Mohali: Mohali Police have apprehended four shooters affiliated with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang following a series of targeted gunfire incidents outside the residences of two businessmen and a film producer. In a notable disclosure, investigators revealed that one of the detained operatives, Akashdeep Singh, is the nephew of an officer holding the rank of Director General of Police. Akashdeep is the son of Amreen Rai, who was jailed earlier this year in March for alleged involvement in the murder conspiracy of property dealer Chamanpreet Singh, also known as Chinni Kubbaheri.
The arrested suspects have been identified as 23-year-old Akashdeep Singh, a resident of Sector 35-A in Chandigarh; 23-year-old Parveen Kumar from Lehra Sodha village in Bathinda; 20-year-old Jasmandeep Singh from Kharar; and 27-year-old Dushyant Sharma from Sheikhpura village in Yamunanagar. Police seized five pistols, 12 live cartridges, and an SUV from their possession. Preliminary background checks confirmed that Dushyant Sharma already faced prior rioting charges registered at the Sohana police station.
Investigators stated that each victim was subjected to repeated extortion demands of ₹5 crore coordinated by Kulvir Singh Sidhu, a key overseas operative within the Bishnoi network. When the victims resisted the extortion bids, motorcycle-borne assailants were dispatched to fire indiscriminately at their homes to intimidate them into paying.
Senior Superintendent of Police Varun Sharma explained that the first attack occurred around midnight on September 4, when two armed suspects opened fire with automatic weapons at the Phase 10 residence of businessman Sanyam Judeja following Sidhu’s ₹5 crore extortion threat. A subsequent shooting targeted the Phase 10 house of Judeja’s associate, Baljit Singh, on September 7 after an identical extortion demand was issued.
Law enforcement had kept the string of extortion-related attacks confidential while conducting operations, which involved two separate armed encounters before the suspects were captured. Investigators are also interrogating two other suspects caught during the encounters—Gurdit Singh, detained on September 10, and Manish, arrested on September 13—to uncover the full extent of the syndicate’s regional network and active extortion plots.
