Gangster Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, who is lodged in Patiala jail, on Wednesday approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court, expressing fear that he might be killed in a "fake encounter".
In a plea filed before the court, Bhagwanuria sought protection for his life and demanded that he be shifted to Amritsar jail.
He also sought to make it clear that he had no links with Punjab Jails Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia.
Bhagwanpuria, in his petition, said he was being made a "scapegoat" on account of political rivalry brewing between Randhawa and Majithia and was "merely being used for the realisation of political motives of certain individuals".
Justice Harnaresh Singh Gill issued a notice of motion to the state government on his plea and fixed January 21 as the next date for hearing, Bhagwanpuria's counsel Pradeep Virk said.
The counsel submitted that Majithia was trying to get an FIR registered against Randhawa in a murder case of Gurdaspur district Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) vice-president Dalbir Singh Dhilwan by portraying Bhagwanpuria as the minister's "henchman".
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Virk further stated that Majithia had also accused Bhagwanpuria of giving him death threats as a part of this "malicious propaganda".
Randhawa has been levelling allegations to the extent that the petitioner had been working for long under the clout of Akali Dal leaders as a total of 44 cases were registered against him, of which 29 were lodged in Amritsar (Rural), which is Majithia's constituency, the counsel said.
Bhagwanpuria was in the news in the past few days after both Majithia and Randhawa accused each other of having links with the gangster.
Virk said the petitioner has expressed apprehension that he might be killed in a "fake encounter".
"Various endeavours are also being made by certain jail officials to kill him by staging a false encounter...or in the alternative he would be killed in the prison itself," the counsel alleged.
He said the petitioner was being "constantly tormented" by police officials, who also threaten him that he will be implicated in false cases especially under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and the Arms Act.