Fly on the Wall
Mystery of Lawrence Bishnoi being holed up in Sabarmati Jail
The
case of Lawrence Bishnoi being holed up in the Sabarmati Jail in
Gujarat since August 28, 2023 continues to baffle Police &
security forces of many states where the B-Gang kingpin
is wanted in several criminal cases. In a mysterious move, the
Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), Gujarat police took the custody of
Lawrence Bishnoi from Punjab Police in connection with a drug
smuggling case. It was in September 2022, when 34 kg of heroin was
seized from a Pakistani fishing boat in the Arabian Sea off the
Gujarat coast. Though it was a joint operation conducted by the
Gujarat Police and the Indian Coast Guard, the case remained with the
state police. Lawrence Bishnoi was taken for questioning about
his possible links in connection with the drugs worth nearly Rs 195
crore, from a Pakistani fishing boat ‘Al-
Tayassa’ in the Arabian Sea off the Gujarat coast in September
2022. Six Pakistani nationals were arrested after the drugs
were recovered from the boat.
It was almost a year after the arrest of these accused, Bishnoi emerged as the person on whose instructions drugs were being smuggled from Pakistan to India. Interestingly, Lawrence Bishnoi had been operating in most of the North Indian states and Maharashtra also. But he had kept away from his extortion and criminal activities from Gujarat. In the instant case, Lawrence Bishnoi was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) (UAPA) Act and taken to Ahmedabad by air and produced before a court on remand. Later, he was shifted to high-security jail in Sabarmati in August 2023.
Bishnoi's Tihar to Sabarmati Yatra via Punjab
Earlier, Bishnoi was lodged in Delhi's infamous Tihar Jail where he was being interrogated in several cases of extortion and conspiracy to kill. It was from here that the Punjab Police took him to Bathinda and later, he was whisked away by the Gujarat ATS. The Gujarat Police linked Bishnoi to Bharat Bhushan alias Bhola Shooter who was a member of his gang. Bhola had died in Gujarat while being in jail in 2021 in the Morbi drug seizure case where he was running a drug network from inside the jail in Punjab. Though Bishnoi's name cropped up in the Morbi case as well, he hogged the limelight long after the Gujarat ATS linked him to the drugs seized from the Pakistani boat and remained in the safe confines of the Sabarmati jail. The Mumbai Police's repeated attempts from June 2024 to gain Bishnoi's custody has only stumbled into legal roadblocks under Section 268(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) prohibiting transfer of prisoners without the state government's approval. The Gujarat government has refused to transfer Bishnoi outside the state and even the access to interrogate him is also denied. The Union Home Ministry empowered the Gujarat Police under this section to refuse Bishnoi's transfer to any other state. There is also a mystery as to why the Gujarat ATS swung into action in the midst of Bishnoi's interrogation of Bishnoi in connection with threat to businessman Kunal Chhabra who had received an extortion call from the B-Gang. The gang wanted Rs 5 crores from him.
The Bishnoi gang video call to Chhabra dates back to 2023 demanding Rs 5 crores. It is learnt that Chhabra approached Nadir Shah in South Delhi who was also running his own gang. He wanted Nadir to help him and promised him Rs one crore to bail him out. Chhabra is allegedly running illegal call centers and based in Dubai. Nadir Shah did some fixing and an officer of Delhi Police told Bishnoi to back off Chhabra who is willing to pay Rs one crore. At this, Bishnoi told the officer that Chhabra will now have to pay Rs ten crores. Nadir Shah paid the price by losing his life later in a shooting incident.
Will
Rahul's gamble pay off ?
After losing Haryana and Jammu, Rahul Gandhi decided to take the command of setting alliances and adjustments in his own hand rather than leaving it to the leadership of concerned states. Even state observers appointed to oversee the poll strategies and related issues by the AICC were virtually made powerless. The same had happened in Madhya Pradesh when Rahul sent observers like Randeep Singh Surjewala and others. But they were too junior to withstand Kamal Nath's aura and personality. Ultimately, the party and Rahul Gandhi paid the price. The same happened in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh too.
Rahul Gandhi changed tack and chose to appoint senior leaders as observers for Jharkhand, Maharashtra Assembly polls such as Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel, and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury there. Senior leaders were deputed region-wise. Gehlot and Karnataka Deputy CM G Parameshwara have been assigned Mumbai and Konkan region while Vidarbha region will be handled by former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel and former Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi (Punjab) and Madhya Pradesh MLA and former minister Umang Singhar. Sachin Pilot and senior Telangana Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy have been deputed to Marathwada region while former Chhattisgarh Deputy CM T S Singhdeo and senior Karnataka Minister MB Patil have been assigned Western Maharashtra. Senior Rajya Sabha MP Syed Nasser Hussain and senior Telangana minister D Anasuya Seethakka have been asked to look after North Maharashtra. Senior leaders Mukul Wasnik and Avinash Pande have been appointed state election senior coordinators. The Congress and BJP are face-to-face in nearly 75 plus Assembly seats in Maharashtra and the fate of the next government hinges on the outcome, say observers.
