Bill Essayli, an attorney for the United States in California, speaks on Tuesday in Los Angeles as U.S. and Canadian officials announce dozens of alleged members of a transnational organized crime group have been charged and arrested.David Swanson/Reuters
Authorities in Canada, the United States and Europe have arrested and charged dozens of alleged members of India-based transnational crime syndicates, some of which the U.S. Attorney-General said in court documents played key roles in the 2023 slaying of Canadian Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
A recently unsealed indictment alleges Indian criminal gang leader Lawrence Bishnoi and his North American lieutenant Satinderjeet Singh, also known as Goldy Brar, “ordered the assassination” of Mr. Nijjar on June 18, 2023, in Surrey, B.C. Mr. Nijjar is referred to as “H.S.N.” in the document, which was filed in a U.S. court on July 1.
The assassination allegation has been reported by Canadian and U.S. media before, but this is the first time it has moved to a formal U.S. federal grand jury charging document.
Officials at a Los Angeles press conference said they are seeking the extradition of Mr. Bishnoi, who operates from jail in India, and others to the United States.
RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme was on hand for the Los Angeles press conference where the FBI and local police revealed details of what they call “Operation Hard Ball,” a multi-year federal investigation into Indian crime organizations that engage in racketeering, killings, shootings, extortion, drug trafficking and other crimes around the world whose impact is particularly felt by the Indian diaspora.
The indictment is silent on the grander theory advanced by former prime minister Justin Trudeau: that agents of the Indian government were behind the killing of Mr. Nijjar, a Canadian who campaigned for a separate state for Sikhs to be carved out of India.
In total, 37 defendants – including two defendants who ran their global criminal syndicates while imprisoned in India – are charged across three indictments unsealed today.
Those arrested in the United States – 11 in California, one in Indiana, and one in Georgia – are expected to make their initial appearances Monday in federal court, the U.S. Attorney-General’s office said.
Three defendants have been arrested in Canada, one defendant was arrested in Spain, and seven defendants were already in custody prior to today’s law enforcement operation.
Commissioner Duheme in a statement lauded the charges “against the leaders of three global organized crime networks: Lawrence Bishnoi, Ravinder Dhanda and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria.”
He said groups have been engaged in extortions, drug trafficking, kidnapping and “widespread violence – namely the killing of Mr. Hardeep Singh Nijjar – in Canada and the United States."
He called the arrests and charges “a big moment for the RCMP and for public safety in Canada, the United States and around the world,” calling it a successful case of “meeting criminals where they operate, targeting the leadership structures of these criminal groups, and ending their ability to terrorize and extort people.”