India’s National Investigation Agency alleged in 2023 that gang leader Lawrence Bishnoi and 13 others were 'in contact with pro-Khalistani elements based in Canada, Nepal and other countries.'ANI/Supplied
Ottawa has listed India’s Bishnoi gang as a terrorist entity, a designation that means anything owned by that group in Canada, including property, vehicles and money, can be seized or frozen.
Canadian police have linked the notorious gang to elements of India’s intelligence services, and its new designation coincides with Ottawa and New Delhi’s attempts to repair fractured diplomatic relations. India has always denied any links to the group, which is known for acts of extortion, drug trafficking, violence and murder.
The Indian High Commission had no comment on Ottawa’s Monday announcement, which followed a Sept. 18 meeting between Prime Minister Mark Carney’s national security and intelligence adviser and her counterpart in New Delhi.
Who is Lawrence Bishnoi, the man at centre of row between India and Canada?
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and premiers David Eby of British Columbia and Danielle Smith of Alberta have long called on Ottawa to list the Bishnoi gang as a terrorist entity because of the fear it has created among Indo-Canadians.
In announcing the designation Monday, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said “specific communities have been targeted for terror, violence and intimidation by the Bishnoi gang. Listing this group of criminal terrorists gives us more powerful and effective tools to confront and put a stop to their crimes.”
Under the Criminal Code, it is an offence for anyone in Canada and Canadians abroad to knowingly deal with property owned or controlled by a terrorist group. It is also an offence to directly or indirectly provide property knowing that it will be used by or to benefit a terrorist group.
The Bishnoi gang is a transnational criminal organization operating primarily out of India, but it has tentacles in Canada.
In 2023, then-prime minister Justin Trudeau publicly accused the Indian government of playing a role in the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.ETHAN CAIRNS/The Canadian Press
Balpreet Singh, legal counsel for the World Sikh Organization, said Ottawa should have made clear that the gang has been used by agents of the Indian government to target its perceived enemies.
“The Bishnoi gang has been a key player in India’s campaign of transnational repression against the Sikh community in Canada,” he said.
“It is even more important that the true architects of this violence are held to account, and what that means for us is that the Bishnoi gang has operated at the direction of the Government of India. Those Indian officials, who have been directing or financing or facilitating those activities, they need to be exposed and sanctioned.”
A year after Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s death, mysteries remain about how he really lived
India’s National Investigation Agency alleged in 2023 that gang leader Lawrence Bishnoi – who has been jailed for years – and 13 others were “in contact with pro-Khalistani elements based in Canada, Nepal and other countries,” referring to the movement seeking to carve a Sikh homeland out of India. It offered no proof to back up that claim.
Canadian national security and intelligence adviser Nathalie Drouin recently met with her Indian counterpart, Ajit Doval, in New Delhi to re-establish lines of communication and co-operation on security and law-enforcement issues.
It is not known whether Ms. Drouin gave Mr. Doval a heads-up about Ottawa’s plans to list the gang as a terrorist entity.
Dan Stanton, a former senior manager at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, said he suspects “Canada probably gave New Delhi a heads-up about the listing as a quid pro quo for resetting the relationship with India.”
“While we regard Bishnoi as facilitators of state terrorism, the Indian government sees them as criminals and someone else’s problem,” he said. “I imagine the Indian government has thrown Bishnoi under the bus. Their operational security is weak, and they have been compromised.”
Mayor Patrick Brown of Brampton, Ont., a city with a large Indo-Canadian community, applauded the government’s move, something he had long advocated for.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney before a meeting at the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alta., June 17.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
“The Bishnoi gang is sophisticated, transnational and ruthless,” he said. “If law enforcement is to dismantle their networks, we must match – or exceed – that sophistication. This new designation gives police and security agencies the authority to follow their money, interdict recruitment and shut down transit and communication links that enable their operations.”
Mr. Eby also lauded the measure. “The Bishnoi Gang has terrorized people in our communities, using violence and extortion,” he said in a statement on X.
Canada and India have been working to repair relations after a significant diplomatic rupture in 2023, when then prime minister Justin Trudeau publicly accused the Indian government of playing a role in the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C., earlier that year.
Canada-India relations were further fractured in October, 2024, when the RCMP announced they had clear evidence that Indian government agents had been linked to homicides, extortion and other violent criminal activities in Canada. Ottawa followed up by expelling India’s high commissioner and five other diplomats.
It’s not clear, however, how the recent entente will alter New Delhi’s conduct in the investigation of Mr. Nijjar’s killing. The Indian government, which has denied any role in his death, has repeatedly said it has been given no evidence to support the allegations.
A year after Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s death, mysteries remain about how he really lived
Mr. Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, had been active in promoting the idea of turning the northern Indian state of Punjab into Khalistan, a separate Sikh homeland. India sees Khalistani separatists as a threat to its sovereignty and security.
Canadian authorities continue to investigate alleged transnational repression targeting Sikh activists in Canada, with four Indian nationals now facing charges in the Nijjar case.
Sikhs for Justice said Canada’s designation of the Bishnoi gang as a “terrorist entity” is a political deflection that masks the direct role of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in transnational repression.
“Assassinations and extortion are not the actions of a rogue gang – they are the actions of the Indian government, executed through its diplomats and consulates,” said SFJ general counsel Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who was the target of a botched assassination plot in 2023 in New York, orchestrated by a former Indian intelligence officer, according to the FBI.
Mr. Pannun accused Ottawa of playing down the Modi government’s role in the Bishnoi gang’s activities because Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand is travelling to India and wants to avoid any further confrontation.
With files from Laura Stone