ISLAMABAD: The US Department of Justice has announced a series of indictments targeting India-based transnational organized crime networks, charging prominent Indian gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and his close associate Satinderjeet “Goldy Brar” Singh with orchestrating the 2023 assassination of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada.

The landmark development was announced by federal prosecutors in Los Angeles following a major international law enforcement crackdown codenamed “Operation Hardball.”

The years-long joint operation, executed by law enforcement agencies across the US, Canada, and Europe, targeted three India-based organized crime groups engaged in targeted killings, extortion, human smuggling, arms dealing, and international drug trafficking.

According to the US Department of Justice, a total of 37 defendants have been charged across three indictments. Out of these, law enforcement agencies have arrested 24 suspects across the United States, Canada, and Spain, while 10 defendants remain at large.

Eleven (11) arrests were made in the state of California alone. The FBI has announced a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest of Satinderjeet Singh, alias Goldy Brar, who remains at large.

During the investigation, authorities seized approximately 1,000 kg of cocaine, 1 kg of heroin, $40,000 in cash, and a dozen firearms.

“Transnational criminal gangs who spread fear, drugs, and violence will face the full force of justice and the weight of the federal government,” stated First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli.

Hardip Singh Nijjar, 45, a prominent Sikh separatist leader who publicly campaigned for “Khalistan”—an independent Sikh homeland in the Punjab region of India—was shot dead three years ago by two masked gunmen in the busy car park of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia.

The killing triggered a massive diplomatic row between Canada and India. In 2024, four Indian nationals were arrested and charged over the killing in Canada, where they currently await trial.

Last year, Canada formally designated the Bishnoi gang as a terrorist entity, freezing its financial assets.

Federal prosecutors have now explicitly charged the leader of the Lawrence Bishnoi Group and Goldy Brar with ordering the assassination of Nijjar. The indictment reveals that the plot was facilitated by providing co-conspirators with Nijjar’s photograph and multiple addresses to execute the targeted killing.

US prosecutors highlighted a deeply concerning trend, alleging that the leadership of these brutal transnational networks operates directly from within the Indian prison system.

Lawrence Bishnoi (33) has been imprisoned in India since 2015 and is currently held in Ahmedabad Jail. Another gang leader Jaggu Bhagwanpuria is running a parallel global syndicate while currently incarcerated in Assam, India. The US Justice Department stated that despite being behind bars, they have been utilizing contraband smuggled cellphones and voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) devices to directly issue commands for political assassinations, murders, shootings, extortions, and drug trafficking across the globe.

The indictment also outlined the operations of the Dhanda Network, which has been actively smuggling cocaine and methamphetamine from the United States into Canada.

Two associates, Jaskaran Bagri and Gurtej Singh Samra, have been charged with transporting, smuggling, and distributing narcotics alongside the Dhanda network.

The documents state that these India-linked criminal networks targeted prominent religious and political leaders with violence to extort millions from diaspora communities. In December and January, the Bishnoi gang attempted to extort $5 million from a victim residing in California.

US authorities emphasized that this criminal command system operating out of Indian jails poses a severe threat to Western security and the rule of law.

The US is currently investigating the group’s exploitation of American communication networks, financial pathways, and logistics routes.

Political and security experts monitoring the developments noted that the comprehensive findings of the US Justice Department have raised serious questions about India’s security credibility and international standing.

Experts underlined that the operation effectively exposes a “corrupt system” within India that acts as a facilitator for global gangsters, where police and government officials are allegedly linked to international extortion and transnational crime.

“India, which frequently lectures other nations on terrorism, must now answer for this highly dangerous crime-terror nexus operating right from its own soil,” remarked a political analyst.

Legal and political experts viewed that the comprehensive operation by Western law enforcement has severely dented India’s security image, exposing deep double standards. They emphasize that it is absolutely imperative for India to carry out transparent, independent investigations into the role of its prison administrations, police, and administrative facilitators, while offering full judicial cooperation to the ongoing legal processes in the US and Canada.