Lawrence Bishnoi's brother Anmol Bishnoi, accused in Baba Siddique murder, detained in US

Anmol Bishnoi, brother of Lawrence Bishnoi was detained in California, USA, said the sources. India initiated the extradition process. "Anmol Bishnoi is in the detention of California Police and Indian agencies, including NIA and Maharashtra Police are working on the extradition," said the sources. Anmol has been wanted in several high-profile cases. The recent case was the murder of NCP leader Baba Siddique who was shot dead outside his son Zeeshan Siddique's office in Mumbai on October 12. The gangster has been the main accused in the Siddique murder case.

The Bishnoi brothers are wanted accused in the firing incident outside the actor's residence, Galaxy Apartment, on the morning of April 14. Anmol's name also emerged in a case related to opening fire outside actor Salman Khan's residence in Mumbai. An audio clip of a conversation between jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi’s brother Anmol and the accused emerged. The Mumbai Police has been probing the audio clip.

Also, police had submitted before Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) judge B D Shelke that they needed a soft copy of the conversation to find out about Anmol's involvement in the murder of NCP leader Baba Siddique.

The prosecution informed the court that Vikas Gupta - accused in the Siddique murder case - was in contact with Anmol Bishnoi through the "Signal" app and claimed that the accused had sent an audio clip of the conversation to his brother Sonukumar Gupta.

Mumbai cops send proposal for Anmol Bishnoi's extradition

Earlier in the first week of this month, the Mumbai police sent a formal proposal for the extradition of Anmol. The proposal was sent after the US authorities informed the Mumbai police about Anmol Bishnoi's presence in their country.

The Mumbai police sent the proposal for Anmol Bishnoi's extradition to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which will then be forwarded to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the police official said.

The involvement of the Bishnoi brothers, who hail from Fazilka in Punjab, is suspected in the case. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) recently announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for information leading to the arrest of Anmol Bishnoi. Lawrence Bishnoi is currently lodged in a jail in Sabarmati in Gujarat.

A lookout circular was issued in April against Anmol Bishnoi, who had claimed responsibility for the firing incident outside Salman Khan's residence.

An FIR was also registered by the NIA against nine accused, including both the Bishnoi brothers, in August 2022 for being part of a conspiracy to "raise funds, recruit youth to carry out terrorist acts in the Union Territory of Delhi and other parts of the country" besides "targeted killings of prominent persons".

(With agency inputs)