Delhi businessman murder: 5 Lawrence Bishnoi gang members arrested

Five members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang have been arrested in connection with the recent killing of a 35-year-old businessman in Bawana industrial area of outernorth Delhi, an official said on Sunday.

Acting on specific intelligence, police intercepted some of the suspects earlier in the day. When challenged, the accused allegedly opened fire at the police team in a bid to escape, prompting the personnel to retaliate in self-defence, leading to a brief encounter, the official added.

During the exchange of fire, one of the accused sustained a bullet injury to his leg and was overpowered. Three accused were apprehended during the encounter, while two others were arrested subsequently, taking the total number of arrests in the case to five, police said, adding that none of their personnel sustained serious injuries during the operation.

Vaibhav Gandhi, a plastic granules manufacturer, was shot dead around 12.50 pm on February 9 near his factory in Sector 4 of the DSIDC industrial area.

Investigators had said that four men were involved in the attack. The assailants allegedly first attempted to snatch the keys of the victim’s car and forcibly took away his laptop bag when he resisted before shooting him at close range.

Police had also recovered around Rs 1 crore from inside Gandhi’s car after the incident.

A day after the murder, a social media post purportedly issued in the name of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang claimed responsibility for the killing. The post, allegedly from an account using the name “Randeep Malik Anil Pandit”, claimed the murder was carried out on behalf of multiple gangs, including those of Lawrence Bishnoi, Jitender Gogi Maan, Hashim Baba and Kala Rana.

The post alleged that Gandhi was interfering in gang activities and warned of similar consequences for anyone obstructing their operations, police said.

Investigators also mentioned that the attackers, who came on motorcycles, chased Gandhi for around 40-50 metres while firing multiple rounds. One of the bullets struck him in the chin, causing him to collapse. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead.