Mumbai Police cannot take gangster Lawrence Bishnoi in custody. Here is why

India’s jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi is back in the news after claiming responsibility for the murder of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and influential politician Baba Siddiqui, who was gunned down in Mumbai last Saturday.

Bishnoi, who is already in jail for his past crimes, had also claimed responsibility for the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala in 2022.
Bishnoi was also behind the firing outside Bollywood superstar Salman Khan’s residence in Bandra in April.

But even after the latest crime, Mumbai Police are unable to get Bishnoi, who is 31 now, in custody. But why?

Bishnoi, who is in jail, operates from prison using mobile phones. He is switched from one prison to the other.

First jailed in 2012, he is now in Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati Jail where he was shifted from Delhi’s Tihar Jail last year in August in connection with a drug smuggling case.

The Union Home Ministry had issued an order stating no state or agency can claim Bishnoi’s custody for a year.

Section 268 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) empowers the government to prevent movement of prisoners to avoid disruption of law and order.

Though the order was meant to expire in August this year, reports claim it was extended by another year.

How is Salman Khan linked to Baba Siddique murder and Bishnoi’s operation?

One of the Bishnoi gang members shared a post on Facebook where he hinted at Siddique’s close ties with Salman Khan and links to underworld people that cost him his life.

The Facebook post reads, “Salman Khan, we did not want this war but you are the reason behind the harm to our brother. We have no enmity towards anyone but whoever helps Salman Khan or Dawood gang should be ready for the consequences.”

“The cause of his death is Anuj Thapan and linking Dawood to Bollywood, politics and property dealing,” the post added.

Siddique, who had close ties with Salman Khan, had been receiving threats from the Bishnoi gang.

Salman has emerged as the prime target of the gang which aims to avenge the alleged killing of two blackbucks by the superstar way back in 1998 during the shooting of a film in Jodhpur.

The incident angered the Bishnoi community known for worshipping and protecting wildlife and the environment.

The Bishnois of Jodhpur believe blackbucks as the reincarnation of their religious Guru Bhagwan Jambeshwar.

While Salman’s co-actors Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Neelam and Tabu were also charged under various sections of the wildlife protection laws, they were all acquitted in the poaching case.