Lawrence Bishnoy is said to be commanding the empire from a cell in a tightly guarded Indian prison.
His throne room is a concrete box. His scepter smuggled his smartphone into his territory. From there, the 32-year-old central figure is charged with threatening a Bollywood superstar, killing a pop icon and orchestrating a political assassination on the other side of the world.
With a white skin, a dark mustache and a cold gaze, Bishnoy has long been accused by India’s top investigative body, the National Investigation Bureau, for commanding a horrific network of over 700 members in prison, and has been charged with numerous charges ranging from criminal conspiracy and blackmail to murder and terrorist activity.
And he became the face of Canadian designated terrorist organizations last month after Ottawa accused India of using his organization to carry out crimes against Sikh dissidents within Canada.
This appointment has led to Vishnoy being one of India’s most famous mob bosses, and being promoted from a well-known figure in his homeland to an internationally wanted central figure.
“Specific communities are targeting terrorism, violence and threats by the Bishnoy gang. Listing this criminal terrorist group provides a stronger and more effective way to confront and stop their crimes,” Canadian Minister of Public Security Gary Ananda Sangaly said in a statement Monday.
Bishnoy has denied many of the charges and charges against him, and his lawyer told CNN that Canada’s latest allegations should be investigated.
CNN contacted Sabarmati Prison in Western Gujarat, where Bishnoy is currently in custody, but did not respond.
New Delhi has not officially commented on the designation, but it is a designation amid the efforts of both countries to repair long-stuck relationships.
The story of Bishnoy did not begin in the slums of the crime underworld.
It began in fertile fields in Punjab, India. The country’s “bread basket” was renowned for its vibrant culture and deep-rooted local pride. However, the country is also plagued by young people’s unemployment and widespread gang violence.
It was then that the former student activist began to transform into someone who is believed to be the creator of a cross-border criminal organization.
Before the world knew him as Lawrence Bishnoy, he was Barkaran Blaar, and his world was confined to Dutarawari’s dusty, winding paths. Dutarawari is an unpretentious rural village with a population of just over 3,000 people, according to the 2011 census.
It is about seven hours’ drive from the capital and an hour’s distance from the tense border between India and neighboring Pakistan, and the place is home to harvest.
There, Bishnoy appeared to be destined to live a middle class life. Born as the son of a police officer in Haryana State Police, he began his education at a monastery school because his mother had big dreams for his son.
Bishnoy is well-educated and comes from a “very good family,” said Jupindaget Singh, a journalist and author of the book “Who Killed Moosewara?”. The book records the murder of Punjabi rapper Sidhu Mousewara, one of the most high-profile crime charges of the Bishnoy gang.
Singh points out that Bishnoy’s name is a very “unusual” name for a Hindu boy, but this was given to him by his mother in honor of Sir Henry Lawrence, the first British administrator of Punjab during the colonial period, as Bishnoy was born with very white skin.
The disconnect between the gangster Bishnoy and the child Bishnoy is most prominent in his hometown village, with residents struggling to reconcile the two.
“He was a very good girl and had a good personality,” a Dutarawari resident said in an interview with CNN affiliate CNN News18 last year. “No one in this village would say anything bad about him… I don’t think he’s a gang.”
Another resident said the Bishnoys “never ever spoke of any ill-mouths of people” in the village. “He treated everyone with respect,” the man told CNN News-18.
But soon it turns out that the village paths where he plays volleyball and cricket with nearby children are too small for his ambitions.
Around 2010, Bishnoy reportedly left Dutarawari to study law and headed to Chandigarh, a bustling and modern state capital. According to a long 2023 accusation letter obtained by CNN, it details his career and dozens of accusations stacked against him over the years.
Bishnoy has enrolled in Punjab University. For many years, the university has served as a direct pipeline for the region’s future political influentials and, in some cases, the most notorious criminals. For Bishnoy, this environment provided the perfect practical training. The often violent world of student politics became his personal setting, and the place he learned that domination was won by fist and ultimately by firearms.
According to the 2023 suspected list of Bishnoy obtained by CNN, “Laurence Bishnoy quickly built a huge criminal terrorist network in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Rajasthan through alliances with other gangs.”
Singh said Bishnoy has cultivated the public personality of a pious person dedicated to God and justice. To support this monastery-like image, the gang has publicly declared its drug absenteeism, he said.
This self-portrait extends to his political identity. In a prison interview with ABP News Channel in 2023, Bishnoy defined himself as a “patriot” and “nationalist” and clearly stated that he was opposed to both Pakistan and the Kalistan movement, which promoted the Sikh homeland proposal, including parts of India.
