Lawrence Bishnoi first grabbed headlines when he publicly threatened to kill Bollywood actor Salman Khan in 2018.
New Delhi:
Lawrence Bishnoi, the alleged mastermind behind the killings of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique and Punjabi singer-politician Sidhu Moose Wala, first got arrested around 13 years ago for setting fire to vehicles in Chandigarh following a fight with a student leader.
Bishnoi, who had been involved in student politics at Panjab University at the time, spent a day in police custody, former Chandigarh inspector Amanjot Singh told NDTV on Tuesday.
A son of a police constable in Punjab, he was only 18 when he set vehicles parked outside Sector 11 in Chandigarh on fire, the officer said.
“He was very innocent at that time. When the police used to arrest him, he sometimes called the officials uncle or sir,” Mr Singh said.
“He did whatever his party leadership told him,” Mr Singh said, adding that he “never thought” that Bishnoi would become “such a big gangster”.
Mr Singh, who arrested the 31-year-old dreaded gangster numerous times, said that when Bishnoi was arrested for the sixth time, he had said that the “police of 7-8 states will search” for him.
Lawrence Bishnoi first grabbed headlines when he publicly threatened to kill Bollywood actor Salman Khan in 2018, accusing him of allegedly poaching two blackbuck antelopes – a revered animal for Rajasthan’s Bishnoi community to which he belongs.
During a court appearance in Jodhpur, Bishnoi said, “We will kill Salman Khan. Everyone will know once we take action.”
Incidentally, three assailants shot and killed Baba Siddique in Mumbai last month. Siddique was known to be a close friend of Salman Khan.
Bishnoi also stands as the prime accused in the murder of Sidhu Moose Wala, who gunmen shot and killed in Punjab in 2022.
“Lawrence Bishnoi Transformed In Jail”
Mr Singh said that Lawrence Bishnoi initially worked on his party leadership’s instructions but later “transformed” in the jail.
“Initially, he kept working on his party leadership’s instructions. But when he kept going to jail, his transformation happened very fast. He came in contact with big gangsters and his influence kept increasing,” he said.
“When he kept going to jail, some prisoners who had committed major crimes felt that there was something special about Bishnoi. They then started using him,” Mr Singh said.
They took him under their protection because they knew that Bishnoi was going to get bail, he added.
Lawrence Bishnoi Met His “Mentor” Rocky Fazilka In Jail
Lawrence Bishnoi considered gangster Ranjit Jasvinder Singh, alias Rocky Fazilka, as his mentor, Amanjot Singh said.
“When Lawrence Bishnoi went to Banda jail in Uttar Pradesh, he met another gangster Ranjit Singh “Dupla”, who was very close to Rocky Fazilka. He was the one who introduced him to Fazilka,” Mr Singh said.
As their villages were nearby, they became close aides, Mr Singh said.
Bishnoi has been in prison since 2015 and is currently lodged in Gujarat.
