Who is Lawrence Bishnoi whose gang is alleged to have killed Sidhu Moosewala

He has been facing two dozen cases of murders, attempt to murders, extortion etc. He is believed to operate his gang from inside the jail. In November, 2019, when Bishnoi was brought to Chandigarh on production warrants for his interrogation in the murder of Rajveer, alias Sonu Shah, a criminal-turned-property dealer, there was evidence that he was using a cell phone inside Bharatpur jail for running his activities. Chandigarh police has taken up the matter with Bharatpur jail authorities.

Lawrence’s first brush with law

Lawrence Bishnoi entered the world of crime through student politics in Chandigarh. He was a student of DAV College, Sector 10. He was president of Student Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU) between 2011 and 2012. As per his criminal dossier, the first FIR against Lawrence Bishnoi was of attempt to murder followed by another FIR of trespass in April 2010. In February 2011, a case of assault and robbery of a cell phone was registered against Bishnoi. All three cases related to student politics. As per the Chandigarh police record, seven FIRs were filed against Lawrence Bishnoi in the city. In four of the FIRs, he was acquitted and the court trial in three is pending.

A former cop who had interrogated Bishnoi twice says, “Lawrence had two addresses including one of Hostel No 4 in Panjab University (PU) and another in Sector 4, Panchkula. He liked to stay in the company of his seniors. He was always eager to do something big, and make a splash.” In 2015, Lawrence Bishnoi managed to escape from police custody near Mohali but he was soon arrested.

Lawrence’s college education

Lawrence Bishnoi did not clear the first year of BA. In 2010, he was caught copying from a chit during the examination. As the exam elevator was about to hand over him to the examination superintendent, the latter jumped out of a window from the first story building along with his answer sheet. After he entered the world of crime, he took another shot at exams, and was brought handcuffed to the examination centre. Staff members of the examination branch of DAV-10 still remember him as an aggressive student who would often get into heated arguments with them over his roll number 1800. He attempted twice to clear BA part-1 but failed.

His foray into the world of crime

Though Lawrence Bishnoi had created a gang involving sportspersons and wards of police personnel during his college days, he was ushered into the world of crime by Jaswinder Singh, alias Rocky, a gangster-turned-politician of Fazilka. Lawrence along with his accomplices preferred to remain active in the region of Rajasthan especially in Sri Ganganagar, Bharatpur, under the garb of student politics. He was the poster boy of the student organization, Student Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU). Later, Rocky, who also had a criminal background, was assassinated near Parwanoo in Himachal Pradesh in May 2016. Notorious gangster Jaipal Bhullar had taken the responsibility of murder. Bhullar was later gunned down in Calcutta in June, 2020.

When Lawrence hit the national headline with his plan to carry out an attack on Salman Khan

Sampat Nehra, a close associate of Lawrence Bishnoi, who was arrested from Bengaluru in June 2018, had disclosed that Lawrence had tasked him to eliminate Bollywood star, Salmam Khan for the blackbuck hunting case. Police had claimed Lawrence belongs to the Bishnoi community, which considers blackbucks sacred.

Lawrence Bishnoi’s fear of being killed in fake encounter

In July, 2020, Lawrence Bishnoi through his defense counsel had filed an application in the Chandigarh District Courts, Sector 43, saying that he feared being killed in a fake encounter and requested the court to instruct cops to always bring him in handcuffs on production warrants from jails to the courts. Bishnoi through his counsel also demanded his police interrogation through video conferencing in the cases pending against him. Later, the matter reached the Punjab and Haryana High Court. In December, 2020, the HC had rejected his plea. His counsel approached the apex court challenging the high court decision. The matter is still pending.