US Department of Justice says Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldie Brar are accused of killing Hardeep Singh Nigar (Image/ANI)
TOI correspondent from Washington: US federal prosecutors have charged jailed Indian gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and his close associate Satyinderjit Singh, alias Goldie Brar, with ordering the assassination of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nigar in Canada, but neither the indictment nor US officials accuse the Indian government or any Indian official of directing, facilitating or participating in the killing as Justin Trudeau’s Canadian government did.This distinction is important because Najjar’s killing in June 2023 precipitated one of the worst diplomatic crises in Indo-Canadian relations after then Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau told Parliament that Canadian security agencies were pursuing “credible allegations” of a possible link between Indian government agents and the assassination. India has strongly denied the allegations and termed them “ridiculous” and politically motivated, suggesting that he was appeasing his Khalistani supporters.
Instead, the newly unsealed US indictment puts organized crime figures at the heart of the killing.Najjar, a Canadian citizen and prominent advocate for Khalistan, was shot to death outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18, 2023. According to the federal indictment, Bishnoi and Brar ordered the assassination of Najar, provided his photo and multiple addresses, and ordered members of their criminal enterprise to carry out the killing.
The charges were announced as part of “Operation Hardball,” which the US Department of Justice described as the largest action ever against transnational organized crime networks based in India. In all, 37 people have been charged in three federal indictments involving criminal organizations accused of murder, contract killings, racketeering, drug trafficking, arms trafficking, kidnapping, money laundering and human trafficking across North America, Europe and Asia.The indictment depicts Bishnoi, 33, as the head of a sprawling criminal organization that allegedly continued to operate globally despite his imprisonment in India. According to the Ministry of Justice, Bishnoi has built an image as a “patriotic,” “nationalist,” and “deeply religious” individual through social media and media interviews.“In secret, Bishnoi presided over a sweeping criminal enterprise that spanned several continents,” the ministry said in a statement.
Using smuggled cell phones and Internet communication devices allegedly smuggled into his cell, Bishnoi personally directed “political assassinations, murders, shootings, extortion, kidnapping, drug trafficking, human smuggling and other crimes committed by members and associates of the Bishnoi Project around the world,” prosecutors alleged.Brar, who is originally from Punjab and is believed to be working in North America, was described in the indictment as the main commander of Bishnoi operations in the region.
The FBI issued a federal warrant for Brar and announced a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to his arrest. Canadian police officials said the United States intends to request Bishnoi’s extradition from India. “He’s not in custody yet, but he will be soon.
Bill Iseley, First Assistant US Attorney General, told reporters: “We have charged him and will extradite him to the United States.”At the same press conference, US officials openly questioned how some organized crime leaders were able to continue to run international criminal enterprises while in prison.
“Some of these criminals are in prison cells in India. This is clearly not enough to curb their activities. When they come to a federal prison in the US, they will not exploit anyone,” an official said. The comments stopped short of alleging complicity by Indian authorities, but implied concern about the freedom with which some alleged gang members were able to operate from prison.The US accusations have generated sharply different interpretations between India’s supporters and activists in Khalistan.
Supporters of the Indian government’s position claim that the indictment effectively exonerates New Delhi because American investigators, despite an extensive international investigation involving the FBI, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and other agencies, did not accuse India or Indian officials of involvement in Najjar’s killing.Some Indian supporters have also argued that gangs like the Bishnoi network operate independently and often intertwine with criminal and political factions within sectors of the Sikh diaspora abroad, including individuals and groups associated with the Khalistan movement. Others have suggested that the murder may have been caused by organized crime rivalries, rivalries for influence in the gurdwara, or disputes linked to the Punjabi criminal underworld and cross-border drug trafficking. The indictment itself does not specify a motive beyond the allegation that Najjar’s killing was ordered by the Bishnoi Foundation.Advocacy groups in Khalistan reject the suggestion that the indictment exonerates the Indian authorities.
Gurpatwant Singh Bannun, general counsel for the US-based group Sikhs for Justice, said the charges against Bishnoi and Brar should be viewed alongside a separate US trial involving former Indian intelligence officer Vikash Yadav, who has been charged in connection with an alleged murder-for-hire plot targeting Bannun in New York.
“The indictment against Bishnoi cannot be viewed in isolation,” Bannon said. “The chain of evidence leads directly to the highest levels of the Indian government.”
India has consistently denied such accusations and repeatedly rejected the accusations of SFJ and other activists in Khalistan.Beyond the killing of Al-Najjar, Operation Hard Ball uncovered what US authorities described as widespread criminal activity across national borders. Investigators confiscated approximately 1,000 kilograms of cocaine, one kilogram of heroin, money and firearms. Prosecutors alleged that the criminal organizations made millions of dollars through drug trafficking and extortion schemes targeting members of the Indian diaspora in North America.But for India and Canada, the immediate significance of the US indictment lies not so much in its organized crime allegations as in its legal framing of Najjar’s killing. Nearly three years after the assassination sparked a diplomatic crisis, the US case puts alleged gangsters – not governments – in the dock, while leaving unresolved the broader political dispute over whether any government actor also played a role.
