Lawrence Bishnoi denies involvement in Atiq Ahmed's death

Jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, while being interrogated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), denied having any links with the April 15 murders of Atiq and Ashraf Ahmed in Prayagraj. The revelation comes after Sunny, one of the three accused in the murders of the gangster-turned-politician and his brother, claimed that Bishnoi was his role model.

An NIA source said the probe agency grilled Bishnoi regarding the weapons used by the three accused men. "The killers used the Turkey-made Zigana pistol to eliminate Atiq and Ashraf. It was the same weapon that was used to kill Punjabi singer Siddhu Singh Moosewala. Hence we interrogated him (Bishnoi). As of now, he has denied links to the with Atiq-Ashraf murder case," the source added.The source further said that gangster Sundar Bhati also has a connection with Bishnoi and they were looking into this angle as well. Last year, the NIA lodged three separate FIRs (FIR no 37, 38, 39).

In FIR no 37, they had mentioned Khalistani supporters based abroad who had been hatching a conspiracy to wage war against India and to create unrest in the country. FIR no 38 was registered against the Bambaiya Gang in which Neeraj Bawana, Kaushal Chaudhary, and others were made accused.In FIR no 39 was lodged against Bishnoi, Kala Jathedi, Kala Rana, and their aides. Last week, Bishnoi was produced before an NIA court in connection with FIR no 37. The agency earlier held one Deepak in the matter. Deepak was in touch with Bishnoi. According to NIA sources, the gangsters have formed two 'Mahagathbandhans' to run their crime syndicates smoothly by creating a pan-India network. Gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf wereshotbythreemen posing as journalists in the middle of a media interaction on April 15 night while police personnel were escorting them to a medical college in Prayagraj for a checkup. Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were brought to Prayagraj in connection with the Umesh Pal murder case.