The United States Department of Justice (DoJ) said on Wednesday (July 8, 2026) that jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and his associate Satinderjeet Singh, alias Goldy Brar, ordered the June 18, 2023, assassination of pro-Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.
The murder strained the diplomatic relations between India and Canada, with the Canadian government of then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleging the involvement of “agents of the Indian government” and designating Indian diplomats as “persons of interest” in the investigation.
Though there was no statement from the External Affairs Ministry or the Union Home Ministry, Bill Essayli, first assistant, U.S. attorney, told a press conference that the “Indian authorities have been very cooperative and India is happy with today’s operations.”
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is conducting a parallel investigation into South Asian organised crime, the DoJ said. The investigations of Operation Hard Ball – in which 37 accused, including a serving Punjab Police inspector, were charged by the DoJ on Wednesday – were jointly conducted by law enforcement in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, and “is the result of a years-long federal investigation”, it said..
The U.S. indictment identified Nijjar as “H.S.N.”, and the DoJ referred to him as a “prominent Indian political and religious figure”. India had designated Nijjar a terrorist in 2020. DoJ said the killing was carried out by gunmen outside a gurdwara.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has declared a $50,000 reward for Brar’s arrest and extradition. Bishnoi, currently at Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad, and others have been charged with racketeering, targeted killings, shootings, extortion, trafficking of narcotics across international borders, and other crimes around the world whose impact is especially felt in the Indian diaspora.
The DoJ said 24 defendants, connected to the three India-based transnational organised crime groups charged with a litany of criminal acts, have been arrested in the U.S., Canada, and Spain. Law enforcement is looking for 10 fugitives – seven in the U.S., two in India, and one in Europe, they said.
“These guys were not only a problem here but also in India… Some of them are already in jail in India, but obviously that’s not enough to restrain their activities, and when they come here (after extradition), I guarantee he won’t be extorting any more from victims as he will be in custody for a very long time,” Mr. Essayli said.
The police officer charged was identified as Gurinderjit Singh by Mr. Essayli. He said the officer “is not in custody yet but he will be shortly.” “We have charged him and we will extradite him to the U.S.,” he said.
Mr. Singh, posted as station house officer at Tanda in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur, is accused of working closely with gangster Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, who is imprisoned in Punjab. Following the reports, Mr. Singh was shifted to Police Lines and an inquiry has been ordered against him, the Punjab Police said.
Mr. Essayli said the police officer extorted approximately $400,000 from a family in Los Angeles.
Bhagwanpuria is an associate-turned-rival of Bishnoi and founded his own criminal enterprise in Punjab, the DoJ said. His gang operates as a transnational criminal syndicate headquartered in India with members across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. The group includes more than 1,000 members and associates worldwide, with over 100 in the U.S.
“To expand its power, this group corrupted law enforcement officers in India and partnered with corrupt government officials, including to assist in extortion schemes. It also provided false information to law enforcement officers in India regarding alleged crimes,” the DoJ said.
The Bhagwanpuria group used this “false information” to target perceived rivals and individuals whom members believed were cooperating with law enforcement agencies. This triggered baseless criminal proceedings and extortion plots by “corrupt” Indian law enforcement officers against rivals, the DoJ said.
Elaborating on Mr. Singh’s role, the DoJ said that in April 2026, a Stockton-based (California) member of the Bhagwanpuria syndicate, Gurlal Singh, threatened a victim and then provided the victim’s name to a “corrupt law enforcement officer” in Punjab.
“This ultimately led to the victim, the victim’s father, and the victim’s sister being falsely accused of the January 2026 murder of a victim in India identified in court documents as B.S. It also led to the corrupt law enforcement officer in India extorting the victim and the victim’s father in connection with that pending murder case,” it said.
A separate member of the Bhagwanpuria syndicate, Gurdev Singh, is alleged to have attempted to extort a family living in the Midwest while he was being held in ICE custody, including by threatening to “put bullets in your kids.”
“Today’s coordinated operation strikes at the heart of three brutal transnational organisations that have terrorised families, exploited communities, and stolen lives through ruthless acts of violence in the U.S. and abroad,” said Patrick Grandy, assistant director in-charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.
As part of this investigation, law enforcement has seized approximately 1,000 kilograms of cocaine and one kilogram of heroin, along with $40,000 in cash and a dozen firearms. A total of 23 search warrants have been executed in the Sacramento area and 11 warrants have been executed in the Los Angeles area.
Ravinder Singh Dhanda a.k.a. Randy, Rolex, and John Wick, of Vancouver, Canada; Jaskarn Baghri a.k.a. Baba of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada; Gurtej Singh Smagh a.k.a. Simba of Creston, British Columbia; and eight other defendants were charged in a June 23 indictment which alleged that they smuggled and distributed hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine from the U.S. into Canada. Prosecutors alleged that Dhanda ran a cross-border drug-smuggling network serving trafficking groups in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