Mr. Bishnoy was first handcuffed in 2010 when he was arrested on suspicion of assault. According to the suspect list, 13 criminal cases have been filed within two years, and every brief clash with police has made him determined to expand his network.
Things changed completely in 2014 when a shootout broke out at a regular police stop in Rajasthan, causing him to be taken into custody again. But even so, the law could not restrain him. Local media reports say several months later, Bishnoy disappeared after a bold escape, allegedly to settle the bloody debts of his murdered cousin.
He was arrested in Punjab in March 2015. He cannot escape this time, but as the police know, putting Bishnoy in a cage does not end his rule.
“Laurence Bishnoy is leading all the gang activities within the prison,” his indictment states. “He is very skilled at working from within the prison,” he added.
“His original motivation was to… blackmail Salman Khan and declare retaliation for the murder of Blackback.”
Jupindarjit Singh, Journalist and Author
According to the indictment, Bishnoy used social media to grow the gang and recruited young people by uploading videos and photos of the group’s criminal activities.
The Bishnoy Gang added that it operates on anonymity basis.
“Gang members only know who are above them within the hierarchy, and not all gang members involved in the operation know all the information about the rest of the members,” the charges state. “The gang members who were there at the time of the murder often don’t know each other, so even if one person is arrested, the remaining gang members will be kept safe.”
Years have passed since Bishnoy’s arrest, and the alleged actions of the Bishnoy gang have become even more bold.
In 2018, he became widely notorious for his public threat to Bollywood superstar Salman Khan, one of India’s most well-known men. This revenge started when Khan allegedly poached two Blackback Antelope in 1998, animals sacred to the Bishnoy gang.
Bishnoy is a member of the Bishnoy community, a Hindu group in northern India that is often referred to as the “guardian of nature.” The followers strictly adhere to the 29 precepts of Guru Djembeswar, including the sacred principle of worshiping and protecting all animals.
“His original motivation was to… blackmail Salman Khan and declare retaliation for the murder of Blackback,” Singh said.
Four years later, police accused him of the mastermind of the murder of Mooswara, a Punjabi symbol that wrote lyrics about the hardships of life on the streets.
Bishnoy has denied any involvement in the murder of Mooswara, but accused his aides of orchestrating the killing in a fierce interview from behind the prison. At the same time, he declared that his life’s goal was to intensify his threats against Khan and make celebrities pay.
Despite nearly a decade of prison, Vishnoy’s influence has spread to cross-border criminal organizations operating in the US, Dubai and Canada, according to the indictment.
The plot has become even more intense last year when Canadian authorities link Bishnoy to Sikh separatist targets within its territory, including the killing of activist Hardeep Singh Nijar, who was shot and killed in British Columbia in 2023.
Nijal was designated a terrorist in India and was accused of being behind a banned extremist organization that was trying to support Khalistan and “radiate Sikh communities around the world.”
The movement is prohibited in India and is considered a national security threat. India has long accused Canada, which has the largest Sikh population outside India, of hiding Sikh militants.
Meanwhile, Ottawa accused New Delhi of sponsoring violence against Sikh politicians within its territory.
In testimony before a parliamentary committee last October, then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said India was using “criminal organisations like the Lawrence Bishnoy Gang” to commit “violence against Canadians” that disagree with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
India has repeatedly denied its involvement in the murder of Nijar. Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand told CNN affiliate CBC News this month that Indian law enforcement authorities are cooperating with Canada’s investigation.
CNN requested comment from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of India.
The Bishnoy gang is now officially designated as a terrorist organisation by the Canadian government and is accused of launching terrorist activities against the diaspora community.
“The Bishnoy gang is murdering, shooting and arson, causing fear through blackmail and intimidation,” the Public Safety Canada said in a statement. “They target prominent members of the community, businesses, and cultural figures, creating a climate of anxiety in the community.”
The Canadian World Sikh organization welcomed the designation.
“The Bishnoy Gang is a central figure in India’s cross-border crackdown campaign against Sikhs in Canada, including the assassination of Nijar,” the group argued in a statement.
The designation would grant Canadian authorities full new authority, including asset freezes, blocking funding and prosecuting group officials.
But despite having filed dozens of criminal cases against him, Bishnoy doesn’t seem to be moved by the labels he has associated with.
“It’s not that I feel bad to be called a gangster. That’s an identity that God has given me,” Bishnoy told ABP in 2024.
“After nine years in prison, I have no dream of becoming a good guy. I am the good guy as I am.”
