Gurinderjit Singh Nagra, a Punjab police inspector, faces extradition to the United States due to an investigation involving federal agencies in the United States, Canada and Europe, according to US law enforcement officials and court records made public Tuesday.
This development came as part of Operation Hard Ball, a large-scale operation carried out by authorities in the US and Canada against organized crime networks operating from Punjab to California.
Read also | The United States may seek the extradition of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and two others
As part of the operation, US courts unsealed indictments against gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi, Jaggu Bhagwanpuria and Ravinder Singh Dhanda.
Who is Gurinderjeet Singh Nagra?
Nagra, station house officer (SHO) at Tanda station in Hoshiarpur, has been named in the investigation.
After reports emerged about his alleged role, the Punjab Police removed him from his field duties, transferred him to the police ranks and ordered a fact-finding investigation, as mentioned in a previous Hizb ut-Tahrir report.
The charges against Nagra are listed in a 44-page indictment filed June 25 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. US authorities published the document publicly on July 7.
The US authorities said they would strive to extradite Nagra to the United States. “This leader is not in custody yet, but he will be soon,” Al-Asili said.
Why is the United States seeking his extradition?
Police Inspector Nagra allegedly worked with members of Jaggu Bhagwanpuria gang and attempted to extort nearly $400,000 (approx. $3.81 crore) from a family living in the US by threatening to falsely implicate their relatives in Punjab in a murder case, US lawyer Bill Iseley said.
The indictment says that in April this year, Gurlal Singh, a 22-year-old illegal immigrant from India living in Stockton, California and an alleged member of the Bhagwanpuria syndicate, passed the identity and details of a California-based individual to Nagra as part of an extortion plan linked to a murder in Hoshiarpur.
On January 15, 2026, Balvinder Singh, a local Aam Aadmi Party leader and hardware store owner, was shot dead by three assailants in Miani village under Tanda sub-division of Hoshiarpur district. He was referred to as BS in the indictment.
The next day, gangsters Jashal Chambal and Gurlal Rudiana claimed responsibility for the killing through a social media post shared from Rudiana’s account.
The indictment alleges that Nagra called the target’s father on April 13 and threatened to frame the entire family, including the target’s sister, in the murder case. Three days later, on April 16, he allegedly demanded money and warned that all three family members would be named as accused if they refused to pay.
During a press conference on May 24, Nagra and Deputy Superintendent of Police Davinder Singh Bajwa announced the arrest of two alleged main shooters in the murder case, Gurman Singh and Swaraj Singh from Panj Garayan village in Gurdaspur.
The two officers said that the accused are linked to US-based gangster Gurlal Singh. They described the killing of Balvinder Singh as a hired killing and claimed that the shooters had been paid money $1.80 lakh for its implementation.
They also alleged that Balvinder Singh’s daughter was involved in a marital dispute with her husband Gurpreet Singh, who lives in California, and claimed that he planned the murder. The police later named Gurpreet, his father Charanjit Singh, a retired assistant police inspector, and his sister as accused in the case.
However, the US indictment says Gurpreet, along with his father and sister, were in fact the intended victim of the alleged extortion scheme.
At the same press conference on May 24, police accused the California-based family members of arranging the contract killing of Balvinder Singh.
The charge sheet further says that Nagra continued to put pressure on the family, especially Gurpreet’s sister. He allegedly offered to remove the names of two family members from the murder case if paid.
Al-Asili told reporters that Nagra’s final request was $400,000 (about $400,000). $3.81 Crores).
The indictment also says that between April 13 and June 5, Nagra attempted to acquire property in Los Angeles County.
