Court dismisses arrest warrant plea against NRI Jagmandeep Singh in 2022 escape case

In a reprieve to Canada-based NRI Jagmandeep Singh, a Faridkot court today dismissed the prosecution’s application seeking an arrest warrant against him in connection with a 2022 case of escaping from judicial custody.

​The application for a warrant of arrest for the accused, a resident of Phaguwala village in Sangrur, was filed by the prosecution in relation to FIR No. 39, dated February 1, 2022, registered under Sections 323 and 324 of the IPC. However, the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Faridkot, dismissed the plea, noting that the offences involved are cognizable in nature, allowing the police to arrest the accused without a warrant. Accordingly, the application was dismissed.

​​Jagmandeep Singh has been under intense scrutiny recently after allegedly circulating a fake video of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on social media. This led the Punjab Police Cyber Crime Wing in Mohali to register a separate case against him.

​The FIR, for which the warrant application was filed, stems from an earlier incident where Samra escaped from judicial custody.

​He was originally arrested by the Ferozepur Police in a cheating case registered on November 28, 2020, at Talwandi Bhai Police Station.

​While lodged as an undertrial in Faridkot Central Jail, he was admitted to Guru Gobind Singh Medical College Hospital, Faridkot, for treatment on December 23, 2021.

​On February 1, 2022, Samra escaped from the hospital by deceiving the assigned jail staff.

​A complaint was subsequently filed by the jail administration, resulting in a case against Samra and the negligent jail staff at Faridkot City Police Station. ​After absconding, Samra reportedly fled to Canada.

​Despite the court’s dismissal of the specific arrest warrant application today, the police are still legally empowered to proceed with an arrest in the cognizable escape case. Furthermore, he faces a separate investigation by the Cyber Crime Wing for the alleged fake video of CM Mann.