Lucknow, June 21: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested a key associate of notorious jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi on Wednesday for his role in harbouring members of the (Lawrence Bishnoi) terror syndicate, which is involved in a number of criminal cases, including the rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attack on the Punjab Police intelligence headquarters in Mohali.
Vikas Singh, a native of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, had housed Deepak Surakhpur and Divyanshu, both residents of Ayodhya, who carried out the RPG attack on the intelligence headquarters in May 2022.
“Vikas has revealed that he provided shelter to Deepak Surakhpur and Divyanshu on numerous occasions in his house in Devgarh village in Ayodhya district and in his flat in 77/04 A Block in Lucknow’s Gomti Nagar Vistar,” the NIA said.
According to the NIA, Vikas Singh is charged in 10 criminal cases including murder, attempted murder, violation of the Arms Act, and violation of the Gangsters Act. According to NIA investigations, Deepak Surakhpur was introduced to Vikas by Vicky Midhukhera, another colleague and acquaintance of Lawrence Bishnoi.
Vikas had linked Divyanshu, whom he previously knew, to the Lawrence Bishnoi network.
In addition, the duo was implicated in a number of targeted/contract killings, including that of businessman Sanjay Biyani in Nanded and Rana Kandhowalia in Punjab. Following the murder of Rana Kandowalia, Vikas Singh took in another culprit, Rinku.
Furthermore, in early 2020, following the double murder case in Chandigarh (on Lawrence’s orders), Monu Dagar, Pradhan of Bahadurgarh, Cheema of Chandigarh, and Rajan of Kurukshetra were in Lucknow with Vikas Singh.
The inquiry also showed that Vikas Singh harboured several gangsters/associates from different states, including Rinku, Rajpal (MP), and Bhati (MP).
