Mayor’s official Gypsy escorted singer Karan Aujla to jail

Nikhil Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 10

In a fresh twist to the controversy surrounding Punjabi singer Karan Aujla’s recent visit to the Central Jail, it has come to the fore that the police Gypsy that escorted the cavalcade into the prison premises belonged to Ludhiana Mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu’s official security detail.

The cavalcade of several vehicles had entered the premises without security check and reached a high-security zone where private vehicles are barred.

Asked whether his official Gypsy escorted the singer, the Mayor said: “A Gypsy from my official security had accompanied the singer to the jail. My son is friends with the singer and he took the Gypsy to the jail. Aujla is not a criminal. Earlier too, my son had taken the Gypsy to escort the singer.”

The Mayor said his son had accompanied Aujla to meet Jail Superintendent Rajeev Arora, whose role is under the scanner for giving VVIP treatment to the singer. Arora had hosted a lunch for the singer at his official residence.

DR Bhatti, a retired DGP Punjab, said escort vehicles were meant for designated individuals and could not be used to escort any one else. “Even the family members of the protectee, to whom the vehicle or gunmen are allotted, can’t use it.” Jail Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa has already ordered an inquiry into the episode and asked ADGP Prisons PK Sinha to submit a reports.