24 arrested globally in Nijjar murder case and India-linked crime crackdown
The U.S. Justice Department charged 37 suspects tied to India-based gangs, including the 2023 murder of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C.
Global sweep charges 37 in Nijjar killing and transnational crime network
The U.S. Justice Department announced Tuesday that 24 suspects have been arrested across multiple countries — three of them in Canada — in connection with crimes carried out by India-based organized crime groups, including the June 2023 assassination of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia. Google News CA — Crime (EN) reports that the operation, dubbed "Operation Hard Ball," also resulted in the seizure of approximately 1,000 kilograms of cocaine and a dozen firearms.
An indictment naming a total of 37 suspects alleges that high-profile violent acts were used to terrorize and extort members of Indian diaspora communities. Imprisoned Indian gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and his alleged lieutenant Satinderjeet Singh, known as Goldy Brar, are charged with ordering Nijjar's killing.
In November 2023, Bishnoi claimed responsibility for a separate shooting at the Vancouver home of a prominent Indian actor and singer. In a Facebook post written in Punjabi, he warned: "No one can save you from us."
The Bishnoi gang is alleged to have funded its activities through drug trafficking. In November 2024, Bishnoi and Brar are accused of overseeing the transport of 49 kilograms of cocaine intercepted in California that was intended for Canada.
A second alleged operation involved 11 suspects charged with smuggling hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine each week from the United States into Canada. Ravinder Singh Dhanda of Vancouver, Jaskarn Baghr of Surrey, B.C., and Gurtej Singh Smagh of Creston, B.C., along with eight others, face eight charges related to that alleged network.
Seventeen members of a third crime group — operated by another imprisoned Indian gangster, Jaggu Bhagwanpuria — were also charged as part of the same sweep.
RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme, speaking at a news conference in Los Angeles, said the investigation had "dismantled the leadership of three criminal organizations that inflicted pain and cruelty on people, victims around the globe." He described Bishnoi, Dhanda, and Bhagwanpuria as "some of the most cruel and wide-reaching criminals whose crimes range from kidnapping to extortion, to murder, to shootings, to arson, to drug trafficking, and many others."
Patrick Grandy, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles field office, said the operation "strikes at the heart of three brutal transnational organizations that have terrorized families, exploited communities, and stolen lives." First assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli added that authorities in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Asia "are determined to target and dismantle these criminal organizations wherever they operate," stating: "There is no safe harbour for these thugs."
Police are still searching for 10 fugitives — seven in the United States, two in India, and one in Europe.
Four Indian nationals were charged in May 2024 with murder and conspiracy to commit murder in connection with Nijjar's killing, a case now before the B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster.
Nijjar was a vocal supporter of Khalistan, an independent Sikh state. His supporters have long maintained that the Indian government was involved in his death. In September 2023, then prime minister Justin Trudeau stated in the House of Commons that credible intelligence linked the Indian government to the killing. Canada subsequently designated the Bishnoi group as a terrorist entity.
The U.S. Department of Justice said Bishnoi used social media posts and interviews to portray himself as a "patriot," "nationalist," and deeply religious individual — an image he allegedly deployed to recruit members. His indictment references Nijjar by initials only, while describing the exact date and known circumstances of the killing.
Source: Google News CA — Crime (EN)