Anmol Bishnoi, a key accused in the murders of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique and singer Sidhu Moosewala, had got a fake passport made under the name Bhanu Pratap and had used that to illegally enter the US, officials said.
Bishnoi, who is the brother of Lawrence Bishnoi, was deported from the US on Tuesday and landed in New Delhi on Wednesday afternoon. A copy of the passport, which has been accessed by NDTV, shows that it was made in 2021. The date of birth of Anmol Bishnoi, or in this case, Bhanu Pratap, was listed as December 15, 2000, and his parents' names as Rakesh and Sumitra Devi.
The passport number was V3534569, and the address that was mentioned was Sector 82 in Faridabad.
Bishnoi was arrested in California's Sacramento in November 2024 for entering the country with illegal documents. The arrest was made days after a non-bailable warrant against him was issued by a Maharashtra court and a Red Corner Notice was issued by Interpol.
The gangster has been formally arrested by the National Investigation Agency after landing. He was then taken for a medical check-up and then produced before the Patiala House Court in Delhi, where the anti-terror agency sought 15-day custody. The court granted the agency Bishnoi's custody for 11 days.
After the NIA interrogates Bishnoi, police in various states and cities, including Mumbai, Delhi, Punjab and Haryana, will seek to question the gangster in connection with various cases against him in their jurisdictions.
Of the many cases in which he is an accused, three high-profile ones are the murders of Baba Siddique in Mumbai in October last year and Sidhu Moosewala in Punjab's Mansa district in May 2022, and the firing outside Salman Khan's Mumbai home in April last year.
Speaking exclusively to NDTV on Tuesday, Baba Siddique's son, Zeeshan, had said he had been following up with the US authorities on Bishnoi's extradition for months and had explained to them that the gangster was wanted for his father's murder.
"I am sure he will be brought to Mumbai as well. Anmol Bishnoi and my father had nothing to do with each other. So the fact that Anmol Bishnoi has done this and the Mumbai police has named him, it is essential for us to know who is the mastermind behind the murder. I believe that once he steps onto Indian soil, I am sure the legal system will give us justice," Zeeshan, who is a former MLA and is a member of Ajit Pawar's NCP, had said.
"This does seem like a contract killing. It's very essential for us to get the details. For society as a whole, it's very important for us to know because it is for the safety of everyone," he added.
