Canadians appear in court after crackdown on India-based organized crime groups

deuce dozen arrested in India-based unionized criminal offense gang up crackdown, officials say

Bishnoi gang tied to killing of Sikh leader in Canada: U.S. Official

Why Canada put the Bishnoi Gang on its terrorist list

Man killed in Surrey, B.C., is alleged top Bishnoi gang member, the fifth estate reveals

Surrey extortionist told police Bishnoi contractor paid $3K for fiery attack

Who was Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the man India is accused of killing?

Crowds gather at the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, B.C., after fatal shooting

Ravinder Singh Dhanda, Jaskarn Baghri and Gurtej Singh Smagh are all in custody. Dhanda is from Vancouver, Baghri is from Surrey and Smagh is from Creston, a town in southeastern B.C. 

At an unrelated news conference earlier today, B.C.'s Attorney General Niki Sharma responded to questions about the international operation.

She declined to share details on the Canadian involvement in the case, but said it was the province that called on the federal government in 2025 to designate the Bishnoi gang as a terrorist organization.

"That gives a whole bunch of added powers to our law enforcement to go after them," she said.

"And certainly, we as a province have seen the violence that they've inflicted on our people."

Surrey extortionist told police Bishnoi contractor paid $3K for fiery attack

B.C. Extortionist told police Bishnoi contractor paid $3K for fiery attack

The rivalry between these factions has become an issue in Canada, from what we've heard from police testifying at a recent immigration hearing. This has added new levels of inter-gang violence to an already volatile situation involving extortion, weapons and arson.

The primary way Canadian authorities appear to have been cracking down is through deportations, because inadmissibility determinations have a much lower bar for proof than criminal proceedings: reasonable grounds to believe, rather than beyond a reasonable doubt. 

The last indictment refers to a rival gang to Bishnoi's run by Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, who has also been in an Indian jail cell while allegedly overseeing a criminal gang carrying out drug trafficking, murder, extortion and a multitude of other crimes.

The indictment says Bhagwanpuria has 1,000 associates worldwide. But the only mention of a crime involving Canada is from this past February, when he allegedly provided a phone number to facilitate the movement of "20 kilograms of cocaine to a member or associate of the Bhagwanpuria OCG [organized crime group] for transportation from Los Angeles to Vancouver." 

The indictment against the alleged members of the Dhanda drug smuggling network also says that one of the accused was gathering information "related to the timing and location of border inspections and other enforcement actions from an individual working for the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) to assist with smuggling cocaine and methamphetamine across the U.S.-Canada border."

We've been given no indication at this point as to whether that individual has been charged, but Canadian authorities will certainly be interested in any alleged collusion or corruption related to these crime syndicates. 

As for the other two indictments, it's hard to tell whether or not this was one massive investigation, or the convergence of three investigations that all happened to feature Indian nationals operating in the United States and Canada. 

The Dhanda indictment involves three B.C. Residents who were allegedly part of a "drug distribution network that provided international smuggling services for bulk quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine to drug trafficking organizations in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico." 

In July 2023, according to the indictment, two of them allegedly met in Peace Arch park in Blaine, Wash., to "co-ordinate logistics for transporting future loads of cocaine and methamphetamine to the U.S.-Canada border, and for smuggling those drug loads across the U.S.-Canada border." 

The trio allegedly ran this network for several years, meeting in Surrey, B.C., in January 2025 to co-ordinate logistics for smuggling future loads of cocaine and methamphetamine out of the United States and into Canada. Dhanda, the Canadian trafficking boss, allegedly told the others he intended to start a new "cartel."

The indictment also cites multiple threats and a demand for $500,000 from a resident of Brampton, Ont., — one of the other cities, along with Edmonton, that has seen a plague of extortions, shootings and arsons connected to the Bishnoi and other rival gangs in the past few years.

We know from immigration proceedings that the Bishnoi foot soldiers have moved between provinces, carrying out attacks, moving weapons and engaging in widespread auto fraud.

The indictment also accuses Bishnoi and Brar in a shooting at the Vancouver home of a popular Indian actor and singer named R.G. In November 2024. Reports from that time match a shooting at the home of Rupinder (Gippy) Grewal. According to the indictment, Brar contacted a number used by R.G. And R.G.'s manager and demanded money.

"You can ignore my message, you will not be able to ignore the bullets coming your way," it read.

Court documents also cite another incident last summer in which the owner of an immigration company in Surrey, B.C., was allegedly contacted by Brar and told, "It's your turn to file your taxes," and "get $500,000 ready, if you ignore me then I'm happy to kill you."

A month later, Brar allegedly told him, "my promise to you is that you will not die of natural causes, I promise that you will also die by a bullet, understood…. You will die because of your dog-like tongue," and "your family will suffer."

Who was Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the man India is accused of killing?

Hardeep Singh Nijjar was a pro-Khalistan activist and the president of a Sikh temple in Surrey, B.C. His day job was working as a plumber. For years, the Indian government called him a terrorist — a claim Nijjar repeatedly denied. So, who was Nijjar, and why did India think he was such a danger?

The indictment also cites a number of crimes attributed to Bishnoi and his followers in Canada,  most significantly the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar three years ago. Nijjar's killing led to a diplomatic rift between Canada and India after then-prime minister Justin Trudeau accused India of being involved.

The indictment today directly accuses Bishnoi of providing one of the accused in the shooting with a photograph of Nijjar and multiple addresses.

Nijjar was shot dead outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, B.C., on June 18, 2023.

The indictment details how the Bishnoi gang recruited young people from disadvantaged families in India, offering them minimal compensation. It says the gang then sent them to countries like the U.S. And Canada on student visas.

This aligns with what we've heard at the immigration and criminal hearings, where gang members claimed they were hired for as little as $1,000 each to shoot at their targets' homes.

The purpose is always sowing fear. The gang itself has been described as a hierarchy with Bishnoi and Goldy Brar at the top, a few middle men who oversaw operations in Canada and then a vast army of foot soldiers ready to carry out their bidding.

We know from our reporting that the Bishnoi gang even sent a letter to police in Abbotsford, B.C., at one point, claiming to have 1,000 soldiers in Canada.

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