Anmol second top gangster deported from US

Anmol Bishnoi, one of the prime accused in the Sidhu Moosewala killing case, is the second high-profile gangster from Punjab to be deported to India from the USA in recent months.His return follows an extensive international effort by the Punjab Police through the Central agencies to secure the repatriation of nearly a 100 wanted gangsters and drug smugglers who had fled abroad after committing serious crimes in the state.

Anmol is younger brother of Lawrence Bishnoi, India’s most wanted gangster who was declared a terrorist entity by the Canada government earlier this year.

Earlier, terrorist Happy Passia was deported from the USA. The Punjab Police officials said the two deportations were a big success, but there were 20 other criminals, including gangsters and drug smugglers hiding in the USA.

The deportations marked a continuing crackdown driven by detailed dossiers and case files prepared by the state’s special law enforcement unit, officials said.

“The case history of about 100 criminals was shared with foreign countries through Central agencies in the last one year,” said a senior Punjab Police officer. “These were prepared by the Counter-Intelligence Unit, the Anti-Narcotics Task Force, and the Anti-Gangster Task Force. We maintain the files regularly and update these as required to assist in such cases,” the officer added.

Around 20 of these wanted individuals had escaped to the USA, prompting the Punjab Police to push for their deportation through the Central agencies. The initiative gained momentum after the US President Donald Trump declared earlier this year that he would not allow his country’s soil to be used as a safe haven for criminals.

Harpreet Singh, alias Happy Passia, is a Punjab-based gangster-turned-terrorist linked to Pakistan-backed Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and ISI operative Harvinder Rinda. Originally a small-time criminal from Amritsar, he masterminded 14–16 grenade attacks across Punjab in 2024–2025, targeting police stations, religious places and political figures to create panic.

Wanted in over 30 cases under UAPA, Arms Act and Explosives Act with a ₹5 lakh NIA bounty, Passia fled India in 2020–2021, entered the UK on fake documents and then illegally crossed into the United States via the Mexico border. He continued directing terror operations from California until his arrest by the FBI and ICE in Sacramento in April 2025. He was deported to India in the 2025 wave of repatriations of Punjab fugitives, facilitated by detailed Punjab Police dossiers and the Trump administration’s policy against harbouring foreign criminals.

Also Sachin Thapan, alias Sachin Bishnoi, another close associate and relative of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, one of the main conspirators in the May 2022 murder of singer Sidhu Moosewala, was deported in January 2023. Operating from abroad, he arranged weapons, funding, hideouts and reconnaissance for the killers as revenge for the death of Youth Akali leader Vicky Middukhera. He fled India in April 2022 on a forged passport (along with Anmol Bishnoi), reaching Azerbaijan via Dubai.