A federal indictment unsealed in Los Angeles charges Lawrence Bishnoi, the imprisoned head of an Indian criminal gang, and his North American deputy Satinderjeet Singh, also known as "Goldy Brar", with directing the 2023 murder of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. The killing, which occurred outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18, 2023, plunged relations between Ottawa and New Delhi into crisis.
Details of the Indictment
The indictment alleges that Bishnoi ordered the shooting from an Indian jail cell using smuggled cellphones. He allegedly provided a co-conspirator with a photograph and multiple addresses of Nijjar to facilitate the killing. Singh, a childhood friend of Bishnoi, is accused of directing the North American operations of the Lawrence Bishnoi Organised Crime Group. The indictment does not name the alleged shooters as defendants, referring to them only as co-conspirators.
Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, had campaigned for the creation of Khalistan, an independent Sikh homeland carved out of India, and had been designated a terrorist by New Delhi.
Broader Investigation and Charges
The charges against Bishnoi and Singh are part of a broader investigation by US and Canadian authorities. According to officials, 37 defendants tied to three India-based organised crime groups have been charged with racketeering, extortion, and drug trafficking. Of these, 24 were arrested or are already in custody.
Canadian police in May 2024 arrested and charged four Indian nationals over Nijjar's killing. They have stated they are probing whether the men had ties to the Indian government. The US indictment does not allege any Indian government role in the killing.
Diplomatic Fallout and Recent Developments
Nijjar's killing triggered a diplomatic crisis after then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said months later that Canadian authorities were "actively pursuing credible allegations" linking Indian government agents to the murder. New Delhi rejected the claim as absurd. Neither First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli nor any other official at a press conference in Los Angeles alleged that the Indian government was involved in or aware of the killing.
Relations between Ottawa and New Delhi have thawed under Canadian 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. His approach has drawn criticism from some Sikh groups, who accuse Ottawa of failing to hold India accountable or safeguard Sikh Canadians from foreign interference and transnational repression.
