Punjab police to seek custody of Anmol Bishnoi after NIA interrogation

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab police will be seeking custody of deported gangster Anmol Bishnoi after the National Investigation Agency has completed interrogating him, a senior state police official said on condition of anonymity. The Punjab Police will move to court and seek his custody to break the criminal nexus being run in the state, the source added. As per state police records, Anmol is named as an accused in 16 FIRs registered across Punjab between October 2012 and July 2025, including charges of murder, extortion, robbery, attempt to murder, and Arms Act in Punjab. Anmol Bishnoi has been deported from the United States and was arrested by the National Investigation Agency(NIA) for his alleged key role in the murder of Punjabi singer Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, popularly known as Sidhu Moosewal. Several questions remain unanswered despite a charge sheet being filed in the Sidhu Moosewala case, sources said. Anmols interrogation, they believe, will be crucial in filling these gaps and uncovering the full extent of the conspiracy. He is accused of being a key conspirator in the murder of Sidhu, as he provided logistical support and weapons to the assailants who shot the singer dead at his native village in Mansa on May 29, 2022. Anmol is a key conspirator along with Goldy Brar and Lawrence Bishnoi. We will bring him on a production warrant, he added. In 2012, the first case was registered on Anmol at Abohar City Police Station on charges of attempt to murder, voluntary causing grievous injury, acts with intention and arms act. Then two years later, he was booked at the Sadar Police Station at Abohar on charges of trespass, theft, and Arms Act. Anmol hails from Dutarawali village in the Fazilka district of Punjab. Most of the FIRs are registered against him in Abohar and Fazilka. Sources said that on June 15, 2022, Punjab Police shared the first input with the Intelligence Bureau that Anmol fled to Dubai between November 19 and November 20, 2021, from Jaipur using a fake passport in the name of Bhanu Pratap, a resident of Sector 82, Faridabad, Haryana, with the fathers name mentioned as Rakesh. In reality, his father is Lovinder Bishnoi, and he is a resident of Dutranwali village in Fazilka. Afterwards, a case was later registered at the Punjab State Crime Police Station, Mohali, against him on charges of forgery, forgery of public records, using a forged document, criminal conspiracy, extortion, and under sections of the Passports Act for obtaining a passport by furnishing fake particulars. Later, a court issued his open warrants in this case, said sources. On June 24, 2022, the Bureau of Immigration issued a look-out circular for Anmol on the request of Punjab Police and on July 20, the same year state home department wrote to the Ministry of Home Affairs requesting the initiation of the process for the arrest and deportation. Sources said that the NIA yesterday arrested him in a case registered in 2022 to investigate an alleged nexus between criminal gangs in India and Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), a designated terrorist organisation, to raise funds, recruit youths and carry out terror strikes in the country.