Gangster Bhupesh Chopra, also known as Ashish, died under mysterious circumstances after his health deteriorated inside a central jail in northern India's Punjab state, authorities said Wednesday.

Chopra, a resident of Ferozepur, had recently been transferred to the Hoshiarpur Central Jail. According to prison sources, he fell ill overnight and was transferred to a local civil hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival. However, hospital records indicate he was brought to the facility in the morning, raising questions over the timeline of events. His body has been placed in a local mortuary pending an autopsy.

Chopra was facing multiple criminal charges, including drug trafficking and murder. He was identified as the primary accused in a September 2024 triple murder in Ferozepur.

After fleeing the country to evade prosecution, Chopra was extradited from Central Asia and arrested by Indian authorities at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport in March following a coordinated operation with international security agencies.