Gangster Lawrence Bishnoi’s rival gang member held in Kaushambi

PRAYAGRAJ: In a major breakthrough, joint teams of Punjab and Kaushambi police on Tuesday arrested a member of an international crime syndicate. The arrested criminal identified as Ghanshyam Vishwakarma was involved in firing at the commercial establishment of a trader in Hoshiarpur of Punjab to extort cash Rs 5 crore from him.

The accused has cases registered against him in Punjab, Assam, West Bengal, Delhi and Maharashtra and is a member of Kaushal Chaudhary gang which is known for its involvement in criminal activities on international level, police officials said.

Kaushal Chaudhary is a rival of notorious gangster Lawrence Bishnoi whose name surfaced recently in connection with firing outside actor Salman Khan’s house. Chaudhary is accused of killing many members of Bishnoi’s gang and he was arrested in 2021. He is presently lodged in a jail in Haryana, officials added.

As per reports, shots were fired at establishment of a big businessman in Hoshiarpur of Punjab in February month.

Later, Kaushal Chaudhary gang took responsibility of the shooting and demanded an extortion of Rs 5 crore from the trader. An FIR was registered at Mahilpur police station of Hoshiarpur in this connection and probe revealed the name of one Ghanshyam Vishwakarma of Puraghise village under Saraiakil police station of Kaushambi who was involved in the incident. A team of Punjab police reached Kaushambi and on instructions of SP Kaushambi Brajesh Kumar Srivastava, SOG team traced Ghanshyam ‘s location at his maternal grandfather’s house in Baiskati village under Karari police station. The SOG team raided the village with Punjab police and arrested Ghanshyam.

SOG in-charge Siddarth Singh said Ghanshyam Vishwakarma is a member of Kaushal Chaudhary gang which is active at international level. Ghanshyam has been involved in serious offences. Besides committing murders on contract, he has been involved in loots and demanding extortion. He was wanted by West Bengal police in smuggling of counterfeit currency notes worth Rs 3 crore and has cases registered against him in Delhi, Assam and Mumbai. Ghanshyam was handed over to Punjab police, he added.

THE ACCUSED HAS CASES REGISTERED AGAINST HIM IN PUNJAB, ASSAM, WEST BENGAL, DELHI AND MAHARASHTRA