Team News Riveting
Chandigarh, May 22
Former Punjab Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu had to share the barrack inside the Patiala Central Jail with an accused booked in drugs and illegal weapons cases.
The action is seen as a major lapse on the part of jail authority as Sidhu has been vocally canvassed against the drug mafias in the state.
The cricketer-turned-politician had surrendered on Friday, a day after the Supreme Court awarded one-year rigorous imprisonment in a 1988 road rage case. Sidhu was locked in the barrack after completing his formalities around 7.30 pm.
According to sources, Sidhu had to share the barrack with former police officer Inderjit Singh, who has been dismissed from service following his alleged involvement in major drugs nexus, involving high-profile serving officers. The police had recovered illegal weapons, including an AK-47, and intoxicants from Singh’s residence in 2017.
The attack on inmates in Punjab jails has been in news. Amidst such fear, the jail authorities committed a big lapse by selecting the barrack for Sidhu.
A local Daily reported that first the officials denied that Sidhu had to share barrack with Singh. However, a senior officet later clarified that Singh was shifted from the barrack of Sidhu soon after the matter came to the notice of superiors.
