GK murder: Video call from gangster to businessman under lens

New Delhi

Delhi Police’s special cell on Tuesday said they were probing a purported clip of a video call between jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and a Delhi-based businessman from May in connection with the murder of a 35-year-old gym owner in Greater Kailash-1 on September 12.

Senior police officers said they suspect Bishnoi was extorting businessmen from the jail and in this case, a businessman who was allegedly being harassed by Bishnoi turned to the gym owner for help to negotiate with the gangster. However, the deal did not go through and the gym owner, Nadir Shah, was gunned down.

A senior police officer said the clip came to light during the investigation of the GK-1 murder. In the clip, Bishnoi is purportedly seen threatening the businessman, who is sitting in a car. Bishnoi is heard saying: “Do you want to see a miracle?”. To this, the businessman says “No, I don’t want to see anything…I am in Dubai and will come back to India next month.” The gangster then demanded ₹5 crore as “protection money” and told the businessman “I can’t wait that long…you’re being watched every second. I even know how many times you go to the bathroom.”

Special cell officers said notices were issued to the businessman, but he was found to still be in Dubai. The businessman is also being probed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in connection with a case of cheating US citizens, officers said.

Police said that due to the extortion bid, the businessman contacted Shah for help.

“The businessman has an illegal call centre in southeast Delhi and Bishnoi was harassing him from jail. We are trying to trace him since he’s directly linked to the conspiracy behind the murder…The video shows he was being extorted,” an officer said.

Meanwhile, another team of special cell took jailed gangster Hashim Baba in custody, at Tihar jail. Baba is a close aide of gangster Bishnoi — who is lodged in Rajasthan jail — and fugitive gangster Rohit Godara.

The investigator said that Baba confessed to his role in executing Shah’s murder. “Godara claimed responsibility for the murder and thanked Baba for help. We verified this by taking Baba into custody and found he was in constant touch with Bishnoi through internet calls. In fact, it was Bishnoi and Baba who chose the assailants and tasked them with conducting recce and kill Shah,” he said

The investigator said that Baba also claimed to know the businessman and he too was involved in the murder conspiracy.