US indictment, Canadian police findings match our stand on gang networks: India

INdia is committed to act with partners such as Canada and the US to heel counter terrorist act and trans-national criminal offense through and through close law enforcement cooperation, the external affairs ministry said on Tuesday while responding to American authorities indicting gangster Lawrence Bishnoi for the 2023 killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.Following an investigation by the law enforcement agencies of the US, Canada and Europe that was code-named Operation Hard Ball, American authorities last week charged Bishnoi, a gangster jailed in India, and his aide Satinderjeet Singh alias Goldy Brar for ordering the assassination of Nijjar. Twenty-four people linked to three India-based trans-national criminal gangs were arrested in the same case.Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) deputy commissioner Lisa Moreland told the media that the evidence collected under Operation Hard Ball did not point to the involvement of Indian officials or the Indian government in the killing of Nijjar. This marked a departure from former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau’s allegation in September 2023 that Indian government agents were linked to the killing.Also Read: Trudeau’s charges on Nijjar murder were absurd, politically motivated, says ex-envoy“India remains committed to working with our partners in combating terrorism and trans-national organised crime through close law enforcement and security cooperation,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a regular media briefing.Jaiswal was responding to a question about the remarks made by the RCMP deputy commissioner, which he said are “consistent with the recently unsealed US indictment, which attributes responsibility to the members of the Lawrence Bishnoi organised crime group”.Also Read: Getting serious about gangsters | HT EditorialHe also pointed to Operation Hard Ball and announcements by the US justice department regarding the indictments and enforcement action against trans-national organised crime networks operating in several countries, and said: “India has consistently maintained that trans-national organised crime, terrorism, narco-trafficking, human trafficking, illegal firearms trafficking and related criminal networks pose a serious threat to our societies.”India and the US have “strong and effective” cooperation in combating terrorism and trans-national organised crime, Jaiswal said. “Our agencies on both sides, here in India and those in the US, have been working closely over the years and this cooperation continues to strengthen and deepen,” he said.Also Read: Punjab SHO tried to extort $400k from US family | Operation HardballNijjar was gunned down outside a gurudwara in Surrey city in June 2023. Months later, Trudeau sent bilateral ties into a tailspin by alleging in Canada’s Parliament that Indian government agents were linked to Nijjar’s murder. The Indian side dismissed the accusation as “absurd”.Both sides expelled each other’s diplomats, reduced consular services and resorted to other punitive measures. India also accused Canada of allowing pro-Khalistani elements to freely operate from the country’s soil. In October 2024, India recalled its envoy, Sanjay Kumar Verma, and five more diplomats after Canadian authorities named them as “persons of interest” in the investigation into Nijjar’s killing.The two sides quietly resumed back-channel contacts between their security agencies in late 2024, and relations were put on an even keel after Liberal Party leader Mark Carney’s victory in the general election in April 2025. Both sides appointed new high commissioners in each other’s capitals and revived several mechanisms to take forward ties in a number of areas, including trade.The RCMP has said Operation Hard Ball established that the Bishnoi gang is involved in extortion, narcotics trafficking, kidnapping and violence in Canada and elsewhere. Bishnoi has been in an Indian jail since 2015, and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has announced a bounty of $50,000 for information leading to the arrest of Brar.The crackdown on the gangs of Bishnoi, Ravinder Dhanda and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria was part of a years-long investigation into Indian crime syndicates engaged in targeted killings, shootings, extortion, drug trafficking and other crimes around the world, the US justice department said.