Burail jail once housed former President, PM

The Model Jail, Burail, at one point in time housed high profile public figures including a former President of India, a former Prime Minister and multiple former Chief Ministers.

The list of “famous inmates” includes the names of former President Giani Zail Singh, former Prime Minister Chander Shekhar, former Punjab Chief Ministers Surjit Singh Barnala, Parkash Singh Badal and Beant Singh, as well as senior leaders such as former Delhi Chief Minister and Union Minister Sushma Swaraj, former Lok Sabha Speaker Balram Jakhar and former Union Minister Sharad Yadav.

Other names mentioned include Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee leader Gurcharan Singh Tohra, CPI leader Harkishan Singh Surjeet, socialist leader Jai Prakash Narayan and the first MP elected from Chandigarh in 1967, Srichand Goyal.

Sources claimed the list was prepared from historical archives and uploaded online as a record of prominent personalities who, at some point, were lodged in the Model Jail.