s gang was responsible for shooting Baba Siddique.
Lonkar is an Akola resident and is currently evading arrest, while his brother Pravin, who is also suspected of being involved in the conspiracy, was taken into custody in Pune.
“It is not possible for Bishnoi to put up social media posts himself or consult anyone to do so on the outside,” DIG Shrimali responded when questioned about the likelihood of Bishnoi posting such a message on social media on his own or with assistance from someone outside the prison.
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