A 19-second CCTV footage, which allegedly captured jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi discussing Eid with the Pakistani-based gangster Shahzad Bhatti, caused outrage on social media on Tuesday and set off an investigation by the Gujarat government. In the video clip, Bhatti is heard telling Bishnoi that the Eid Al Fitr had been observed on that particular day in the UAE and other countries, but Pakistan was to observe it the next day.

Born in Rajasthan, Lawrence Bishnoi is standing trial for shooting dead Punjabi singer Sidhu Musewala and an attack on Bollywood actor Salman Khan’s residence in Mumbai. This made the viral video to cause significant security concerns about the efficiency of the criminals and how they can continue with their activities even when imprisoned.

On Wednesday, a Gujarat crime branch official downplayed the video further and said that it was not shot in the recent past, let alone from Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad, where Bishnoi is lodged. The other official argued that the video could have been shot over one and a half years ago and may have been recorded during Bishnoi’s earlier jail time at Tihar Jail Delhi or Central Jail Bathinda Punjab. “We are probing into the matter about the particular place to verify that the video was filmed, but surely it is not in Gujarat,” the official stated.

The State home minister, Harsh Sanghvi, has directed the police to investigate the leakage to establish how it happened and how similar breaks can be prevented.

The actual viral video has been viewed. In response to it, Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former Punjab minister Bikram Singh Majithia minced no words to express severe concern about why Bishnoi continues to function from jail. To support his arguments, he gave previous events where Bishnoi committed severe criminal acts as a kind of malfunction in the system.

Check here for the latest updates in Hindi!