New Delhi: Even as India and Pakistan remain engaged in a diplomatic and military stand-off after the Pahalgam massacre of April 22, jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi seems to have got into the act.
A social media post, attributed to Bishnoi, stating that he will get Lashkar-e-Ttheaiba chief Hafiz Saeed killed as retribution for the terror strike that left 26 persons, mostly tourists, dead in Pahalgam, has now gone viral across social media.
Though Bishnoi is in prison, he continues to run a gang that operates globally, including in countries such as the US and Canada. The 32-year-old has been behind the bars for nearly 11 years but is said to have contacts with at least 700 shooters worldwide.
The X post from a handle named Jai Shree Ram has a photograph of Saeed with a red cross across it. It states: “You have killed our innocent people. Now, we will enter Pakistan and kill a person who is worth one lakh people (to the terrorists).”
Though the authenticity of the post is yet to be verified, security forces have learnt not to take Bishnoi lightly. He has been involved in the killing of Punjab rapper Sidhu Moosewala and the firing of shots outside actor Salman Khan’s residence.
Bishnoi has a long-standing enmity with Salman over the alleged killing of blackbucks by the actor in Rajasthan several years ago. Bishnoi was a child at that time. He later threatened to kill Salman unless the actor went to a certain temple in Rajasthan and apologised for killing the blackbucks. The Bishnoi community treat the animals as holy and their own children.
Saeed, on the other hand, is India’s most wanted terrorist. He has been involved in the 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attacks in 2008 and the 2019 Pulwama Attack in Kashmir. Though he has been designated a terrorist by several countries apart from India, Pakistan continues to protect him. Several attempts have been made on his life over the last several years and several of his close aides have been killed by unknown gunmen.