The political landscape in Punjab has been roiled by the recent surfacing of a video showing gangster Lawrence Bishnoi operating from a jail in Gujarat. This incident has sparked a fierce exchange between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with significant demands for action from the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).
The matter became controversial when a new video call clip of Lawrence Bishnoi surfaced in which he was wishing Eid Mubarak to someone on a video call. At present, Lawrence Bishnoi is lodged in a jail in Gujarat, big questions are also being raised on the BJP government of Gujarat.
AAP's Sharp Criticism of BJP
Launching a vehement attack on the BJP and its Punjab unit president Sunil Jakhar, after the video of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi surfaced, senior AAP leader and spokesperson Neel Garg directly challenged Jakhar, questioning his silence on the issue. Garg pointed out that despite Jakhar’s frequent criticisms of Punjab on issues like drug trafficking, law and order, and gangsterism, he has not addressed the apparent lapses in Gujarat, where Bishnoi is incarcerated.
Garg emphasized that Bishnoi is clearly operating his criminal network from Gujarat jail, a fact proven by the recent video. He called on Jakhar to question the Gujarat Government and Chief Minister about how such activities are permitted to continue and why large quantities of drugs are being smuggled from Gujarat to Punjab.
He accused the BJP leaders, especially Jakhar, of consistently defaming Punjab by portraying it as the worst state in the country in terms of law and order. Garg countered this narrative by citing National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, which shows that Punjab's situation is better than many neighboring states.
SAD's Call for a High-Level Probe
Meanwhile, the Akali Dal has urged the Union Government to initiate a high-level investigation into Lawrence Bishnoi’s activities. Senior SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia asserted that Bishnoi had compromised national security by engaging in a video call with Pakistan-based gangster Shahzad Bhatti from Gujarat jail.
Majithia highlighted that this was not an isolated incident. He recounted Bishnoi’s previous activities, including orchestrating the assassination of singer Sidhu Moosewala from Tihar jail in Delhi, which is under AAP's jurisdiction. He pointed out that sophisticated weapons used in Moosewala’s murder likely came from Pakistan via drones. Majithia also mentioned that even after the murder, Bishnoi managed to give media interviews from jail, showcasing the apparent laxity in handling his incarceration.
Further, Majithia noted that Bishnoi’s criminal reach extended to planning attacks on high-profile targets, including actor Salman Khan. The recent incident of Bishnoi making a video call with a Pakistani gangster underscored his ongoing collusion with anti-national elements, posing a direct threat to national security.
Majithia demanded a comprehensive central probe into the 43,000 calls made by gangsters from Punjab jails in recent years, which the State Government had disclosed to the High Court last year. He criticized the AAP Government for not taking action against jail officials despite evidence of gangsters extorting money from land developers, businessmen, and professionals while in jail. Only a thorough investigation, he argued, could expose the nexus between gangsters and jail officials.
