From a high-security Indian prison cell, Lawrence Bishnoi allegedly commands a criminal empire spanning continents. The 32-year-old gangster stands accused of orchestrating murders, extortion, and terror activities—all while imprisoned.
Last month, Canada designated Bishnoi’s organization as a terrorist entity, accusing India of using his gang to target Sikh dissidents on Canadian soil. This elevated him from India’s most notorious mob boss to an internationally wanted criminal. Canadian Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree stated that the designation provides “more powerful and effective tools” to combat the gang’s crimes.
Bishnoi’s journey began far from the criminal underworld. Born as Balkaran Brar in Dutarawali, a farming village in Punjab’s countryside, he was the son of a police constable. His mother named him after Sir Henry Lawrence, a British colonial administrator, due to his fair complexion. Educated in convent schools, he seemed destined for a middle-class life.
Villagers remember him fondly as a respectful, well-mannered boy who played cricket and volleyball with neighborhood children. “He was a very good boy,” one resident recalled, struggling to reconcile their memories with his criminal reputation.
Everything changed around 2010 when Bishnoi moved to Chandigarh to study law at Panjab University. There, he immersed himself in the violent world of student politics, where dominance was established through force. His first arrest came that same year for assault. Within two years, he faced thirteen criminal cases.
A 2014 shootout with police in Rajasthan landed him in custody, but he escaped months later. Captured again in 2015, he has remained imprisoned since—yet his alleged criminal activities only intensified.
Investigators claim Bishnoi runs his entire operation from jail using smuggled smartphones, commanding over 700 gang members. He uses social media for recruitment and maintains strict anonymity within his organization, ensuring gang members know only their immediate superiors.
His most notorious alleged acts include threatening Bollywood star Salman Khan over the 1998 poaching of sacred blackbuck antelopes, and orchestrating the 2022 murder of Punjabi rapper Sidhu Moosewala. Bishnoi denies many charges, including Moosewala’s killing.
Despite nearly a decade behind bars, his alleged criminal network has expanded internationally to the United States, Dubai, and Canada, transforming a small-town boy into one of the world’s most wanted gangsters.
