Lawrence Bishnoi gang claims shooting drugs smuggler Sunil Yadav dead in California

Drugs smuggler Sunil Yadav, wanted in multiple cases in Rajasthan, has been allegedly killed in a shootout at California's Stockton city. Yadav was a notorious smuggler known to get drugs into India through the Pakistan route.

A few years ago, his name had emerged in connection with a seized drugs consignment worth Rs 300 crore. He was also arrested in connection with the murder of a jeweller, Pankaj Soni, in Rajasthan's Ganganagar district but was out on bail.

Gangster Rohit Godara, known to be part of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, has claimed responsibility for Sunil Yadav's killing in an act of revenge. "He had worked with Punjab police to get our brother Ankit Bhadu killed in an encounter. We have avenged him," he said in a statement. "In the US, he was sharing information about our brothers," he stated.

According to an NDTV report, Sunil Yadav fled to the US two years ago using a fake passport under the name Rahul.

Godara added that Yadav fled the country when word got around that he was involved in Ankit Bhadu's encounter death.

"In the US, he was sharing information about our brothers." Originally from Abohar in Punjab's Fazilka district, Sunil Yadav was once known to be close to Lawrence Bishnoi and Rohit Godara. But the killing of Ankit Bhadu turned them against him, sources said.

Earlier, Yadav had lived in Dubai and Rajasthan police worked with authorities in Dubai to arrest him and bring him back to India.

The California Police and the Indian authorities are now investigating Sunil Yadav's killing to find out more about how he was gunned down, years after fleeing India to the United States.

Yadav originally hailed from Abohar in Punjab's Fazilka district, He was once said to be close to Bishnoi (who was also born in Fazilka) and Godara.