Anmol Bishnoi fears being killed by Pakistani gangster, files protection plea in court

Anmol Bishnoi, brother of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, has filed a protection application, citing "apprehension of being targeted and killed" by a Pakistani gangster, Shehzad Bhatti, allegedly due to his recent posts on social media.

Anmol is under the custody of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) after he was arrested by the agency upon his deportation from the US.

"Due to continuing threats, the applicant (Anmol here) and his family members are living under constant fear, mental trauma and apprehension of imminent danger," the plea said.

"Such threats cannot be taken lightly, as recent incidents clearly demonstrate that online threats have translated into real-world violent attacks."

Further in the plea, Anmol sought the court to issue directions to the investigating agency to provide him adequate armed police protection during transit from the NIA headquarters to the court premises.

"Directions to be issued to the NIA for the accused to be taken in bulletproof vehicle and in bulletproof jacket during physical production and directions be issued to the authority concerned for conducting a threat perception and security assessment at the earliest," the plea filed on November 27 read.

It also requested the court to order the authority concerned to conduct a "threat perception" and "security assessment" of Bishnoi.

On Saturday, perhaps in a first, Special Judge (NIA) Prashant Sharma held the hearing inside the NIA headquarters rather than in a regular court and ordered the extension of Anmol's custody till December 5.

Earlier, on November 19, Anmol was sent to an 11-day NIA custody.

NIA's Special Public Prosecutor, Rahul Tyagi, said the hearing was held in the headquarters following a request from the defence counsel.

"Anmol Bishnoi's police custody has been extended for seven more days. He was produced before the court, which held its sitting at the NIA headquarters on the request of the defence. He has revealed various facts that need further investigation. For that, he is now being further investigated by the NIA," Tyagi said.