‘Acting boss’ of Bishnoi gang nabbed in California

Mumbai: Harichand Jat, alias Harry Boxer, considered the “acting boss” of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and ranked among its top echelons, was arrested by US authorities in California for allegedly threatening top Bollywood personalities.

Billed as a “prized catch” following an international manhunt, Boxer’s arrest could potentially cripple the Bishnoi gang’s foreign operations, centred in the US, Canada and parts of Europe.

The development came after the Delhi Police Special Cell and Haryana Police’s Special Task Force (STF) shared intelligence with US authorities. According to official sources, Indian agencies will initiate legal proceedings to extradite him to India, with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) acting as the nodal agency for the formalities.

Boxer allegedly managed the gang’s sprawling extortion racket, coordinated threats to film industry bigwigs, intimidated personalities from the glamour world and assigned criminal tasks to field operatives in the absence of Lawrence Bishnoi and his brother Anmol Bishnoi, both of whom are in jail.

Incidentally, last week, Boxer’s name cropped up in connection with alleged extortion threats to actors Tusshar Kapoor and Ayushmann Khurrana. His name had also figured earlier in a series of threatening messages and shootings targeting Bollywood personalities, including Ranveer Singh, as well as the firing incident near filmmaker Rohit Shetty’s residence in February, for which Boxer had claimed responsibility.

In an audio message, one Arjun Bishnoi named Boxer and Shubham Lonkar, saying the firing was merely a “short trailer” and that Shetty could face serious consequences for allegedly interfering in the gang’s operations.

Boxer’s name had also cropped up in connection with the shootout at comedian Kapil Sharma’s restaurant, Kap’s Café, in Canada in October 2025. A subsequent audio clip attributed to the gangsters carried threats against actors working with Salman Khan, along with dire warnings. Mumbai Police have registered a case over threats linked to Boxer.

Incidentally, Boxer himself was targeted in a shootout in California’s Fresno town, allegedly by the Goldy Brar outfit, but escaped unhurt on October 20, 2025. Over the years, Boxer has been linked to multiple criminal cases involving extortion, shootings, assault, attempted murder and murder. He is named in several criminal cases across different States in India. His arrest comes soon after two other Haryana-based criminals, Himanshu Bhau and Neeraj Faridpuria, were nabbed in Las Vegas, Nevada.

It is not clear how long the extradition process will take, but Boxer’s “ghar wapasi” could help investigators expose the Bishnoi gang’s global networks, sources of finance and alleged links to threats, extortion, shootings and killings in India and abroad.

Packing a punch

Hailing from a peasant family in Bansur village in Rajasthan’s Kotputli-Behror district, Harichand Jat was trained in kickboxing and later coached youngsters in the sport, earning him the nickname “Boxer”. His criminal career began in Alwar before spreading to other parts of Rajasthan, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and beyond.

After sneaking into the US through the “donkey route”, his alleged criminal activities spread to several international locations, striking fear among his targets and victims. Boxer exploited a major split in the Bishnoi gang in June 2025, when his close associate Goldy Brar and others sought to tighten their hold over the outfit.