A team of Delhi Police’s Special Cell was expected to return from the eastern Transcaucasian country of Azerbaijan on Tuesday with Sachin Bishnoi, a cousin of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, and one of the alleged conspirators in Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala’s murder in May last year, officials aware of the matter said.
Sachin Bishnoi, who is from Punjab’s Fazilka, claimed responsibility for Moosewala’s murder on Facebook. He was fighting a legal battle in Azerbaijan to avoid extradition to India after he was detained there in August last year.
Officials aware of the matter said that the Delhi Police team arrived in Azerbaijan on Sunday and were in the process of finalising the legal formalities.
The National Investigating Agency (NIA) this month extradited gangster Vikramjeet Singh alias Vikram Brar, an aide to Lawrence Bishnoi, from the UAE. Brar is an accused in multiple cases linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang including the targeted killing of Moosewala.
A Central Bureau of Investigation official said Sachin Bishnoi left India via Dubai just before Moosewala’s murder on a fake passport. “He fled to Dubai on a fake passport issued in the name of Tilak Raj Tuteja, a resident of Sangam Vihar in southeast Delhi. Later, he took a flight to Azerbaijan’s capital Baku, where he was detained,” said the officer, asking not to be named.
The officer said Sachin Bishnoi moved an appeal before a higher appellate authority in Azerbaijan to avoid his extradition. “When it was rejected there earlier this month [July], we apprised the development to the [Union] ministry of home affairs (MHA), which asked the Delhi Police to go ahead to bring the gangster back,” he added.
An officer of the Special Cell, which is dedicated to preventing, detecting, and investigating cases related to terrorism, and organised crimes, said after the completion of formalities, Sachin Bishnoi will be brought back to India. “He was [also] wanted in an extortion case in the Mohan Garden area here [Delhi], besides two similar offences in Punjab. Red corner notice was also issued in all these three cases,” he said, asking not to be named.
A Red Notice is a request to agencies globally to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar action.
The second officer said Sachin Bishnoi’s extradition was expected to bring to light new facts about Moosewala’s murder. He said the fugitive allegedly managed the logistics for Moosewala’s murder and then left India. “His extradition to India will give us many new leads in Moosewala’s case as we will try to locate the missing links in the logistics and operations in the Punjabi singer’s murder.”
Six shooters shot dead Moosewala, a Congress leader, a day after the Punjab government withdrew his security cover along with those of at least 400 others.
HT this month reported that the NIA, which is probing a larger nexus of North India-based gangsters and pro-Khalistani elements, has found that the accused in the case were lodged in six jails — Lawrence Bishnoi and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria (in Tihar), Manpreet alias Manna (Ferozpur), Saraj Singh alias Mantoo in Special jail (Bathinda), Manmohan Singh alias Mohana (in Mansa jail)—during the planning and execution of Moosewala’s murder.
They were in touch with Canada-based Satinderjeet Singh alias Goldy Brar, who after discussing with the jail associates, finally tasked the shooters to kill Moosewala immediately after the singer’s security was downgraded.
