Lawrence Bishnoi brought to Delhi from Gujarat in NIA case
A Mandoli jail official said that Bishnoi was shifted to a high-security ward at the prison after his arrival in Delhi
Jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi was brought to a Delhi prison from a Gujarat jail in the early hours of Thursday, police officers and jail officials aware of the matter said, adding that he has been brought to the Capital in connection with a case relating to a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe.
Due to safety and security reasons, Bishnoi has been kept in a high-security cell at Mandoli jail, the officials said.
“Bishnoi is a high-risk inmate and also a gang leader with several associates and rivals in Delhi prisons. We want to make sure he is safe, and security arrangements have been tightened up around him. He has been kept in cell number 15 of the high security ward,” said a jail official, asking not to be named.
The official said Bishnoi was earlier to be lodged at Tihar jail, but due to recent security lapses — including the murder of gangster Tillu Tajpuria at the prison — he was shifted to Mandoli.
Sanjay Beniwal, director general (prisons), said Bishnoi reached Delhi by a domestic flight at 1.30 am on Thursday. “He has been brought on a remand by the NIA, which will interrogate him, along with other enforcement agencies. Taking cognisance of recent incidents of rival killings in Tihar, he has been kept at a high-security cell in Mandoli jail,” Beniwal said.
According to Gujarat Police officers, the anti-terrorist squad (ATS) unit of the state police got custody of Bishnoi in connection with a case of cross-border smuggling of drugs in April. “The ATS wanted to question the gangster about his possible links in connection with the seizure of 40kg of heroin from a Pakistani fishing boat in the Arabian Sea, off the Gujarat coast, in September last year,” a senior officer told HT over the phone, asking not to be named.
The officer said Bishnoi will be interrogated by the NIA in connection with its recent coordinated crackdown with police of different states — in which the federal agency conducted raids in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chandigarh and Madhya Pradesh. “During these raids, the NIA arrested Parveen Wadhwa from Bhiwani (Haryana), Mohammad Irfan from New Seelampur (Delhi) and Jassa Singh from Moga (Punjab). Wadhwa was found liaising with certain notorious gangsters, including Lawrence Bishnoi, in jail. It is the main reason behind Bishnoi’s remand and his interrogation by the NIA,” the officer said.
On Monday, the special cell unit of Delhi Police also arrested an alleged member of Bishnoi-Gogi gang after a brief encounter near the Britannia Chowk flyover. “The accused, identified as Yogesh alias Himanshu, had been absconding in a case of attempt to murder for the last three years after jumping interim bail in a murder attempt case in Delhi,” Alok Kumar, DCP (special cell), said.