Gangster Lawrence Bishnoi leaves after being produced at Patiala House Court in New Delhi. file | Photo Credit: ANI
The Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) has got the custody of the jailed gangster. Lawrence Bishnoi In connection with a case of cross-border smuggling of drugs, an official said on April 25.
A Delhi court had on April 24 given the transit remand of Bishnoi, lodged in Tihar Jail, to the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad.
Read also: How Lawrence Bishnoi ended up on the wrong side of the law
The ATS wants to question the gangster about his possible link with the seizure of 40 kg of heroin worth over ₹200 crore from a Pakistani fishing boat in the Arabian Sea off the Gujarat coast in September last year.
“We have got Bishnoi’s custody and our teams are already on their way to Gujarat. He will be produced before a court in Kutch district by Tuesday evening, a senior ATS official said.
On September 14, 2022, The Gujarat ATS in a joint operation with the Indian Coast Guard intercepted a Pakistani fishing boat in mid-sea near Jakhau port in Kutch district and seized 40 kg of heroin worth over ₹200 crore .
At that time six Pakistani nationals aboard a boat named ‘Al Tayysa’ were also arrested.
Subsequent investigation revealed that the heroin was to be transported by road to Delhi and northern states like Punjab with the help of two Delhi residents – Sartaj Malik and Jaggi Singh alias Virpal Singh, who were to receive the narcotics. He was later arrested.
The Gujarat police had also said that the narcotics were being smuggled as part of a racket run by two smugglers, including a Nigerian national, who is currently lodged in jails in Punjab.
Interrogation of the eight accused revealed that drug peddler Meeraj Rahmani and Annie Chief Obinna alias Chief (who is Nigerian) were running the racket while in jail. Rahmani is lodged in Kapurthala jail and Obinna in Amritsar jail. It is alleged that both were working at the behest of Bishnoi.
Police had earlier said that they were running the racket using WhatsApp and VOIP (internet phone) calls.
In the Morbi drug seizure case of 2021, the Gujarat Police had also found the role of Lawrence Bishnoi gang member Bharat Bhushan alias Bhola Shooter, who was allegedly running a drug network from a jail in Punjab. Bhushan had recently died in jail.