Why Mumbai Police cannot take Lawrence Bishnoi into custody after firing on Tiger Shroff

The Bishnoi gang has become a major challenge for the police after the firing on actor Tiger Shroff in Juhu. On Sunday, October 18, at 7.30 pm, shots were fired repeatedly at Shroff's car in the Juhu area. Shroff was inside the car at the time of the attack. He had a narrow escape.

The investigation has since turned up a startling detail. The accused had carried out reconnaissance of the homes of Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan and Akshay Kumar. In other words, the gang was planning to shake Bollywood.

Lawrence Bishnoi is currently lodged in Sabarmati Central Jail. The question that arises is why Mumbai Police or the police of other states cannot take him into their custody for the investigation.

The reason is a special order of the Union Home Ministry. The Sabarmati jail in Gujarat is considered extremely secure. In August 2023, the Home Ministry issued this special order for Bishnoi under Section 268 of the CrPC. The same order now applies under Section 303 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). Over the past three years it has been extended from time to time.

Under this law, the Centre or a state government has a special power. A dangerous prisoner can be barred from being taken out of jail or handed over to the police of other states, for reasons of security or to avoid a law-and-order problem. For this reason, although Bishnoi is wanted in many cases, he cannot be taken into custody even when he has to be questioned about his network and the masterminds.

Does the investigation then stop? It does not. A legal route exists. Special arrangements have been made for the investigation and court hearings in all cases in which cases linked to Bishnoi are registered, or in which crimes are being committed in his name. In the hearings of these cases, Bishnoi is produced through video conferencing.

Another legal route is that if Mumbai Police or the police of other states need to question him in a case, they can go to Sabarmati jail with the court's permission and question him there, without taking him into direct custody.

Every care is taken to ensure that Bishnoi does not come in contact with anyone. Even so, because crimes continue to be committed in his name, tracing and destroying his network remains a major challenge for the security agencies.