US charges Lawrence Bishnoi, Goldy Brar over Nijjar killing; 24 held in multinational crackdown

U.S. authorities have charged jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and fugitive Goldy Brar with directing the 2023 killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, as part of a wider crackdown on India-linked transnational organised crime networks.

The charges were announced on Tuesday alongside the arrest of 24 people across the United States, Canada and Spain in an operation targeting three India-based organised crime groups, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.

Federal prosecutors said 37 defendants were charged in three indictments unsealed in Los Angeles. Authorities arrested 11 suspects in California and one each in Indiana and Georgia, while three were arrested in Canada and one in Spain. Seven others were already in custody.

A federal indictment alleges that Bishnoi ordered the assassination of Nijjar, identified in court documents as “H.S.N.”, outside a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, in June 2023.

Nijjar, a prominent advocate of Khalistan, was shot dead by masked gunmen. His killing triggered a diplomatic dispute between India and Canada after then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there were “credible allegations” linking Indian government agents to the murder. New Delhi has repeatedly rejected the allegations as baseless.

Nijjar headed the Khalistan Tiger Force, an organisation designated as a terrorist group in India.

U.S. prosecutors said the defendants face charges including racketeering, murder, extortion, drug trafficking and other organised crime offences. The indictments allege the criminal networks carried out targeted killings, shootings, kidnappings, human trafficking and narcotics smuggling, particularly affecting members of the Indian diaspora.

Authorities said the investigation, codenamed “Operation Hard Ball”, resulted in the seizure of about 1,000 kilograms of cocaine, one kilogram of heroin, approximately $40,000 in cash and a dozen firearms.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said 10 suspects remain at large, including seven believed to be in the United States, two in India and one in Europe.

Prosecutors alleged that Bishnoi directed a global criminal syndicate from prison, overseeing political assassinations, murders, extortion, kidnappings, drug trafficking and other crimes through associates operating across multiple countries.

Bishnoi is currently lodged in a jail in Ahmedabad and faces trial in multiple criminal cases in India.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Deputy Commissioner Lisa Moreland told CBC News that U.S. authorities would seek Bishnoi’s extradition from India.

Goldy Brar, whose real name is Satinderjeet Singh, remains absconding. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has announced a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to his arrest. Brar has been designated a terrorist under India’s Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said law enforcement agencies in the United States, Canada and Asia were committed to dismantling transnational criminal organisations wherever they operate.

FBI Director Kash Patel described the coordinated operation involving U.S., Canadian and other international agencies as “historic”, saying more than 30 people had been indicted in a single multinational operation.

India’s High Commissioner to Canada, Dinesh Patnaik, welcomed the arrests and charges, telling Canada’s The Globe and Mail that India had long urged North American countries to act against transnational criminal gangs.

Canadian police had arrested four Indian nationals in May 2024 in connection with Nijjar’s killing. In September 2024, Canadian authorities designated the Bishnoi group as a terrorist entity.