Anmol Bishnoi, Lawrence Bishnoi’s brother, seeks asylum in US after arrest, say sources

Anmol Bishnoi, the brother of notorious gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and wanted in India for high-profile murder cases, has applied for political asylum in the United States following his arrest by immigration officers last week, sources said.

Bishnoi was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in California for entering the country using fake documents, sources said. He is currently being held in Pottawattamie County Jail in Iowa, ICE documents show.

According to sources, Bishnoi’s arrest stemmed from information shared by the Indian government regarding his illegal entry into the US.

Sources suggest that Bishnoi may have intentionally turned himself in to US authorities as a strategy to seek asylum, after the Mumbai Police began proceedings to extradite him from the US.

There is little likelihood of the wanted gangster being handed over to India or any other country now that he has initiated asylum proceedings through legal channels, the sources added.

Given the US legal system’s inclination towards granting bail in such cases, and considering the precedent of gangster Goldie Brar, who was also arrested and later released by US authorities, there’s a very real possibility that Bishnoi could evade extradition to India, sources said.

Anmol Bishnoi fled India in 2023 using a fake passport and became a central figure in the Bishnoi gang’s operations following the arrest of his brother Lawrence. He is wanted in multiple criminal cases, including the high-profile shooting incident outside Bollywood actor Salman Khan’s Mumbai home, and the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala in 2022.

Recently, authorities linked Bishnoi to the killing of former Maharashtra Minister and veteran politician Baba Siddique in October. Investigators confirmed that Bishnoi had been in touch with the shooters involved in Siddique’s assassination.

Bishnoi is also facing charges in two cases filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and 18 other criminal cases. In July, a Mumbai court issued a non-bailable warrant against him, and the NIA recently announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for information leading to his arrest.