Two unidentified men opened fire at the AJ Furniture Mall on the Aundh-Ravet BRTS Road in the Punawale area of Pimpri Chinchwad on Friday night.

Soon after, an audio clip and screenshot of a Facebook post claiming that the firing was done by members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang went viral.

Jagdish Bheraram Bishnoi, owner of AJ Furniture Mall, lodged the First Information Report (FIR) in this case at the Ravet police station in Pimpri Chinchwad, in the early hours of Saturday.

As per the FIR, on May 7, an unidentified person made a WhatsApp call to Jagdish Bishnoi’s business partner, Ashokkumar Bishnoi, from an international number, demanding Rs 2 crore and threatening to kill him if the money was not paid.

Lawrence Bishnoi gang claims responsibility for firing at furniture mall in Pimpri Chinchwad, audio clip surfaces; partner got extortion calls on May 7 pic.twitter.com/W8RApHcFEt

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But Ashokkumar Bishnoi refused to pay any money, saying, “…Aise golise mai nahi darta (I am not afraid of your bullets).”

Then, on Friday night, when Jagdish Bishnoi was sitting at the AJ Furniture Mall, and his workers were handling customers, two men came to the spot on a motorcycle. Armed with pistols, the attackers fired about six bullets at Jagdish Bishnoi.

Jagdish Bishnoi remained unhurt in the incident. The bullets hit the signboard and other parts of the Furniture Mall. The attackers escaped towards London Bridge in the Punawale area, the FIR stated.

After receiving information, teams of the Pimpri Chinchwad police, including senior officers, rushed to the spot for investigation.

While the police launched a search for the attackers, an audio clip emerged in which a person identifying himself as Aarzoo Bishnoi, brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Also, a screenshot of a Facebook post tagging Aarzoo Bishnoi and Shubham Lonkar, an absconding criminal from the Bishnoi gang, stated that they fired at the mall.

The post in Hindi claimed that Ashokkumar Bishnoi is an “MD Taskar (drug smuggler)” and hawala operator: “We gave him a warning over a phone call, but he is out of his mind due to the arrogance of money…”

The post threatened that this was just a “small trailer”. It also left a warning for one more furniture mall owner.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner of Police Ganesh Ingle told media persons that a search is underway for the suspects. Multiple police teams were formed to trace the attackers. The police are also probing the audio clip and the FB post screenshot in which the Lawrence Bishnoi gang claimed responsibility for the attack, he added.

The police suspect the accused may have used a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to make extortion calls.

The police have booked the person who made the phone call and the two unidentified motorcycle-borne attackers under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Sections 109, 3(5), 308(3), 308(5), 308(7), and sections of the Indian Arms Act and the Maharashtra Police Act, 1951.

As stated in the FIR, complainant Jagdish Bishnoi and his business partner Ashokkumar Bishnoi are natives of Sanchore in Jalore district of Rajasthan. Jagdish Bishnoi is currently residing in Punawale. He took a piece of land on rent in December 2023 and set up the AJ Furniture Mall at the spot. His partner, Ashokkumar Bishnoi, also operates a transport business in Rajasthan and Bengaluru and comes to Pune once a month.

Similar case

In January this year, a person identifying himself as Shubham Lonkar of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang had allegedly made similar extortion calls to Pimpri-based businessman and film financer Sunny Nana Waghchoure, 37. Known for wearing about three kilograms of gold ornaments at various social and commercial events, Waghchoure had appeared in Kapil Sharma’s comedy show and ‘The Khatra Khatra Show’ on television.

Waghchoure’s lawyer had lodged the FIR at the Sant Tukaram Nagar police station in Pimpri Chinchwad. No arrests were made in that case.

As per the FIR, Lonkar had allegedly threatened Waghchoure to give Rs 5 crore within five days, or else be murdered like Baba Siddique. Lonkar is a wanted accused in the former MLA Baba Siddique murder case.