New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday arrested gangster Lawrence Bishnoi from a jail in Punjab in connection with a case related to a conspiracy hatched by terror groups and criminal syndicates to carry out violent acts and sensational crimes in different parts of the country, an official said.
Bishnoi, who was lodged in Bathinda jail, was arrested after it was found that most of the conspiracies were hatched from inside the jail by him and were being executed by an organised network of operatives based in the country and abroad, a spokesperson of the federal agency said.
“The arrested gangster is involved and wanted in many cases, including the conspiracy to carry out targeted and sensational killings in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi since last more than a decade,” the NIA said.
A resident of Fazilka in Punjab, Bishnoi has been in jail since 2014 after he was arrested during an encounter with the Rajasthan Police. He was shifted to Delhi’s Tihar jail last year but was arrested by the Punjab Police on June 14 and shifted to Punjab in connection with the sensational murder of singer Sidhu Moosewala on May 29.
The case was initially registered at the Police Station Special Cell, Delhi on August 4 under sections 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections 17, 18 and 18B of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The NIA re-registered the case on August 26, the spokesperson said.
The NIA said the case pertains to the conspiracy hatched by members of a criminal syndicate based in India and abroad to raise funds and recruit youths to carry out terrorist acts in the Union Territory of Delhi and other parts of the country and execute sensational crimes, including targeted killings of prominent persons, with an intention to strike terror in the minds of the people of the country.
“Investigations have revealed that a terrorist, gangster and drug smugglers syndicate led by Bishnoi was involved in many targeted killings and extortion from businessmen, professionals including doctors and this had created a widespread scare and terror among the public at large,” the spokesperson said.
The official said all such criminal acts were not isolated local incidents but were part of a deep-rooted conspiracy amongst terrorists, gangsters, drug smuggling cartels and networks, operating from both within and outside the country.
The NIA said investigations have revealed that Bishnoi, along with his brothers Sachin and Anmol Bishnoi and associates, including Goldy Brar, Kala Jathedi, Kala Rana, Bikram Brar and Sampat Nehra, were also raising funds to carry out all such terror and criminal activities through smuggling of drugs and weapons and widespread extortions. PTI
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