The parents of mobster Lawrence Bishnoi are elusive; village in Fazilka district with dirty streets image: The Tribune India

Tribune press service

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Fazilka, June 10

The family of mobster Lawrence Bishnoi has shut itself off from the outside world, spending most of its time at home in the village of Dottaranwali in Fazilka district since his name surfaced in the Sidhu Moosewala murder case.

Parents don’t talk to strangers: villagers

Villagers reluctant to give location of mobster Lawrence Bishnoi’s house

Bishnoi parents don’t talk to strangers, villagers say; the main door is locked from the outside

Dottaranwali residents remember Lawrence as a ‘well-behaved boy’ from a wealthy family of zamindars

The family owns 120 acres in Dottaranwali and has ancestral properties in Abohar, Bikaner and Jaipur.

The villagers are reluctant to give the location of Lawrence’s house. Ask them about the gangster and their faces get tense.

Lawrence belongs to the remote village of Dottaranwali located near Abohar, just 50 km from the Indo-Pakistan border. The village dominated by the Bishnoi community is home to over 3,000 people.

Lawrence’s father, Lavinder Bishnoi, and mother, Sunita Bishnoi, live in the village house. They don’t talk to strangers, villagers say when a team from The Tribune visited their home. The main door was locked from the outside.

Lawrence’s younger brother, Anmol, who is out on bail, has been in hiding since Moosewala’s murder.

Villagers say cops from Delhi and Punjab visited Dottaranwali after Moosewala’s murder. Many young people have gone into hiding since the murder, fearing harassment by the cops.

Every time an incident involving Lawrence takes place, the police unnecessarily detain young people from the village, they say. The villagers regret that Dottaranwali’s name has been defamed because of Lawrence’s criminal activities.

Recalling old memories, villager Mohinder Thapa says that convent-educated Lawrence was a brilliant student and enjoyed horses, cricket and volleyball on school days.

“He never participated in any fight. I don’t know what happened when he went to Chandigarh,” he says.

Lawrence obtained his LLB from Panjab University (PU), Chandigarh. In 2009, while studying in college, he joined a student organization in PU and got into the world of crime.

The people of Dottaranwali remember Lawrence as a “well-mannered boy” from a well-to-do family of zamindars. Bishnoi’s parents are known for their good behavior, said Surinder Bagria, village sarpanch.

Praveen Bagria, another villager, notes: “The Lawrence family is well off and owns 120 acres. It has ancestral properties in Abohar, Bikaner and Jaipur. He comes from a reputable good family, but we don’t know what was wrong with Lawrence.

“Lawrence liked to wear designer clothes and shoes. When he was staying here, he wore an Rs 10,000 jacket and expensive shoes,” he adds.

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