What is the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, linked with Baba Siddique’s murder and threats to Salman Khan

Baba Siddique murder case: Punjab-based gangster Lawrence Bishnoi was also named in the killing of singer Sidhu Moosewala. What are his origins and who is the gang known to target? Why has his group made threats to actor Salman Khan?

Jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi (L); late politician Baba Siddique with Bollywood actor Salman Khan (R). (Express file photos)

By: Explained Desk

5 min readNew DelhiOct 15, 2024 07:20 PM IST First published on: Oct 13, 2024 at 04:28 PM IST

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and veteran Maharashtra politician Baba Siddique, 66, was shot dead on Saturday night (October 12). Long associated with the Indian National Congress (INC), he served as a state minister in the Congress-NCP government between 2004 and 2008. Siddique was also known for mingling with top Bollywood stars, including Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan.

Mumbai police confirmed that the three shooters involved in Siddique’s killing were linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. Here is what to know about the group and its criminal operations.

Who is Lawrence Bishnoi?

Lawrence Bishnoi, 31, is the son of a well-off agriculturist from the Dhattaranwali village in Punjab’s Ferozepur district. He belongs to the Bishnoi community whose members have settled in Punjab, Haryana and many parts of Rajasthan.

Bishnoi studied till Class 12 and later shifted to Chandigarh in 2010 to pursue a college education. Following enrollment in DAV College, he joined student politics and became president of the Student Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU) between 2011 and 2012.

As per his criminal dossier, the first FIR against Lawrence Bishnoi was for an attempt to murder, followed by another FIR for trespass in April 2010. In February 2011, a case of assault and robbery of a cell phone was registered against him. All three cases were related to student politics.

Eventually, Jaswinder Singh alias Rocky, a gangster-turned-politician from Punjab’s Fazilka, joined his group. The group remained active in parts of Rajasthan, in cities like Sri Ganganagar located on the Rajasthan-Punjab border, as well as Bharatpur, under the garb of student politics. Rocky, who also had a criminal background, was assassinated near Parwanoo in Himachal Pradesh in May 2016. Notorious gangster Jaipal Bhullar had taken responsibility for the murder. Bhullar was later gunned down in Kolkata in June 2020.

For many years, the gang has been named in cases of revenge killings as part of gang rivalries. Bishnoi has faced two dozen cases of murders, attempts to murder, extortion and other crimes. Currently, he is lodged in the Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad and is believed to be operating his gang from inside the jail. The gangster was taken to Gujarat by the state’s Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) in connection with a case of cross-border drug smuggling.

Who is the Lawrence Bishnoi gang known to target?

Recently, the gang allegedly targeted a Delhi-based Afghan national named Nadir Shah to reportedly send a message to his associate, who was not responding to their extortion demands. Before that, the Bishnoi gang was believed to be involved in the murder of a gym owner in Delhi.

Perhaps most infamously, Lawrence Bishnoi made headlines when Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala was shot dead in 2022. Goldy Brar, a gang member, claimed responsibility for the murder. Brar first went to Canada in 2017 and was based out of the country. Other aides of Bishnoi are also believed to be in Canada and the United States.

Also Read | Who is Goldy Brar, linked to Bishnoi gang?

In a social media post, purportedly by Goldy Brar, it was claimed that Moosewala’s murder was a revenge killing, carried out to avenge the murder of youth Akali Dal leader Vikramjit Singh, aka Vicky Middukhera. Earlier this year, Brar was declared a designated terrorist by the Centre under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

For many months now, the Bishnoi gang’s plans have reportedly involved targeting Salman Khan and sending him death threats. In April, multiple bullet rounds were allegedly fired outside the actor’s house in Mumbai. Since then, police vans have been deployed in the area and the actor has a security detail attached to him.

What has the police said about the Bishnoi gang?

As The Indian Express reported earlier, “With Mumbai’s underworld gangs led by Dawood Ibrahim, Chhota Rajan and Ravi Pujari, among others, largely neutralised over the past decade and a half, police suspect the Bishnoi gang, which has so far been active mainly in the northern states of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and (western) UP, is attempting to step into this vacuum.”

A police officer also said that Bishnoi’s aims are often associated with Khan reportedly shooting a blackbuck in Rajasthan, because of the animal being revered by the Bishnoi community. However, the officer added that targeting Khan may be an attempt by the gangster to gain notoriety.