US authorities have announced charges against the leader of an Indian criminal group in connection with the political assassination of a prominent Sikh leader in Canada — a high-profile killing that strained the diplomatic relationship between Canada and India at the time.
The charges were part of a massive law enforcement operation involving agencies across the United States, Canada and Europe that swept up 37 defendants who are allegedly a part of three Indian international crime syndicates tied to kidnappings, racketeering, extortion, firearms dealing, drug trafficking and murder, US Attorney Bill Essayli announced at a news conference.
Authorities are still searching for seven fugitives in the US, two in India and one in Europe.
The groups “have fueled violence, fear and instability within the East Indian communities throughout California and abroad,” said Patrick Grandy, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office.
Orchestration of Nijjar killing
Lawrence Bishnoi, 33, and his childhood friend Satinderjeet Singh are accused of orchestrating the assassination of a well-known Sikh independence activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was fatally shot outside of a temple where he served as president in 2023.
The killing sparked tensions between the Canadian and Indian governments, after then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that there were “credible allegations” that the Indian government was involved in Nijjar’s death.
Bishnoi is in custody, but Singh has not been apprehended.
Bishnoi’s organisation “routinely targeted prominent religious, social and political leaders with violence” in exchange for large amounts of money.
Nijjar, 45 when he died, was a prominent member of a movement to create an independent Sikh homeland known as Khalistan, and he was organising an unofficial referendum among the Sikh diaspora with the organisation Sikhs For Justice.
