Chandigarh, Oct, 15
A couple of hours after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Baba Siddique was shot, the name of Punjab’s category-A gangster Lawrence Bishnoi started doing the rounds in connection with the murder along with various theories, including one related to actor Salman Khan and his alleged involvement in the poaching of two black bucks in 1998.
The precursor to it was a purported Facebook post saying, “Jo Salman Khan aur Dawood gang ki help karega apna hisab-kitab laga ke rakhna.”
Siddique was counted among “close friends” of the film actor.
However, lodged in the Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad, Bishnoi can be questioned only there. In other words, he cannot be transported to Mumbai and there can be no replays of either the 2020 “encounter” (by the Uttar Pradesh Police) of dreaded criminal Vikas Dubey or the minute-by-minute account of a police convoy ferrying gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed from Ahmedabad to Prayagraj in 2023.
It is another matter though that just a few days later Ahmed was shot dead live on TV.
Why Bishnoi cannot be taken out of Sabarmati
Though linked with Siddique’s murder, Bishnoi can be questioned only within the premises of the Gujarat jail. In other words, he cannot be taken out of the jail by the Maharashtra Police or any other state police for that matter—a situation that has led to the circulation of several theories, including if there was “some other larger angle” to the gangster, emerging as one of the biggest names in the world of crime.
As per reports, the Home Ministry in August 2023 issued an order under Section 268 of the CrPC, which prevented Bishnoi from being taken out of the prison for any purpose. In August, the period of restriction was extended by another year.
Bishnoi faces several cases under investigation by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) as well as the NIA.
However, his network of crime extends across the country, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and now Maharashtra and also countries like the US and Canada. His name is linked to high-profile murders like that of noted Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala and now Siddique. He also figures as a top killer at international level with the Canadian police claiming connection with the murder of pro-Khalistan activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada in June 2023.
After the shooting outside Salman Khan’s home in April and now the murder of Siddique, Bishnoi is being called the new player in Mumbai’s underworld.
Bishnoi, a Mumbai don
Hailing from Dutranwali in Abohar to his alleged involvement in the killing of Siddique on a Saturday night on a busy road in Bandra, is he the new big name of the dark underbelly of India’s financial world where the gangland history goes back to late 1970s with dons like Karim Lala, Varadarajan Mudaliar and Dawood Ibrahim, followed by Chhota Rajan, Arun Gawli, Amar Naik.
Bishnoi, whose journey in crime started from a fight with a rival student group, was just five when the alleged poaching incident involving Salman Khan happened during the shooting of ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’ in Rajasthan, upsetting the Bishnoi community to which he belongs.
His resentment against Salman as one of the top theories for the gunning down of Siddiqui needs to be established. However, there are multiple reports swarming the internet on his “tragic love story”, “deep friendships” and Hindu religious beliefs.
His journey in crime started from a fight with a rival student group.
Bishnoi is said to have set the rival leader’s car on fire for which he was arrested and sent to Burail jail, Chandigarh. He was already under the influence of student leader-turned-gangster-turned Akali politician Vicky Middukhera.
In jail, he met several others and so started his journey in the world of crime. It was to “avenge” the killing of Middukhera that Moosewala was killed.
