US Charges Lawrence Bishnoi With Ordering Hardeep Nijjar's Killing

New Delhi: Jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi has been indicted in the United States for allegedly ordering the June 2023 assassination of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, marking the first time that the India-based gang have been criminally charged in connection with the killing that triggered an unprecedented diplomatic rupture between India and Canada.

The allegation forms part of three indictments unsealed on Tuesday (July 7) by the US Department of Justice as part of a coordinated international crackdown on India-based transnational organised crime networks. The operation, dubbed "Operation Hard Ball," involved law enforcement agencies of three jurisdictions, resulting in the arrest of 24 people across US, Canada and Spain, the execution of 42 search warrants in Southern and Eastern California, and charges against 37 defendants.

Latest indictment says Bishnoi, Goldy Brar, ordered assassination of Nijjar

According to the racketeering indictment, Bishnoi and his alleged North American lieutenant, Satinderjeet Singh alias Goldy Brar, "ordered the assassination" of Nijjar, identified in court papers by his initials "H.S.N." as "a prominent religious and political leader from the Punjab state of India who was living in British Columbia." The Indian government had designated Nijjar as a terrorist.

Bishnoi himself allegedly gave one of them, identified only as Co-Conspirator 1, a photograph of Nijjar along with multiple addresses linked to him to help carry out the killing. The document states that Co-Conspirator 1 and a second co-conspirator then shot and killed Nijjar as he was leaving the Guru Nanak Sikh gurdwara in Surrey on June 18, 2023.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Commissioner Mike Duheme, who took part in the announcement, was more direct about the case at the centre of it. In a separate statement issued by the RCMP, he said the three networks charged had been engaged in "extortions, drug trafficking, kidnapping and widespread violence – namely the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar – in Canada and the United States.”

Asked about Canada’s earlier allegations of Indian government involvement in the Nijjar murder, a senior RCMP official stressed that “there’s current people in Canada that are facing charges on that, so I can’t comment in relation to that investigation”, indicating that while the latest indictments do not allege any involvement by Indian government officials, the Nijjar murder case was on a separate track.

“There’s no evidence to suggest that through this organized crime investigation and the charges in the indictment laid forward, that Indian officials were charged or involved in this investigation,” RCMP deputy commissioner Lisa Moreland told a Canadian news channel. She added the Indian government had cooperated with the organised crime investigation that led to Tuesday’s charges but that nothing has come out in these indictments that would speak to what former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had to say in 2023 about Indian government agents being involved in the Nijjar murder.

'Ran a transnational criminal enterprise from his prison cell'

The indictment portrays Bishnoi as cultivating a public image of a "patriot", "nationalist" and "deeply religious individual" through social media and media interviews, which prosecutors allege he used to recruit members and associates to his syndicate in India, the United States and elsewhere. It further alleges the group recruited minors from impoverished parts of Punjab, a tactic prosecutors say was meant to reduce the sentencing exposure attached to violent crimes carried out on the enterprise's behalf.

Behind that public persona, prosecutors allege, Bishnoi directed a transnational criminal enterprise from his prison cell using contraband cellphones and internet-based communication devices. The indictment names the enterprise the Lawrence Bishnoi Organized Crime Group and identifies Brar as the North American leader, Rohit Godara as its Europe-based leader, and Sukhraj Singh Kang as a high-level lieutenant based in India.

With Brar at large, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said it was offering a reward of $50,000 for information leading to his arrest and extradition.

Three further defendants are identified only by aliases, Rajan Bhatti, Bhulwan and Sumit, along with two men named Kamal and Kestutis Bauza, who the indictment alleges collected extortion payments on the group's behalf.

The indictment brings a racketeering conspiracy charge against seven of the nine defendants, Bishnoi, Brar, Godara, Kang, Bhatti, Bhulwan and Sumit, under the US RICO statute.

All nine face a separate charge of conspiring to commit extortion under the Hobbs Act. Five of them, Kang, Bhatti, Godara, Bhulwan and Brar, face additional individual Hobbs Act counts stemming from the alleged extortion of an undercover law enforcement officer in Los Angeles, identified in the filing only as UC-1. Bishnoi, Brar and Kang face a further charge of conspiring to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine.

