LOS ANGELES (The Thursday Times) — The United States has charged 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 separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. The charges are part of Operation Hard Ball, a sweeping international crackdown that resulted in 37 defendants charged across three indictments and 24 arrests across the United States, Canada and Europe.
The federal indictment, unsealed in Los Angeles on 7 July 2026, alleges that Bishnoi directed the operation from an Indian prison using smuggled mobile phones, while Brar handled operations in North America. Nijjar, a Canadian citizen and advocate of an independent Khalistan, was shot dead outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia on 18 June 2023. Of the 24 arrests, 13 were made in the United States, three in Canada, one in Spain and seven defendants were already in custody. Law enforcement is seeking 10 fugitives, two of them in India.
US prosecutors, following an investigation involving the FBI, have charged 37 people linked to India-based organised crime gangs with racketeering, extortion and drug trafficking.
— The Thursday Times (@thursday_times) July 8, 2026
One indictment alleges that Indian gang leaders Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar ordered the 2023… pic.twitter.com/9bEvzXMqtR
The killing plunged relations between Canada and India into crisis after Canadian authorities said they were investigating credible allegations of links between Indian government agents and Nijjar’s assassination. India rejected the accusation, while the case became one of the most serious diplomatic disputes between the two countries in years. The US indictment is the first time American federal prosecutors have directly charged anyone with ordering the killing.
The charges will renew scrutiny of the alleged use of criminal networks and proxy actors in operations targeting Sikh activists abroad. The case also adds to growing Western concern over transnational repression, particularly after US authorities previously alleged a separate plot to kill Sikh separatist figure Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil. Taken together, the cases raise difficult questions for Western capitals that have deepened strategic and economic ties with New Delhi while also facing pressure to respond to alleged threats against diaspora communities.
Canadian authorities had earlier arrested Indian nationals in connection with Nijjar’s killing, while investigations into possible wider links have continued. The latest US charges place the Bishnoi network at the centre of a broader crackdown on India-linked organised crime groups operating across North America and beyond. The Canadian government designated the Bishnoi enterprise as a terrorist entity in September 2025. As part of Operation Hard Ball, law enforcement seized approximately 1,000 kilograms of cocaine, 1 kilogram of heroin, $40,000 in cash and a dozen firearms across 34 search warrants executed in California alone.
