Gorakhpur. The Special Investigation Team’s inquiry into a weapons‑smuggling ring allegedly tied to Lawrence Bishnoi, Goldy Brar and Rohit Godara has now broadened to include local contacts in Gorakhpur. A total of 31 individuals have been listed as accused, among them a close aide of a regional politician and the son of a police sub‑inspector. Investigators are currently analysing the mobile devices, social‑media footprints and address books of those taken into custody.
Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the local associates highlighted by the probe. They aim to determine the content of conversations these persons had with the primary suspects and whether they played any role in the alleged arms network. In a related move, Gorakhpur police briefly detained the brother of a student leader for questioning before releasing him.
One of the named suspects is said to be an associate of a politician from the Sahjanwa area, while another’s father serves as a sub‑inspector in the Uttar Pradesh police force. Following the filing of the case at Cantt Police Station, raids are being conducted to locate the remaining fugitives, and investigators are scrutinising phone records and online activity.
The STF is now focusing on pinpointing local individuals who may have facilitated the distribution of firearms brought into Gorakhpur and the wider Purvanchal region from other states. Phone numbers and social‑media contacts extracted from the arrested suspects’ phones are being cross‑referenced with known networks.
Five Accused Apprehended on Monday Night
On Monday evening, the STF took into custody Shreyansh Yadav alias Bablu, Ajit Yadav, Abhishek Gaud alias Bheli, Abhishek Prajapati alias Abhi, and Rahul Gupta near Vindhyavasini Park. During interrogation, 26 additional names were disclosed, bringing the total list of alleged participants to 31. While five have been arrested, the remaining 26 are still at large.
More than ten operational teams are sweeping through Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana, as well as the districts of Gorakhpur, Kushinagar and Maharajganj, in a coordinated effort to capture the fugitives. Shashank Pandey, a resident of Bihar, is being treated as a key link in the investigation.
The inquiry has also surfaced the names of Suraj Yadav, a PAC employee from Bansgaon, and his associate Pramod Yadav. According to the STF, the duo allegedly procured weapons from the same source as part of a plot to eliminate a young man. Police are now tracing the firearms and probing the contacts involved. Both men are believed to have gone underground after learning of the police action.
Investigators have even reached Shashank Pandey’s ancestral village in an attempt to locate him. The network of contacts he established while operating in Gorakhpur is also under scrutiny. Earlier probes had hinted at his connection to an arms‑smuggling outfit linked to the Bishnoi gang.
