The brutal killing of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Baba Siddique by three shooters on a busy Mumbai road on Dussehra night once again brought attention to gangster Lawrence Bishnoi’s gangwhose involvement in the murder is being probed by the police.
The assailants claimed to be associated with the Bishnoi gang, whose leader Lawrence remains incarcerated in Gujarat’s Sabarmati Jail.
The Baba Siddique murder has put the spotlight on the Bishnoi gang’s operations, which have demonstrated a powerful ability to organize and execute high-profile crimes from inside the prison.
The gang first gained massive attention after the murder of popular Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala in Punjab’s Mansa district in 2022, since then, the operations and criminals linked to the syndicate have been making headlines.
How Lawrence Bishnoi gang operates from inside jail
According to an NDTV report, Lawrence Bishnoi uses mobile phones, and VPN services to communicate despite being in jail and was able to make contact with his gang members even when he was in Gujarat’s Sabarmati Jail or Delhi’s Tihar Jail.
The gangster has been transferred between prisons over the years and is kept in solitary confinement due to his notorious activities inside the prison, the publication reported.
Earlier this year, a video clip of Lawrence Bishnoi allegedly having a conversation with Pakistan-based gangster Shahzad Bhatti on a video call went viral.
NDTV also reported that the mobile phones, belonging to other inmates, are often equipped with high-end VPN networks to conceal the IP addresses and locations of the people and used by Lawrence Bishnoi to coordinate with his gang members, especially before executing a crime. Bishnoi also uses apps like Signal and Telegram to communicate with his associates in India and abroad from the jail.
As the Bishnoi gang’s reach extends to several countries, particularly in North America, Lawrence Bishnoi frequently communicates with his brother Anmol and associates Goldy Brar and Rohit Godara. The gang also has strong ties with Khalistani terrorists and Khalistani separatist groups based in North America, the publication reported.
Bishnoi has 700 shooters in his gang: Report
In India, the Lawrence Bishnoi gang maintains a roster of around 700 shooters. The members contact local gangsters, who then hire shooters for arms training and pay them handsomely for any contract killings or political assassinations ordered by the Bishnoi gang.
The gang recruits are often impoverished, underage boys in search of quick money. These potential shooters are often unaware of who they are working for; they are simply given a target to kill, NDTV reported.
The Bishnoi gang operations are quite similar to that of a corporate company and are believed to be inspired by the working of Dawood Ibrahim’s D-Company.
In addition to their large arsenal of sharpshooters, the Bishnoi gang has separate divisions and personnel to handle logistics, legal matters, and information gathering.