Who is protecting Lawrence Bishnoi? Trinamool MP to Centre on Canada’s charge

Trinamool MP Saket Gokhale asked the Centre to come clean on the role and status of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi after Canada alleged that Indian agents were working with his gang to target pro-Khalistan elements.
Gokhale said the role of Bishnoi in the India-Canada standoff has got “murkier” following a report by The Washington Post that claimed the gangster featured in discussions during a secret meeting between National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval and his Canadian counterpart.
Bishnoi, whose gang has a presence in Canada, is currently lodged in Sabarmati Central jail in Ahmedabad. Asserting that Canada’s claims don’t matter, the Trinamool MP questioned how Bishnoi was able to allegedly carry out murders and extortion in India and abroad from jail.
“How is Lawrence Bishnoi so powerful despite being inside a Gujarat jail?… Who is protecting Lawrence Bishnoi and on whose orders is he working?” Gokhale questioned.
He also pointed out that the killing of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala, former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique, a gym owner in Delhi and several others have been attributed to Bishnoi. In recent months, the Bishnoi gang has targeted Salman Khan and sent him death threats.
“Why is the Modi government opposing every attempt at taking Lawrence Bishnoi to other jails outside of Gujarat for investigations in other cases?” Gokhale said.
He also questioned if Bishnoi was being “actively used” by the Modi government and being given a “free hand intentionally”.
“The government is best equipped to answer the Canadian claims… However, the role and status of Lawrence Bishnoi is something that the government must come clean on,” the Trinamool MP said.
The Washington Post has claimed that during their meeting with Ajit Doval last week, Canadian officials outlined alleged evidence showing that India had enlisted the Bishnoi gang’s networks to carry out the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar and attacks on Sikh separatists.
Doval acknowledged that Bishnoi was “capable of orchestrating violence from wherever he is incarcerated” and “was known to be up to no good from his jail cell”, the report claimed.