After the shocking shooting incident at Bollywood star Salman Khan's home, the infamous gangster Lawrence Bishnoi has been implicated by the police as the mastermind behind the plot. Simultaneously, Bishnoi's brother Anmol, believed to be in hiding in the United States, has been declared wanted in connection with the case. The Mumbai Crime Branch is feverishly preparing to obtain a remand for Lawrence, aiming to unravel the myriad questions linked to this violent act. For years, Lawrence has repeatedly voiced his desire to assassinate Salman Khan, persistently threatening the actor since the infamous blackbuck poaching incident in Jodhpur.
As part of this sequence of events, on April 14th, when two shooters associated with the Lawrence gang opened fire at Salman's house, Anmol Bishnoi took to social media to claim responsibility for the act. Subsequent interrogations of the shooters revealed that they had indeed accepted a 'hit' contract from the Lawrence gang. Following these admissions, the Mumbai Crime Branch added the Bishnoi brothers as accused in the case, and are now gearing up to question Lawrence. According to sources within the Crime Branch, they will soon be filing a petition in court to take Lawrence into custody for interrogation. Lawrence Bishnoi is currently incarcerated in Gujarat's Sabarmati Jail.
The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad named Lawrence Bishnoi in a drug trafficking case in 2022, following the recovery of a large haul of drugs from a Pakistani vessel on September 14th off the coast of Kutch. As per police sources, Bishnoi was involved in orchestrating the drug shipment's entry into India. Following the inquiry, Bishnoi was transferred from Delhi's Tihar Jail to Sabarmati Jail on August 23rd, 2023, where he has remained to this day. The decision to keep Lawrence in Sabarmati Jail is also rooted in security concerns.
Delhi and some Punjab jails are considered life-threatening for Lawrence due to enemy gangsters. Meanwhile, Sabarmati Jail is counted among the nation's high-security prisons. Famed UP mafia don Ateeq Ahmad was also confined here before being gunned down. Despite the Mumbai Crime Branch's eagerness to take Lawrence on remand for the shooting case at Salman's home, the Ministry of Home Affairs imposed certain restrictions last August that have prevented his transfer under remand or production warrant for a year. This restriction means Lawrence will not be able to be physically present at various courts and will instead appear via video conferencing.
In fact,
on August 30th, 2023, the Ministry of Home Affairs applied Section 268 (1) of the CrPC to Lawrence Bishnoi, aimed at preventing him from leaving Sabarmati Jail. This is why, until further orders, his court appearances will not be in person but conducted via video conferencing.
Despite his life being at risk from rival gangsters, Lawrence's defiance hasn't waned while in jail. He has been intimidating people over phone calls from jail and has even given interviews while incarcerated.
During his tenure at Sabarmati Jail, he notoriously demanded extortion money amounting to two crores each from two Delhi businessmen via phone calls made from prison. These calls, recorded by the businessmen, captured Bishnoi threatening that if they ever ended up under his control, he would 'chew them raw'. Moreover, while making the threats, he even suggested recording his voice for evidence to aid their case. In response, Delhi Police's Special Cell intends to obtain a voice sample of Lawrence Bishnoi, though this has yet to be feasible.
Lawrence Bishnoi is embroiled in over 50 criminal cases, including murder, attempted murder, extortion, kidnapping for ransom, robbery, and other crimes. He was first jailed in 2014 after being arrested by Rajasthan police post an encounter, after which he was held in Bharatpur Jail. Subsequently, he escaped during a court hearing in Mohali. In 2021, Lawrence was transferred to Tihar Jail under MCOCA in a case. Before that, he was detained in Punjab's Bathinda Jail. In 2022, Punjab police arrested him in connection with the Sidhu Moosewala murder case. After a subsequent transfer for his safety, he ended up in Tihar's Mandoli branch in 2023, then was arrested by Gujarat ATS in a drug case and transferred from Tihar to Gujarat, landing him in Sabarmati Jail. Now, his name has been linked to the shooting at Salman Khan's residence in Mumbai, sparking speculation about another possible jail transfer. However, the federal restriction seems to make this improbable for at least another year.
