Chandigarh (National Times): In a major step aimed at cleaning up Punjab’s prison system, the state government on Saturday announced the suspension of 25 jail officials, including three Deputy Superintendents and two Assistant Superintendents, over alleged involvement in corruption and aiding drug networks operating within the prisons.
The decisive action follows alarming reports of irregularities and drug-related activities inside jails across the state. The government said this move is part of an intensified drive to root out corruption and dismantle criminal syndicates that are believed to be operating from behind bars.
“This action has been taken based on credible inputs about the existence of corruption and drug networks within jails. The government is committed to ensuring accountability and restoring law and order within the prison system,” read an official statement issued on Saturday.
This comes just months after the high-profile transfer of notorious gangster Jaggu Bhagwanpuria from Punjab’s high-security Bathinda Central Jail to Silchar Jail in Assam, following intelligence that he and other gangsters were running criminal operations — including drug trafficking — from inside Punjab’s prisons.
Bhagwanpuria, who is also an accused in the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala, was taken into custody under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances (PIT NDPS) Act. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had flagged his continued involvement in coordinating with international drug operatives based in Canada, the US, and Pakistan.
Arrested in a 2015 murder case, Bhagwanpuria has over 128 FIRs registered against him in Punjab and other states. He is also facing more than five cases under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for conspiring to disrupt communal harmony and for alleged links with terror networks. Additionally, he is embroiled in 15 cases of arms and drug smuggling.
In the Sidhu Moosewala case, it was Bhagwanpuria and gangster Lawrence Bishnoi who allegedly conspired to kill the popular singer. Though the two were allies at one point, they later fell out. Officials say both played key roles in a network that had extended its influence far beyond jail walls.
With Saturday’s crackdown, the Punjab government is signaling a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption within the prison administration, especially in the context of rising concerns about how incarcerated gangsters continue to operate and influence criminal networks across state and international borders.
Further investigations are underway, and more actions could follow in the coming days, officials indicated.
