US Charges Indian Gang Leader Over 2023 Sikh Leader’s Murder in Canada

Lawrence Bishnoi, the incarcerated head of an Indian criminal gang, and his North American deputy, Satinderjeet Singh (also known as “Goldy Brar”), have been charged by the United States in connection with the 2023 murder of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. The federal indictment, unsealed in Los Angeles on June 18, alleges that Bishnoi ordered the shooting outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia, and provided a co-conspirator with a photograph and multiple addresses of Nijjar.

The indictment states that Bishnoi directed the operation from an Indian jail cell using smuggled cellphones. Singh, a childhood friend of Bishnoi, allegedly managed the North American operations of the “Lawrence Bishnoi Organized Crime Group.” The killing sparked a diplomatic crisis between Canada and India when then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canadian authorities were pursuing credible allegations linking Indian government agents to the murder.

New Delhi rejected these claims as absurd. The US indictment does not allege any involvement by the Indian government in Nijjar’s death. Bishnoi, who had campaigned for the creation of an independent Sikh homeland carved out of India and was designated a terrorist by New Delhi, is also targeted in this broader investigation involving 37 defendants tied to three India-based organized crime groups.

The indictment charges them with racketeering, extortion, and drug trafficking. Twenty-four individuals were arrested or already in custody as part of the operation. Canadian police have said they are probing whether the alleged shooters had ties to the Indian government. Relations between Ottawa and New Delhi have improved under Prime Minister Mark Carney, who visited India in February on his first official trip and opened talks on a trade deal expected to be completed by November.