DELHI COURT EXTENDS NIA CUSTODY OF GANGSTER BISHNOI BY 4 DAYS

NEW DELHI : A Delhi court on Saturday extended by four days the National Investigation Agency (NIA) custody of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, accused in Sidhu Moosewala murder case, in a matter related to conspiracy hatched by terror groups.

The NIA has alleged that the conspiracy was hatched by members of a criminal syndicate based in India and abroad to raise funds and recruit youths to carry out terrorist acts in Delhi and other parts of the country.

The accused, including Bishnoi, had planned to execute heinous crimes, including targeted killings of prominent persons, with an intention to strike terror in the minds of the people of the country, it alleged. Special judge Shailendra Malik extended the custodial interrogation of Bishnoi after he was produced before the court through video conference on expiry of his 10-day NIA custody granted earlier.

While seeking his further custody by 10 more days, the NIA told the court that the terrorist gangs accused in the case were using cyber space and social media to publicise these crimes to create widespread terror among the public at large. A few among these gangs are operating from jail and others are absconding and operating from different parts of India and foreign countries, the agency told the court.it said that Bishnoi is the main accused in the case “who operates syndicates to commit terrorist acts in India with an intention to strike terror in the minds of people”. He has disclosed the modus operandi of his syndicate and about his close associates, the NIA said, adding that in order to establish the link between them and confrontation amongst them, his further police custody would be required.