Who is the Punjab police officer being sacked for Lawrence Bishnoi interview?

A Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) from a wealthy family in Jalandhar and father of two daughters, Sandhu’s family owns fuel stations. He began his tenure in Mohali in 2017 as a probationary officer and served as the Station House Officer (SHO) at Mullanpur for a period.

After completing probation, Sandhu was assigned as DSP Amloh in Fatehgarh Sahib district, followed by postings as DSP (City-1) Mohali, DSP (Investigation) Mohali, and DSP (Special Cell) Mohali.

Sandhu came to be known as encounter specialist when he conducted encounters with gang members, participating in at least five to six incidents where criminals were shot in the legs during alleged escape attempts.

But his tenure in Mohali was riddled with controversies. In August this year, Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Harsimranjeet Singh of Mohali wrote to the Punjab Director General of Police (DGP), requesting an inquiry into Sandhu’s alleged role in ‘botched-up’ investigations in two immigration fraud cases.

In October, a forgery case was registered against Sandhu following a complaint by builder Baljinder Singh, who accused Sandhu of involvement in a dubious property deal.

Subsequently, an Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) conducted an inquiry and found Sandhu responsible for facilitating an interview with gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, which allegedly took place at the Kharar CIA staff premises. The interview, aired on a private news channel in March 2023, sparked controversy.

Lawrence Bishnoi is a notorious gangster involved in various criminal activities.