US indicts jailed Indian gang boss over 2023 killing of Canadian Sikh leader

The US indictment charging Bishnoi and Singh does not allege any involvement by the Indian government in the killing.

United States authorities have charged Lawrence Bishnoi, the imprisoned leader of an Indian criminal organization, along with his North American deputy, with directing the 2023 murder of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, an assassination that plunged relations between Ottawa and New Delhi into crisis.

A federal indictment unsealed in Los Angeles alleges that Bishnoi and Satinderjeet Singh, also known as Goldy Brar, ordered the shooting of Nijjar outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia, a suburb of Vancouver, on June 18, 2023.

According to the indictment, Bishnoi directed the operation from inside an Indian prison cell using smuggled cellphones and supplied a co-conspirator with a photograph of Nijjar along with multiple addresses linked to him in order to facilitate the killing. Singh, a childhood friend of Bishnoi, allegedly oversaw the North American operations of the criminal network known as the Lawrence Bishnoi Organized Crime Group.

Nijjar’s death sparked a major diplomatic crisis after then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said months later that Canadian authorities were actively pursuing credible allegations connecting agents of the Indian government to the murder. New Delhi rejected the claim as absurd at the time.

The US indictment charging Bishnoi and Singh does not allege any involvement by the Indian government in the killing. Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, had campaigned for the creation of Khalistan, an independent Sikh homeland he sought to carve out of Indian territory, and New Delhi had designated him a terrorist.

Neither First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli nor any other official speaking at a press conference in Los Angeles alleged that the Indian government was involved in or aware of the killing.

The charges against Bishnoi and Singh formed part of a broader investigation conducted jointly by US and Canadian authorities, which resulted in charges against 37 defendants connected to three India based organized crime groups. Prosecutors accused the defendants of racketeering, extortion and drug trafficking, and authorities said 24 of them had already been arrested or remained in custody.

Canadian police arrested and charged four Indian nationals in May 2024 in connection with Nijjar’s killing and have said they continue investigating whether those individuals maintained ties to the Indian government. The US indictment does not name the alleged shooters as defendants, instead referring to them only as co-conspirators within the broader case.

Relations between Ottawa and New Delhi have improved somewhat under Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who traveled to India in February on his first official visit and opened negotiations toward a trade agreement officials expect to finalize by November.

Carney’s approach toward India has drawn criticism from certain Sikh advocacy groups, who accuse the Canadian government of failing to hold India accountable for the killing or adequately protect Sikh Canadians from foreign interference and transnational repression.

The case adds a significant new dimension to the ongoing diplomatic tension between Canada and India, which has remained strained since Trudeau’s initial allegations linking Indian government agents to Nijjar’s death. While the US indictment stops short of implicating New Delhi directly, the detailed allegations regarding Bishnoi’s role in orchestrating the killing from prison provide fresh insight into how the operation was reportedly planned and executed across international borders.

The broader crackdown targeting India based organized crime networks operating in North America reflects growing cooperation between US and Canadian law enforcement agencies in addressing transnational criminal activity linked to South Asian organized crime groups. Officials say these networks have increasingly used encrypted communications and cross border logistics to coordinate violent operations, including targeted killings, extortion schemes and drug trafficking operations spanning multiple countries.

Sikh community organizations in both Canada and the United States continue to monitor developments in the case closely, given the broader implications for Sikh diaspora communities who have expressed concerns about safety and government accountability following Nijjar’s killing. The Khalistan movement, which Nijjar supported, remains a deeply contentious issue in India Canada relations, with New Delhi continuing to view the movement as a security threat while diaspora Sikh communities in North America maintain active advocacy networks supporting the cause.

As the case moves forward in US courts, attention will likely remain focused on what additional details emerge regarding the alleged shooters referenced as co-conspirators in the indictment, as well as whether the case influences the ongoing diplomatic relationship between Ottawa and New Delhi amid efforts to rebuild economic ties between the two countries.