Lawrence Bishnoi started his career as a law student but has now become one of the most notorious criminals in India. Read to know when his path to crime began.
Lawrence Bishnoi’s story starts in a classroom and ends in the shadow of crime. Once a law student, Bishnoi has become one of the most dreaded names in India’s underworld. He fetched attention after issuing death threats to Bollywood actor Salman Khan and allegedly orchestrated the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala. Let’s take a closer look at Bishnoi’s journey.
Early Days as a Law Student
Lawrence Bishnoi whose real name is Balkaran Brar was born on February 12, 1992, in Fazilka, Punjab, his father was a Punjab Police constable. Like many other Indian mafia dons including Dawood Ibrahim Bishnoi was born in a police or law enforcement family.
Bishnoi’s criminal career began soon after he joined Panjab University to study law in 2007. His life changed when he entered the field of student politics and sought re-election in 2008, he used his friend Robin Brar’s licensed pistol to threaten and fire at a rival candidate. At this age, he got his first contact with the law, with a jail sentence for attempted murder. During his stay in jail, he started making connections with hardened criminals, further fueling his shift into the world of crime.
From Student Politics to Crime
In 2010, Bishnoi attempted to become chairman of the student council but lost, which led his associates to beat up the winning candidate. He went to jail again after this incident. In 2011, Bishnoi successfully won the student council position, forming a close bond with Goldy Brar, a future key figure in his gang. Together, they started influencing local student elections and establishing a network of criminal contacts across Punjab. In 2012, after graduating, Bishnoi’s gang grew stronger, with more members like Sampat Nehra, a gangster from Haryana, joining in. Nehra later traveled to Mumbai in 2018 to attempt the assassination of Salman Khan.
First Assassination Orders and the Salman Khan Threats
In 2013 Bishnoi was involved in a crime at a higher level. In Muktsar, Punjab, when his contestant was defeated in the student election, Bishnoi got the winner killed. His violence did not end there. He even contracted the murder of another man who had stood for election in the Lucknow Municipal Corporation against a relative of one of his friends.
Bishnoi’s obsession with Bollywood star Salman Khan began around this time. Khan alleges that He started plotting to kill him last year in 2018 when he asked his gang member known as Nehra to kill him. Nehra, however, could not carry out the operation because he had no long-range weapon and was later arrested in Haryana while trying to buy one.
After the failure, Bishnoi’s gang planned for two more attempts in the next two years, with one plan coinciding with Sidhu Moose Wala’s murder in 2020 and another in Panvel, But both attempts have been halted by the police. Bishnoi and his gang, led by Goldy Brar, have openly stated that they would either kill Salman Khan or make him apologize for allegedly killing two blackbucks in Rajasthan in 1998. The reason behind this is that in the Bishnoi community, blackbucks are sacred animals, and this incident is a hatred point for Bishnoi towards Khan.
Bishnoi’s Criminal Empire
Bishnoi is confined to jail but he is extending his dominance further. Indian National Investigation Agency says that Bishnoi is trying to make the structure of the gang similar to the Dawood Ibrahim gang. At 31 years old he faces over 75 criminal cases including charges under the UAPA Act. Now, the Union Home Ministry has stated that no state police can apply for taking Bishnoi on remand until 2025, which shows the level of threat posed by this man. His criminal organization is extensive with more than 700 armed shooters and has several operational headquarters in different countries – Canada, Italy, and Australia.
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