Bishnoi, aides used WhatsApp from Gujarat jail to extort victims: U.S. DoJ
The U.S. Department of Justice has accused Indian gangster Lawrence Bishnoi of using encrypted messaging apps from a high-security Indian prison to orchestrate extortion schemes against victims in the United States. Bishnoi's legal team has denied these claims, citing his 24/7 surveillance and restricted access to communication tools.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) said on Wednesday (July 8, 2026) that Lawrence Bishnoi, a Punjab-born gangster currently lodged in a high-security prison in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, used WhatsApp and other encrypted messaging applications as recently as December 2025 and January 2026 to allegedly extort and attempt to extort $5 million from victims in Los Angeles and Thousand Oaks in the U.S.
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