A Delhi court on Tuesday charged gangster Lawrence Bishnoi with offences under Sections 3 and 4 of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in a 2021 case registered over the alleged running of a crime syndicate and extortion and kidnapping racket.

While Section 3 prescribes punishment for organised crime, Section 4 deals with the punishment for possessing unaccountable wealth on behalf of a member of an organised crime syndicate.

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Prashant Sharma of the Patiala House Court also charged Bishnoi with the offences under the Arms Act and the Explosives Act.

Apart from Bishnoi, charges have been framed against 19 other persons.

Bishnoi and others were booked by the Delhi Police. The investigation revealed that the accused persons were members of the organised crime syndicate. They were alleged to be operating a crime syndicate even from inside jail and committing crimes like murder, attempt to murder, robbery, kidnapping, extortion, criminal intimidation and criminal assault in an organised manner for pecuniary gains. 

The police claimed that from time to time, many mobile phones were recovered from the gang members of this crime syndicate in jail which were being used to execute criminal activities on behalf of the crime syndicate and to maintain contacts with other gang members.

It was also alleged that members of this gang were continuously operating from Thailand, Canada and the US.

Advocate Akhand Pratap Singh represented the Delhi Police.