Indictment refers to murder of Sidhu Moosewala, threats to Salman Khan

According to the indictment, the enterprise routinely publicised its role in killings to build a reputation for violence it could exploit for extortion. It cites Brar and the group claiming responsibility, through a media interview and a Facebook post, for the May 29, 2022 murder of "S.S.S." in Mansa district of Punjab, a reference to Punjabi singer and rapper Sidhu Moosewala, whose killing Brar had already publicly claimed credit for at the time.

The indictment separately alleges that Bishnoi announced his intention to kill "S.K.", a reference to actor Salman Khan, on multiple occasions between 2022 and 2026. Khan has long faced threats from the Bishnoi gang traced back to a 1998 blackbuck poaching case.

US prosecutors had previously referenced Nijjar's killing in a separate murder-for-hire case involving Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. In an October 2024 superseding indictment, prosecutors alleged that the day after Nijjar was killed, accused Nikhil Gupta told an undercover US agent that Nijjar "was also the target" and that "we have so many targets," adding there was "now no need to wait" to kill Pannun.

That indictment further alleged that former Indian intelligence officer Vikas Yadav subsequently told Gupta that Pannun had become "priority now”. Gupta, who pleaded guilty, is awaiting sentencing in a New York court.

There is no mention in the latest US indictment of any involvement of Indian government officials, neither did the US officials mention it in the press conference.

In an interview to CBC News, RCMP deputy commissioner Lisa Moreland drew a distinction between the organised crime case announced on Tuesday and the separate Canadian investigation into Nijjar's killing.

'Nothing has come out today to link the Indian government'

Asked whether the new indictments shed any light on former prime minister Justin Trudeau's allegation that agents of the Indian government were linked to Nijjar's assassination, Moreland declined to comment on the ongoing Canadian investigation.

"There's current people in Canada that are facing charges on that, so I can't comment in relation to that investigation," she said.

Referring specifically to the organised crime case announced on Tuesday, however, she added that "there's no evidence to suggest that through this organised crime investigation and the charges in the indictment laid forward, that Indian officials were charged or involved in this investigation." She later reiterated that "nothing has come out today to link the Indian government."

Moreland also said that the Indian government had cooperated in the investigation, noting that RCMP investigators had worked "shoulder to shoulder" with the FBI and other agencies.

Nijjar's killing became an international diplomatic flashpoint in September 2023 when Trudeau told the Canadian parliament that security agencies were investigating "credible allegations" linking agents of the Indian government to the assassination. India rejected the allegation as "absurd", and there was a round of expulsions.

RCMP had earlier said it had evidence of Indian govt's link

A year later, relations deteriorated even further in October 2024 when RCMP alleged that investigators had evidence linking agents of the Indian government to homicides, extortion and intimidation in Canada, including the alleged use of organised crime groups such as the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.

At a press briefing, RCMP commissioner Duheme said at the time that investigators had "clear and compelling evidence" that Indian government agents were involved in serious criminal activity in Canada, including homicides, and alleged they had used organised crime groups to target members of the South Asian community. Assistant Commissioner Brigitte Gauvin said at the time that the RCMP believed the Bishnoi group were working in tandem with agents of the Government of India.

Canada expelled six Indian diplomats, including then high commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma, after New Delhi declined a Canadian request to waive diplomatic immunity so that RCMP investigators could question them. India responded by expelling six Canadian diplomats and withdrawing Verma, calling the Canadian allegations baseless.

At the same October 14, 2024 press conference, Duheme had said that senior Canadian officials, including national security and intelligence advisor Nathalie Drouin and deputy foreign minister David Morrison, had met officials of the government of India in Singapore two days earlier.

The Washington Post subsequently reported, citing unnamed Canadian officials, that India's national security adviser Ajit Doval had been the official present at the five-hour meeting. Those officials told the paper that Doval, after initially professing not to know who Bishnoi was, went on to acknowledge that the gangster was capable of orchestrating violence from his cell, while making clear India would deny any link to the killing regardless of the evidence presented.

