Baba Siddique, a former minister of Maharashtra, was killed, and the Lawrence Bishnoi gang has taken responsibility for it. The 700-shooter gang is allegedly following in the footsteps of Dawood Ibrahim's path, according to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Shubuu Lonkar possibly Shubham Rameshwar Lonkar, an associate of the Bishnoi gang confirmed this with a Facebook post claiming responsibility on Sunday. While Lonkar is in jail, the post was written by Lonkar's brother Pravin Lonkar, who was taken into custody on Sunday night, according to the police. 

Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar are two of the sixteen gangsters named in the chargesheet filed by NIA filed under the strict UAPA statute. The NIA charged the Lawrence Bishnoi gang with being similar to Dawood Ibrahim's D-Company.

According to the NIA chargesheet, Lawrence Bishnoi and his terror syndicate started with small-time crimes and worked their way up to unprecedented levels of expansion, just like Dawood Ibrahim did with his network in the 1990s.

How the Bishnoi gang mirrors D-Company

Dawood Ibrahim built his network through drug trafficking, targeted assassinations, and extortion rackets before founding the D-Company and collaborating with Pakistani terrorists. Similarly, the Bishnoi gang began with trivial offenses, grew into its gang, and now dominates North India.
Satwinder Singh, also known as Goldy Brar, runs the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and is wanted by both Canadian and Indian agencies. The NIA chargesheet stated that the Bishnoi gang had around 700 gunmen, 300 of whom were related to Punjab.

Photos of Bishnoi and Goldy Brar have been shared on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Bishnoi's images of being taken to and from court have been circulated on social media, boosting the gang among young people.

The Bishnoi gang used hawala methods to transfer millions of rupees that they had amassed through extortion by 2020–21.

The Lawrence Bishnoi gang was previously restricted to Punjab, according to the NIA. However, Lawrence Bishnoi built relationships with gangs in Rajasthan, Delhi, and Haryana with the assistance of his close friend Goldy Brar, expanding the network.

The Lawrence Bishnoi gang is currently active in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Delhi, Rajasthan, and Jharkhand, among other parts of North India. Interestingly, earlier this year, three Bishnoi gang members were arrested concerning the shooting outside the home of Bollywood actor Salman Khan.

Why was Siddique killed?

Lonkar wrote on social media that Siddique was killed because he was close to Salman Khan, connected to Dawood Ibrahim, India's most wanted terrorist, and because Anuj Thapan, one of the arrested suspects in the shooting outside Khan's house, died while in police custody, according to NDTV.

Young individuals are recruited by the gang using social media and other methods like being lured into joining the gang by promises of relocation to Canada or another desired nation.

The NIA claims that Pakistan-based Khalistani terrorist Harvinder Singh Rinda employs the gunmen in the Bishnoi gang to carry out crimes and targeted killings in Punjab.

The Bishnoi gang, who gained popularity in 2022 for their alleged role in the murder of musician Sidhu Moose Wala, has stated that they wish to kill Salman Khan due to his alleged involvement in the shooting of blackbucks at Bawad in Mathania, near Jodhpur, in September 1998, while the movie "Hum Saath Saath Hain" was being filmed. The Bishnoi people, who consider the Blackbuck pious, were offended by the purported behavior

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In the meantime, security has been increased around Salman Khan's Bandra residence, the Galaxy Apartments, where a shooting incident occurred.

Malabar Hill in South Mumbai, home to the houses of Deputy Chief Ministers Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis, as well as Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, has also been fenced off with heavy security.