Ottawa, Jan 14 — A classified Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) report has accused jailed Indian gangster Lawrence Bishnoi of directing a global crime syndicate from a Gujarat prison and of acting “on behalf of the Indian government” to target Sikh separatists in Canada.
The document, obtained by Canadian broadcaster Global News, claims Bishnoi’s network is behind extortion, drug trafficking and murder-for-hire operations across multiple countries, including Canada, while also being used to pursue Indian state interests overseas.
Bishnoi, who has been in jail in India since 2015 and is currently lodged in Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati Jail, is said to have “reportedly continued to run his organization while incarcerated,” the RCMP report states.
According to the assessment, Bishnoi and his key lieutenant Goldy Brar, whose real name is Satinderjeet Singh, oversee a network of around 700 operatives spread across India, North America and Europe. The gang’s Canadian wing has been linked to shootings and large-scale extortion rackets, with the RCMP saying it uses violence to drive “money-laundering, contract killings and other criminal enterprises.”
The most serious allegation is that Indian officials have worked with the Bishnoi syndicate to eliminate pro-Khalistan figures abroad. “Indian government officials have utilized groups like the Bishnoi syndicate to orchestrate attacks on pro-Khalistan leaders,” the report says.
It cites two high-profile killings: the June 2023 murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia, and the killing of Sukhdool Singh in Winnipeg. Both men had been designated terrorists by India. The RCMP report claims “intercepted communications” link “senior Indian officials” to Nijjar’s assassination.
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Canada had first publicly made similar accusations on October 15, 2024, when the RCMP said it had “significant information” that agents of the Government of India were coordinating with the Bishnoi gang in what it described as a broad criminal campaign.
India rejected those claims at the time as “absurd and politically motivated,” and responded by expelling six Canadian diplomats and recalling its ambassador from Ottawa.
The latest report surfaced this week as India and Canada prepare to restart trade talks, adding fresh strain to a relationship already damaged by the Nijjar killing and the tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions.
As of Wednesday, neither the Indian government nor the Gujarat prison authorities had responded to the allegations published by Global News. The Indian High Commission in Ottawa also did not issue a statement.