A phone call on the Zangi or Signal app from a person identifying himself as “Sachin” or “Sumit” instructs newly inducted shooters to open fire outside the residence of a businessman. Prior to this, he asked the shooters to collect the firearm from a place and also instructed them to keep it in another place after the act. The Delhi Police has stumbled upon this new modus operandi while probing extortion cases involving gangsters based abroad.
The police said the individuals were different members of the same gang operating from abroad, but ran the operation under a single alias to confuse investigators and lead the probe to a dead end. Investigators believe that extortion rackets have now become highly technical and their efforts meticulously planned, as the ground workers or shooters get paid but never get to know who they are communicating with.
First-time offenders, elusive leaders
According to Delhi Police statistics, teams from the Special Cell and the Crime Branch, along with the local police, managed to solve around 65 per cent of the extortion cases registered in 2025. However, the police believe that the situation on the ground remains challenging, as they have only been able to apprehend the ground-level operatives who carried out the related shootings. The main people who planned these attacks are rarely identified as the gangs operate primarily by invoking the names of its leaders.
Officers said most of these shooters are first-time offenders, while the major players easily evade arrest by masking their identities behind a common name. “This practice prevents them from being identified. Even if the shooters are caught, they give the name of the person who they believe assigned them the task, but such a person does not actually exist,” a senior police officer said.
A similar pattern was observed in two recent firing incidents in Paschim Vihar and West Vinod Nagar on January 12. Two individuals behind the incidents, including a minor, stated that they were only aware that they were acting on behalf of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. They claimed to be in contact with one Anil Pandit. However, the social media post (claiming responsibility for the shooting) was made from an account named ‘Randeep Malik’, which had been created using the ID of one Sumit. The two were hired through social media and connected with the gang members via Signal App.
Earlier, in the murder case of Indepreet Singh alias Parry, who was killed in Chandigarh last month, the shooters claimed they were acting on the instructions of a person named Sachin. However, the police believe that no such individual exists within the gang.
Social media: easy platform to recruit unemployed youths
“In the past few months, most shooters arrested from the Lawrence Bishnoi, Goldy Brar, or Himanshu Bhau gangs were unemployed individuals who were inspired by these gangs through social media. Gang members operating from abroad have created multiple social media profiles using the names of their leaders. They closely monitor new followers on these accounts and contact them to ask if they are interested in joining the gang,” an officer said.
Story continues below this ad
Those who show interest are asked to move the conversation to encrypted platforms such as Zangi or Signal. Their backgrounds are then verified, and in some cases, they are asked to undergo a small firing test if required. After this, they are assigned shooting tasks. This is how, according to officials, the Lawrence Bishnoi gang has expanded its network to around 700 associates across the country.
After shooting: a post and name-dropping
The person who assigns them the task is identified as “Sachin” or “Prince”, a name used to mask his real identity. “Sachin or Prince then instructs the new recruit to collect the weapon from a location and drop it at another place soon after the shooting. Payments are also frequently made to them,” an officer said.
Soon after a shooting outside the residence or office of a businessman, the gangsters post messages claiming responsibility for the attack. They also mention the names of senior gang members operating from different regions to create fear among businessmen and authorities.
Officers believe the gangsters exploit the psychology of businessmen by targeting one individual to instil fear among others – a key tactic often used by criminals.
