Punjab govt suspends Faridkot jail superintendent after inmate’s Instagram video goes viral

The video of the inmate, Karan Sharma, had gone viral on social media in less than two weeks after Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s May 14 claim that his government had run a special drive at the jails between March 16 and May 10 and had seized 710 mobiles in order to put an end to the VIP culture at the state prisons.

The video was only a few seconds long, however, it raised questions on the claims of the Punjab government. Sharma allegedly shot the video, in which he is seen lip syncing a Punjabi song which glorifies being in jail, inside the barracks. He had posted the video as an Instagram story on a profile that goes by the name Bunty Sharma.

Mann had said that the phones that were seized were used by gangsters and smugglers to run their rackets from inside the jails. He had also said that action will be taken against the jail staff who are involved in sneaking in the phones.

Meanwhile, a case has been registered against Sharma and the phone has been seized. He was arrested with illegal weapons and was in judicial custody. In a search operation launched after the video had gone viral, the police found five mobiles, two headphones and two phone chargers from the bathroom of the jail.

“A case under Section 42/52 of the Jail Act has been registered against inmates Karan Sharma, Subhan Khan, Jaspinder Singh and Sukhdeep Singh after recovery of phones during search operation,” said a statement.