3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Apr 22, 2026 02:51 AM IST
Accused of running a 700-man syndicate from jail, the gangster’s transition from student politics to high-profile assassinations is back in the spotlight. (Express Archive Photo)
A Delhi court on Tuesday framed charges against gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi, Kala Jathedi and others in a 2021 organised crime case linked to the alleged operation of a crime syndicate and extortion and kidnapping racket from inside the jail.
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Prashant Sharma of the Patiala House Court framed charges under Sections 3 and 4 of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), the Arms Act and the Explosives Act.
“I conclude that based on the record of the present case, the accused persons have prima facie committed the offences,” Judge Sharma said in his 79-page order.
“The amount of extortion/protection was being used for procuring arms and ammunition to operate gang activities, which is clearly shown from the recovery of a huge quantity of arms and ammunition from (some of the) accused,” he added.
According to the Delhi Police, Lawrence Bishnoi and others were allegedly members of an organised crime syndicate operating from inside jail, which was committing crimes like murder, attempt to murder, robbery, kidnapping, extortion, criminal intimidation and criminal assault in an organised manner for pecuniary gains.
The police, represented in court by advocate Akhand Pratap Singh, had alleged that multiple mobile phones were recovered from the gang members of this crime syndicate in jail, which were allegedly being used to maintain contact with other gang members to execute crimes.
The syndicate had allegedly systematically engaged in extortion, contract killings, illegal arms trafficking and terror-based intimidation, targeting businessmen and local operators for protection money, the police claimed.
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As per them, funds generated from extortion were channelled into procuring sophisticated weapons to sustain gang operations.
Lawrence Bishnoi, who allegedly has a “criminal empire of 700 operatives”, has 84 cases registered against him in Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi.
The gangster 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 in Rajasthan. He is currently lodged in Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
The charges against him, 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, range from the alleged assassination of a liquor businessman in Delhi-NCR to the hit on Sidhu Moosewala.
Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023.
Professional Background
Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University.
Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories.
Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts.
Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials.
Recent notable articles
In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations. Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories.
1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006. He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail. was a branded man. Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst. However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation. The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey.
2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No. 2 over the past two years alone. It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts. The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation.
3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases. The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police.
Signature Style
Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth. He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public.
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