United States authorities have charged imprisoned Indian gang leader Lawrence Bishnoi and his alleged North American deputy Satinderjeet Singh over the 2023 killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada.
The federal indictment, unsealed in Los Angeles on Tuesday, alleges that Bishnoi and Goldy Brar directed the fatal shooting of Nijjar outside a Sikh temple in Surrey on June 18, 2023.
According to prosecutors, Bishnoi, 33, allegedly continued to direct his criminal network from prison in India’s Punjab state. The indictment accuses him of overseeing a wide range of criminal activities, including political assassinations, murders, extortion, kidnappings, drug trafficking, human smuggling, and organized crime operations spanning multiple countries. Canadian authorities have designated his organization as a terrorist enterprise.
Nijjar, a Canadian citizen and prominent supporter of the Khalistan movement, was shot dead outside a Sikh temple in Surrey. His killing triggered a major diplomatic dispute between Canada and India.
US officials said the indictment forms part of a broader international operation targeting transnational organized crime groups. The coordinated investigation, involving law enforcement agencies from the United States, Canada, and Europe, resulted in 24 arrests and numerous criminal charges linked to racketeering, targeted killings, extortion, drug trafficking, and other serious offences.
Authorities said dozens of individuals have been charged during the wider operation, with all but ten currently in custody.
The indictment also names imprisoned gangster Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, who authorities describe as a former associate and later rival of Bishnoi. Prosecutors allege Bhagwanpuria led a separate criminal organization with more than 1,000 members operating across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.
He and 16 co-defendants face charges including murder-for-hire, drug trafficking, kidnapping, extortion, and weapons trafficking.
In a separate case linked to the operation, Ravinder Singh Dhanda of Vancouver was among 11 people charged in an alleged drug smuggling network accused of importing large quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine from the United States into Canada.
Commenting on the operation, First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli said transnational criminal organizations responsible for spreading violence, drugs, and fear would face the full force of federal law enforcement.
Patrick Grandy, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, said the coordinated crackdown targeted three violent transnational criminal organizations allegedly responsible for serious crimes in North America and beyond.
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