Rohit Godara’s rise to infamy — from mobile repairman to Lawrence Bishnoi’s most trusted lieutenant

Hours earlier, Rawatdas, better known as Rohit Godara, had been released from Ajmer jail. “He was home for one night, and his intentions were clear,” recalls his brother Hanuman Swami, 39.

“When he was leaving, our mother laid down before the car he was in and said you will have to go over my dead body. He said that by being with us, he is putting our lives in danger. And that if he doesn’t return, he will be killed, not by his enemies, but the people he has been with,” says Hanuman.

That was the last the Swami family saw Rawatdas. In June 2022, he flew to Dubai from New Delhi on a fake passport bearing the name Pawan Kumar. He is currently said to be in the United Kingdom. Most recently, he was in the news when The Indian Express reported that he was behind the plot to target stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui, which was foiled by central intelligence agencies.

Rohit Godara’s brother Hanuman Swami and father Sant Das at their home in Bikaner. (Credit: Hamza Khan)

Early childhood

Born in 1989 into an agriculturist family, Rohit studied in a government school in neighbouring Hariyasar village till class 8 before dropping out. Around the year 2000, when Rohit was just 11, he and his brother Hanuman were married to two girls, who were related to each other. According to his family, he was like any other child – decent at studies and fond of cricket. He also had two sisters, who are now married.

By 2005, he moved out of home and started living in Bikaner with his wife. This is also when he picked up the name Rohit Godara for himself – Godara being the family gotra — and started repairing mobile phones for a living. Work was good, and he soon took a couple of shops on rent in Bikaner. Eventually, he launched the Rajasthan Institute of Mobile Engineering and a local Congress leader was invited for inauguration, says the family.

Things were looking up. But in April 2010, the first police case against him was lodged, and he was named as an accused in an attempted murder case. However, he was acquitted in February the next year.

But the next case changed the trajectory of his life, says his family. In January 2012, an FIR was lodged against him by his wife for forcing a miscarriage and allegedly demanding dowry.

“Once he went to jail in the dowry case, he came in touch with criminally minded people who convinced him that he won’t be leaving the jail for the next 15 years or so,” says his father.

Rohit was in jail for two-three months, but after his release, he started getting involved in small-time crimes, like attempting to possess property, assault, etc. In 2013, he was accused in an FIR for house trespass and theft. As he spent more time with his newfound friends, he eventually shut his shops in Bikaner.

“As police started visiting our home frequently, a relative told us to disown him or police would drag us too in one of the cases,” says his father. On October 24, 2013, Sant Das issued a statement in a local newspaper disowning Rawatdas. The statement also read that his son “is a drug addict and stays with wrong people” and that he has been living with his family in Bikaner (away from his parents) for the last six-seven years.

Over the years, he was named in several police cases. Currently, as per Rajasthan police, there are at least 30 cases against him for murder, attempt to murder, extortion, and under the Arms Act. He has also been named in several extortion calls to businessmen and politicians, though some of these calls are said to be fake, with others pretending to be him.

High-profile hits

Rohit reached new heights, or lows, once he was outside India. Rajasthan police officials say that he came in touch with Lawrence Bishnoi during his time in jail, although it is not clear when and where, and went on to become one of Bishnoi gang’s key leaders.

Rohit was allegedly involved in the plot to kill Sidhu Moosewala in May 2022. Then, in December 2022, gangster Raju Theth was shot dead by assailants, with Rohit allegedly being the mastermind.

In December 2023, he was allegedly behind the plot to kill Karni Sena leader Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi in Jaipur. One of the persons involved in the shooting had a “direct link” with Rohit as per the Jaipur police, and Rajasthan police subsequently announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for information on Rohit and wrote to the CBI seeking help in locating him through Interpol.

In April this year, Rohit was behind the firing at actor Salman Khan’s house, with the Mumbai police naming him as an accused and the court issuing a non-bailable warrant against him. In September this year, shots were fired outside A P Dhillon’s home in Canada for allegedly featuring Salman Khan in a music video, with Rohit claiming responsibility.

Rohit was also behind the plot to target stand-up comedian Faruqui, outsourcing the hit to two men in Delhi. However, one of the shooters was arrested in a separate case by the Special Task Force in Haryana in September.

Back home, the family is tired of the “questioning” by police. Following every police case where his name crops up, the police turn up at the family doorstep.

“Sometimes we are kept for a day or two at the police station and allowed to leave without a single question asked of us,” claims the brother. “And in our absence, the crops suffer.” Police officials say that they have their “compulsions” as they have to go through the process of trying to locate Rohit every time there’s an incident involving him.

The frequent police arrival has led to relatives and neighbours distancing themselves from the family home. Hanuman says, “We don’t tell our mother about his involvement whenever he’s named in a big case. And she is unlettered so she doesn’t find out about it. However, she gets to know when the police turn up at our home. And then all she does is cry.”