Gangster Sachin Bishnoi, who was allegedly involved in the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala, was extradited from Azerbaijan and brought back to India on Tuesday, officials of the Delhi police said.
He was produced in a Delhi court, which remanded him in police custody for 10 days.
Officers from the Delhi police's special cell had travelled to the Azerbaijan capital Baku to monitor the progress in the case.
"Bishnoi alias Sachin Thapan was successfully extradited from Baku and brought to Delhi on Tuesday morning," Special Commissioner of Police (special cell) HGS Dhaliwal said.
Sources claimed that Bishnoi was involved in the conspiracy and handling of the logistics for the murder. He was abroad at the time of the killing but tried to mislead the investigators by claiming that he had shot Moosewala, they claimed.
"Bishnoi left India before the murder of Moosewala. He first went to Dubai on a fake passport issued in the name of Tilak Raj Tuteja with an address of Sangam Vihar in south Delhi. He helped in doing recce and also provided one of the vehicles used by the assailants. He tried to mislead the investigation as after the murder he claimed that he had killed the singer," a source claimed.
When he was in Dubai, he thought that since India had good relations with the UAE, he could be extradited from there. So he had gone to Baku, the sources said.
Bishnoi was detained in Azerbaijan last year in August and claimed that he was not in India when the incident occurred. The sources said that he had applied for bail in Azerbaijan which was rejected.
In an international effort in April, the Delhi Police, with the help of the ministries of home and external affairs, Interpol, USA's Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Mexico police arrested criminal Deepak Pahal alias Boxer from Mexico and brought him to the national capital, the police said.
For the first time in the history of the Delhi police, a fugitive criminal, Sachin Thapan alias Sachin Bishnoi alias Tilak Raj Toteja, has been brought back to India from Azerbaijan, they said.
The current operation was launched after the Special Cell received a tip-off that Bishnoi, who is the nephew of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, had left India in the name of Tilak Raj Toteja, they said.
On March 30 last year, a case was registered at the Mohan Garden police station.
The shooters of his gang injured a real estate businessman by opening fire at him and demanded Rs 1 crore from him, the police had said, adding that raids were conducted in Rajasthan, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh and all the accused were arrested.
During investigation, it was found that Bishnoi was also a part of the incident. Apart from this, during the investigation of a case registered under Maharashtra Control of organised Crime Act against the gang, the involvement of Bishnoi was also found in the murder case of Moosewala, they said.
It was revealed that Bishnoi fled from India on a fake passport and reached Azerbaijan, from where he conspired with his other accomplices to carry out the activities of his organised crime group spread across Delhi and adjoining states, Dhaliwal said.
When it was confirmed that Bishnoi had reached Azerbaijan, a Red Corner Notice was immediately issued against him for his apprehension, he said, adding that a team of the Delhi Police reached Azerbaijan and brought him back here on Tuesday.
Bishnoi is named in the MCOCA case and an attempt to murder case at the Mohan Garden police station and in other cases with the Special Cell, Dhaliwal said.
Sachin Bishnoi and another accused Anmol Bishnoi, brother of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, had fled the country using fake passports before Moosewala's murder.
Ganngster Goldy Brar was in touch with the assailants through the 'Signal' application during the murder of Moosewala.
Earlier, the National Investigation Agency had arrested Vikramjeet Singh alias Vikram Brar, a key aide of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, following his deportation from the UAE to India.
Vikram Brar was involved in the killing of Moosewala. He was also involved in cases of smuggling weapons and extortion in India with the help of dreaded gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi, Goldy Brar and others.
Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, popularly known as Sidhu Moosewala, was shot dead in Punjab's Mansa district on May 29, 2022.
