From the streets to the Assembly, the fear of extortion gangs is playing out in Rajasthan city

A view of the Kuchaman Police Station, where protests were held. (Express photo: Parul Kulshrestha)

Kuchaman businessmen say that several business families in the town — as well as cities like Jaipur, Sikar and Bikaner — have been facing extortion threats, mostly from the Lawrence Bishnoi and Rohit Godara gangs, over the last few years. After the October killing, like the Rulaniyas, many have sought police protection as well as gun licences.

“If police cannot protect us, we have to take matters into our own hands. We have been living under fear for long,” Arif Khan, a local businessman, tells The Indian Express.

On February 16, hundreds of businessmen and traders held a protest near the Kuchaman Police Station, demanding action. The issue also made it to the Rajasthan Assembly, with Shiv Sena MLA Ravindra Singh Bhati flagging it.

The man who led the protests was Vijay Singh Palara, a leader of the ruling BJP, who says he has also received threats, including one earlier this month saying he would “meet the same fate as Ramesh Rulaniya”. “Many other businessmen have received threats, but only two came to the rally. Others are scared, and some have already folded,” he says.

Calling it the government’s responsibility to protect them, Palara adds: “It’s important for the state and Central governments to act. Most of the gangsters are operating from outside the country.”

The government claims to have taken “effective action”, with Minister of State for Home Affairs Jawahar Singh Bedham telling the Assembly: “I can’t say we have completely stopped the threats, but the kind of jungle raj that prevailed during the previous government, where threats against businessmen, kidnappings and shootings occurred every other day, has been curbed.”

However, police admit the problem is growing, with six extortion-related FIRs registered in the past year in Kuchaman. “We have tightened security around the city,” says Satpal Singh, SHO of Kuchaman City Police Station, located next to the Rulaniya showroom.

MLA Bhati says this figure does not reflect the scale of the problem. “Fearing reprisals, several businessmen hesitate to approach the police. This is going on across Rajasthan.”

The morning murder

Investigators say the killing of Ramesh Rulaniya — captured on CCTV, with a gunman entering the deserted gym, shooting and leaving — followed months of threats and voice notes. He was shot days after he stopped responding.

Pankaj says they got the first extortion call in November 2024. “We even got police security, but later we let it go as we didn’t think it was serious. Then, more calls came.”

The ransom demand went up from Rs 2 crore to Rs 20 crore. In March 2025, Ramesh posted a Facebook video refusing to pay. When the calls stopped after this, Pankaj says, they thought the threat was over.

Police say that suspects closely tracked Ramesh’s movements before the October murder. Of the 21 people arrested for the killing, one is a minor.

Although the Kuchaman region is no stranger to gangster violence — local gangster Raju Theth was killed here in December 2022, and politician Karni Sena chief Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi in 2023, both murders claimed by the Bishnoi gang — the Rulaniya murder was “different”. “Raju Theth was a gangster and Gogamedi a political figure, so the common man wasn’t affected much. But the Rulaniya murder made people take the threats seriously,” a businessman says.

Mahesh Agarwal, a contractor and friend of Rulaniya, is among those who claim to have “resisted”. But the fear remains. “I got a call at 7 pm in March 2024, and by 8 pm, I had sent two vehicles to Jaipur to get my daughter home. I also sought police protection,” he says. He still has a guard, 24X7.

According to police sources, Rohit Godara and Harry Boxer are the main ringleaders of the extortion gangs. While Boxer belongs to the Bishnoi gang, Godara split from it around 2023. Both are believed to be in Canada, and running the operation through two alleged henchmen, 39-year-old Virendra Charan and 27-year-old Rahul Fatehpuri from Fatehpur. Both are stated to be abroad.

The gangs generally use “dabba calls” — a method involving two phones. Victims are typically contacted first on WhatsApp or via voice notes. Once engaged, they switch to Signal, place another call to a handler abroad on a second phone, turn on both speakers, and let the handler speak directly.

The method — and the platform — makes the calls hard to trace, police say.

The challenge

“These gangsters are sitting outside India, which makes it difficult to track them,” admits Congress leader and former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot. However, he adds, “the state government needs to have the will to break their network”.

The use of social media by these gangsters to glorify the violence is also proving a challenge for law enforcement. Many youngsters, looking for quick money, have been drawn to the Bishnoi and Godara gangs because of their “celebrity” persona, say officials.

A police officer says: “The pull of power and the chance to go abroad is drawing youth to them.”

Police have begun cracking down on social media accounts trying to recruit youngsters, Vimal Singh, Additional SP of Kuchaman and Didwana district. “We worked for weeks to track down these accounts, especially after Ramesh Rulaniya’s murder. We have closed down several,” says Singh.

A businessman says that the government needs to do more, and fast. “If this continues, business will go out of business in Rajasthan.”

At the Rulaniya showroom, Pankaj watches his salesman listing the benefits of a motorcycle to customers. Ramesh’s garlanded photo hangs overhead.

“These days, I wrap up my work at 5 pm and leave. My family calls me multiple times a day,” Pankaj says.