Naveen Kumar, a key sharpshooter affiliated with the notorious Lawrence Bishnoi gang, was killed in a late-night encounter in Hapur’s Thana Kotwali area. The operation was carried out jointly by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) Noida unit and the Delhi Police Special Cell.
According to police sources, Naveen Kumar, a resident of Loni, Ghaziabad, was wanted in over 20 criminal cases across Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, including murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, robbery, and MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act). He had previously been convicted in two cases in Delhi.
During the operation, Kumar was critically injured and transported to a hospital, where he was declared dead. He was a prime accused in a murder and MCOCA case registered at Farsh Bazar Police Station in Delhi.
Meanwhile, in a related crackdown on the Bishnoi gang’s international operations, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) recently arrested Rahul Sarkar, a key operative in the gang’s fake passport syndicate. Sarkar was allegedly facilitating gang members to escape abroad after committing crimes. Among those he helped was Sachin Thapan alias Sachin Thapan Bishnoi, one of the main accused in the 2022 murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala.
Rahul Sarkar is currently in NIA custody as part of a broader probe into a transnational criminal conspiracy aimed at recruiting youth and raising funds for gang operations. The NIA’s case, registered in August 2022, was initiated under the direction of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Lawrence Bishnoi, the gang’s leader, despite being jailed since 2014, remains at the center of several high-profile criminal investigations. Allegedly linked to a network of over 700 shooters worldwide, Bishnoi continues to deny any involvement in violent crimes.
This latest encounter and arrest highlight the widening net of law enforcement agencies against one of India’s most feared underworld networks.