200 Indians deported from US, including wanted gangster Anmol Bishnoi 

A US deportation flight carrying 200 Indian nationals, among them alleged gangster Anmol Bishnoi, two fugitives wanted in Punjab, and 197 undocumented migrants, is set to land in Delhi at 10 am on Wednesday, officials said. Bishnoi, the younger brother of jailed gang leader Lawrence Bishnoi, is wanted in multiple high-profile cases, including the murder of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique and the April 2024 firing outside actor Salman Khan’s residence.

Intelligence agencies say Anmol fled India in April 2022 using a forged passport, weeks before singer Sidhu Moosewala was shot dead on 29 May. He is believed to have moved between the US and Canada on fraudulent Russian documents until he was tracked and detained. Investigators allege he continued directing gang operations from abroad through encrypted communication channels.

Sources said Anmol was detained in California last year and placed under an ankle monitor — a GPS-enabled device used to electronically track suspects, parolees or individuals under court-ordered supervision. His deportation, routed from Louisiana, follows months of coordination between Indian and US agencies.

NCP leader Zeeshan Siddique, son of the late Baba Siddique, said he received an email confirming that Anmol had been “removed” from US soil. He said his family had registered victim contact status with US authorities to receive official updates and urged the Centre to ensure Anmol’s immediate arrest upon landing. Zeeshan added that he had repeatedly written to US agencies about his father’s killing and recently raised security concerns with Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and Union Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Police officials confirmed that Mumbai Police had sent two extradition proposals earlier, given multiple pending cases against Anmol. Once he arrives, the Union government will decide which agency takes custody first, with the NIA seen as a strong contender due to its ongoing investigations into interstate gang-terror networks. His fraudulent travel documents are also part of the probe.

Former minister Baba Siddique, 66, was shot dead on 12 October 2024 outside his son’s Bandra office. Several accused linked to the Bishnoi syndicate have been arrested, with the Mumbai Crime Branch consistently maintaining that Anmol was the key plotter, directing the attack from abroad.

Anmol is also wanted in the April 2024 firing outside Salman Khan’s Galaxy Apartments in Bandra, where two gunmen opened fire before fleeing on a motorbike. Investigators recovered audio instructions and chat logs attributed to him. His brother Lawrence, lodged in Sabarmati Central Prison, remains the dominant figure in the Bishnoi crime syndicate.

(WIth inputs from PTI)