Washington: The US has charged Lawrence Bishnoi, a gangster imprisoned in India, and his aide Satinderjeet Singh alias Goldy Brar for ordering the assassination of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada in November 2023.
According to a federal indictment unsealed in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Bishnoi ordered the killing of Nijjar, mentioned as 'H.S.N.' in court documents, outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18 three years ago.
In a coordinated action named 'Operation Hardball,' the law enforcement agencies of the US, Canada and Europe arrested 24 persons – 11 of them in California – connected to three India-based transnational organised crime groups charged with a litany of criminal acts, including Nijjar's assassination .
"Working together, law enforcement in the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia are determined to target and dismantle these criminal organizations wherever they operate. There is no safe harbor for these thugs," First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli told a news conference in Los Angeles.
The killing of Nijjar soured bilateral relations between India and Canada as then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sought to link the government in New Delhi to the murder. India rejected the claims as "absurd and motivated." The current action is the result of a years-long federal investigation into Indian crime syndicates that engage in racketeering, targeted killings, shootings, extortion, the trafficking of bulk quantities of narcotics across international borders, and other crimes around the world whose impact is especially felt in the Indian diaspora.
In total, 37 defendants – including two defendants who ran their global criminal syndicates while imprisoned in India – were charged across three indictments unsealed on Tuesday.
Those arrested in the United States – besides the 11 in California, one was nabbed in Indiana, and one in Georgia – are expected to make their initial appearances today in federal court.
Three defendants were arrested in Canada, one defendant was arrested in Spain, and seven defendants already were in custody.
The agencies are looking for 10 fugitives – seven in the United States, two in India, and one in Europe.
Bishnoi is already in jail in India, while his aide Goldy Brar is still at large.
"Today’s (Tuesday’s) coordinated operation strikes at the heart of three brutal transnational organizations that have terrorised families, exploited communities, and stolen lives through ruthless acts of violence in the US and abroad," said Patrick Grandy, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Mike Duheme said the agencies disrupted the operations of "organized criminals who used murder, cruelty and fear to extort and control people in both Canada and the United States.
"We won't pause for long to reflect on the work it took to get this job done – we'll keep doing what we do best to preserve public safety in Canada, in the United States, and around the world," Duheme said.
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