Mumbai has seen a string of high-profile attacks linked to gangster Anmol Bishnoi, from the 2024 attack on actor Salman Khan’s Bandra home to the murder of former minister and NCP leader Baba Siddique months later. Yet the Mumbai Police has only now, for the first time, sought the Centre’s intervention to access him, sources familiar with the matter said.The request, sent to the Maharashtra government last week, seeks the Union Home Ministry’s intervention for a temporary withdrawal or relaxation of a December 5, 2025 order that bars Anmol from being moved out of Delhi’s Tihar Jail. It comes as the trial against the other accused in the Siddique murder is set to begin.The police have named Anmol as a wanted accused and the alleged mastermind of Siddique’s killing, and have said the 27 accused arrested so far worked on his instructions. Yet it has told the special court that it has not questioned him.The request follows months of pressure from the special court. It also comes days after the October 18 firing incident involving actor Tiger Shroff in Juhu, in which an alleged overseas operative linked to the Bishnoi brothers has been named as the main accused.The order keeping Anmol in TiharAnmol was deported from the United States and arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on November 19, 2025. The order restricting his movement was issued weeks later under Section 303 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and bars him from being removed from prison while it remains in force.Also Read | Tiger Shroff firing: Why the 11 accused are unlikely to get bail soonUnder Section 303, the government can direct that a person or class of persons not be removed from the prison where they are detained. The grounds include the nature of the offence, the possibility of a disturbance of public order if the person is moved, and public interest.While such an order is in force, no court can direct the production of the accused. An agency can question him only within the jail premises, and only with a court order. Investigating agencies argue this is limiting, since only one or two officials may be allowed to question the person for a few hours, and other accused cannot be brought in. A Delhi court has already rejected a production warrant for Anmol, citing the same order.Story continues below this adA similar order is in force for his elder brother, gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who is lodged in Sabarmati Jail in Gujarat. It was first issued in August 2023 and has been extended every year since.How the court pressed the policeThe issue has repeatedly come up before the special court. In July, Siddique’s wife, Shehzeen, through her lawyers Pradeep Gharat and Trivenkumar Karnani, sought directions for the police to secure Anmol’s custody and question him about the motive behind the murder.Special Judge S R Navander questioned the police over its failure to take steps to secure the presence of a wanted accused who was already in custody. In August, the court issued a showcause notice to the investigating officer. The police replied that the Union government’s order had created a “legal embargo” on obtaining his physical custody, making effective investigation difficult, and that it had therefore not questioned him.On October 21, the court again directed the police to submit details of its efforts to secure the presence of the principal accused. On Wednesday, the police submitted a confidential report, and the matter was adjourned to next week.Story continues below this adThe Bishnoi backdropSiddique was shot dead outside the office of his son, former MLA Zeeshan Siddique, in Bandra East on October 12, 2024. The police has alleged that the killing was carried out by members of the Bishnoi gang.In the Salman Khan case, Anmol has himself sought to surrender and join the judicial proceedings. The plea is yet to be decided.Neither Anmol nor Lawrence has been named as an accused in the Tiger Shroff case, in which Anil Pandit is the main accused. The incident triggered a political controversy, with Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray accusing the state government of failing to prevent such attacks and challenging it to bring Lawrence Bishnoi to Maharashtra.Courts have dealt with such orders before. In 2013, the Maharashtra government invoked a similar provision to restrict the production of Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, an accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks case. The Bombay High Court refused to quash the order but allowed Ansari to attend the trial through a video link from jail.