Days later, then deputy foreign minister David Morrison told a Canadian parliamentary committee that he had personally confirmed to the Washington Post that home minister Amit Shah was the senior Indian official referenced in intercepted communications among the expelled diplomats.

Pro-Khalistan groups had accused Carney govt of downplaying Bishnoi gang's government links

At the same hearing, Drouin said "senior levels" of the Indian government directed "the commission of serious criminal activities against Indo-Canadians through the kinetic capabilities of the Lawrence Bishnoi organised crime network."

Since the first half of 2025 after Trudeau left office and Mark Carney took over as Canadian premier, there has been a steady pace in normalising of ties, with restoration of diplomatic personnel and high-level bilateral visits.

At the same time, Sikh pro-Khalistan groups accused Ottawa of downplaying the gang's alleged government links for the sake of the relationship.

The latest indictment also comes months after Canadian broadcaster Global News reported, citing an internal RCMP assessment obtained under Canada's Access to Information Act, that the Bishnoi gang had allegedly been "acting on behalf of the Indian government." India dismissed those reports and has consistently denied any involvement in criminal activities on Canadian soil.

In September 2025, Canadian government moved to formally designate the Bishnoi gang a terrorist entity under its Criminal Code in September 2025. The listing described the gang as generating "terror through extortion and intimidation" in areas with "significant diaspora communities" but did not itself mention the Indian government.

India welcomes crackdown, says official

There has been no official statement from the Indian side. However, an Indian government official told The Wire that India would welcome the crackdown, noting that New Delhi had long sought stronger action against organised criminal gangs.

The official said the Indian government's longstanding position was that Nijjar's killing stemmed from rivalry between criminal gangs rather than state involvement. "Nijjar was killed as an action between criminal gangs," he said, describing New Delhi's position.

The official added, however, that since the legal proceedings had only just begun, additional allegations could still emerge as the case progressed.

The indictment is built around a five-month undercover operation in Los Angeles in which an FBI agent posed as a debtor. Kang and Bhatti, followed by Brar, Godara, Bhulwan and Sumit, allegedly threatened the agent, referred to as UC-1, and negotiated payments over WhatsApp and Signal between January and May 2025. The filing quotes several of the alleged threats, including Bhatti warning in Punjabi that "if you don't give me the money, I'll kill you," and Brar telling UC-1 he would "get the Mexicans to cut your ears." The operation ended with two payments, of $20,000 and $15,000, collected in Los Angeles-area parking lots by Kamal and Bauza, according to the indictment.

The court document also accuses Bishnoi, Brar and Kang of overseeing narcotics shipments across the United States, including about 49 kilograms of cocaine moved through Fontana, California in November 2024 for transport toward the Canadian border. It further alleges the group stole large quantities of drugs from rival trafficking organisations in the Los Angeles area, including roughly 220 kilograms of cocaine in March 2024 and about 500 kilograms of methamphetamine in April 2024.

US authorities intend to extradite Bishnoi

The Justice Department said 13 defendants were arrested in the United States, three in Canada and one in Spain, while seven were already in custody. Authorities said they are seeking 10 remaining fugitives, including two believed to be in India. Bishnoi, who is lodged in an Indian prison, is among those whom US authorities intend to extradite.

While the United States is expected to seek Bishnoi's extradition, Indian law bars extradition while a person faces ongoing prosecution in the country.

The other two indictments target rival India-based organised crime groups led by jailed gangster Jaggu Bhagwanpuria and Canada-based drug trafficker Ravinder Singh Dhanda. Prosecutors allege the Bhagwanpuria enterprise engaged in murder-for-hire, drug trafficking, kidnappings, extortion and weapons trafficking across several countries, while also corrupting law enforcement officials in India to target rivals and extort victims.

The third indictment accuses Dhanda and his associates of operating a cross-border drug trafficking network that smuggled hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine from Southern California into Canada.

It further alleges that one member of the network gathered information on the timing and location of border inspections from an employee of the Canada Border Services Agency to assist the smuggling operation.

Dhanda and two co-accused, Jaskarn Baghri and Gurtej Singh Smagh, were arrested in British Columbia and appeared before the provincial Supreme Court on Tuesday, where a judge imposed a publication ban on arguments made during their extradition hearing.

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