Bishnoi’s criminal empire 700-strong, he allied with pro-Khalistan cause: NIA

The agency also characterised his syndicate as one that “formed an alliance with the pro-Khalistan cause, to satisfy its quest for sophisticated weapons and to further invest the proceeds of terrorism generated through their existing extortion rackets”.

“Anonymity” was key, the NIA said, describing the Bishnoi gang’s style of functioning, i.e., a person in the gang allegedly knew only the person who was above him in the hierarchy. “…all the gang members involved in an operation do not have any information about the rest of the members. The gang members present at the time of killing also often do not know each other so that if one gets arrested, the rest of the gang members remain safe,” said the agency.

The “recruitment” also happens through social media, the NIA claimed. Quoting the statements of a co-accused, it said, “…the gang recruits new members through social media. The gang used to post criminal/ terrorist activities on social media and by watching such types of posts, new persons would contact the gang to join our gang. Thereafter, the gang scrutinised the requests received through social media and shortlisted the requests as per requirement of the gang.”

NIA’s claims that he “formed an alliance with the pro-Khalistan cause” may be seen as divergent to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s (RCMP’s) allegations on Monday in Ottawa that “agents” of the Indian government were collaborating with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang to spread terror on Canadian soil. In a press conference in Ottawa, RCMP Assistant Commissioner Brigitte Gaubin said, “What we have seen is the use of organised crime elements, and it’s been publicly attributed to one organised crime gang in particular… The Bishnoi group is connected to the agents of India.”

And, according to The Washington Post, the killing of Sukhdool Singh Gill alias Sukha Duneke in September last year has been cited by Canadian officials as part of a broader campaign of violence against Indian dissidents allegedly orchestrated by the Indian government. Duneke was wanted in Punjab in cases of extortion, attempt to murder and murder. He was also chargesheeted by the NIA, alleging that money he along with associates collected from extortion was ultimately used to fund the cause of Khalistan and plan acts of terror.

But soon after Duneke’s murder, Lawrence Bishnoi and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, who were his rivals, claimed responsibility for the act in separate Facebook posts.

Interestingly, in its chargesheet of March 2023, the NIA had said, “The (Bishnoi) syndicate is trying to settle its important members and executors abroad in the countries of their wish with the help of pro-Khalistan elements who are well settled in various countries across the world. This created a symbiotic terrorist-gangster network between gangster and pro-Khalistan elements which fulfil their requirement of the shooters to carry out targeted killings, who in return, get sophisticated weapons from across the border.”

When asked about NIA’s charges against Bishnoi, his advocate Rajani rejected the allegations. “No phone has been recovered from Bishnoi in jail. There is no mode of communication which has been established by any investigative agency,” she told The Indian Express.

Lawrence Bishnoi has been in jail since 2014 after he had his first armed encounter with police personnel at a picket en route to the Salasar Balaji Temple. He is currently lodged in Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad. The charges against him range from the alleged assassination of a liquor businessmen in the NCR to the hit on Siddhu Moosewala over a span of 17 years since 2007 when he first went behind bars for allegedly opening fire on a candidate for student elections at Panjab University.