Bishnoi gang faces global raids as US links it to Nijjar killing

New Delhi: US prosecutors have opened a major international criminal case against the Lawrence Bishnoi network and allied Indian-origin syndicates, announcing charges against 37 defendants and about two dozen arrests across the United States, Canada and Europe. The crackdown, codenamed Operation Hard Ball, was led by US law enforcement agencies and involved more than 50 raids, including action in California and other locations. Authorities said the case covered murder, racketeering, extortion, kidnapping, firearms offences, drug trafficking and weapons smuggling. Also read: After humiliating India over Nijjar killing, will Canada and US apologise? The case is important for India because it takes a network largely discussed through Indian gang wars, extortion calls, jail operations and Canada-linked allegations into a US federal prosecution frame. The charges also place the 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada inside the same wider case. Nijjar, a Sikh independence activist and Canadian citizen, was shot dead outside a gurdwara in British Columbia in 2023. His killing had caused a major diplomatic rupture between Canada and India. US authorities have now accused Lawrence Bishnoi and his childhood friend Satinderjeet Singh of orchestrating Nijjar’s assassination. Bishnoi is in custody, while Singh has not been apprehended, according to the AP report on the case. From gang violence to global case The US action marks a shift in how the Bishnoi network is being treated abroad. Until now, the gang’s global profile was shaped mainly by its alleged links to diaspora extortion, shootings, threats and the Nijjar case in Canada. Operation Hard Ball turns that into a larger prosecution involving multiple syndicates, multiple countries and multiple crime categories. US officials said the three Indian transnational crime syndicates targeted in the operation had fuelled violence and fear in East Indian communities in California and abroad. The alleged activities included targeted violence, intimidation, drug redistribution, firearms trafficking and extortion. The groups named in current reporting include factions linked to Lawrence Bishnoi, Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, Goldy Brar and a drug-smuggling network allegedly run by Ravinder Singh Dhanda. Investigators alleged that the syndicates stole large cocaine consignments from rival criminal groups and moved narcotics through commercial trucking routes. For Indian readers, this is not only an overseas crime story. It shows how Indian gang networks are being treated as cross-border criminal enterprises that can threaten diaspora communities, move drugs, order violence and operate through intermediaries across continents. The prison-control question One of the strongest parts of the case is the allegation that leaders directed violence and intimidation from abroad, including from prison. Investigators said Bishnoi’s network allegedly continued to operate through smuggled mobile phones and encrypted communication. The accusation matters because Bishnoi has long been accused of running his syndicate from jail in India. The US case therefore brings back a question that Indian agencies have faced for years: how jailed gang leaders continue to influence violence, extortion and recruitment outside prison. If prosecutors can establish command links, communication trails and payment routes, the case will not remain only about street-level shooters or couriers. It will test whether foreign courts can legally connect overseas violence to instructions allegedly issued through a jail-based network. That is why Operation Hard Ball is significant. It appears to target the chain above the immediate actors. Nijjar killing returns to the centre The Nijjar killing remains the most politically sensitive part of the case. Nijjar was 45 when he was killed outside the gurdwara where he served as president. He was associated with the Khalistan movement and was involved in organising a non-binding referendum among the Sikh diaspora through Sikhs For Justice. Indian authorities had wanted him at the time of his death. The murder had triggered a major India-Canada diplomatic crisis after then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke of credible allegations of Indian government involvement. The latest US case does not erase that diplomatic background, but it moves the legal focus to alleged criminal networks and their operational role. Canada had also designated the Bishnoi gang as a terrorist entity in 2025, saying the label would give authorities stronger tools to freeze assets and act against the group’s activities. The US indictments now add another layer. The Bishnoi network is no longer only a concern for Indian police or Canadian security agencies. It is being framed as part of a wider international organised-crime case. Drugs, guns and diaspora threats The operation also exposed the alleged financial and logistics backbone of the syndicates. Authorities reported seizures of drugs, firearms and suspected illicit cash during the raids. Reporting on the operation said law enforcement seized cocaine, heroin, multiple firearms and cash, while another account said the investigation involved around a tonne of cocaine moving through the network. This part of the case is important because organised crime networks survive on money movement as much as violence. Extortion creates fear. Drug trafficking creates cash. Firearms enable intimidation and shootings. Cross-border movement allows the network to use one jurisdiction to support action in another. The US case appears to be built around this structure rather than one killing alone. Authorities also alleged that some defendants used links with corrupt local authorities in India to persecute rivals or people suspected of cooperating with law enforcement. That allegation, if tested in court, will draw attention to how criminal networks allegedly use pressure points in India while operating abroad. Why this matters for India The Bishnoi network has already been linked in India to threats, extortion and high-profile killings. But the foreign cases have added a different problem. Indian-origin communities abroad are now appearing in law-enforcement cases not only as victims of diaspora politics but also as targets of extortion, intimidation and imported gang rivalries. That is why Operation Hard Ball matters beyond one gangster. It shows that Indian organised crime has become a law-and-order issue for foreign governments. It also brings reputational and diplomatic costs for India, especially when jail-based control, international murders and diaspora threats are placed in the same case. For Indian agencies, the pressure will be on prison communication controls, extradition cooperation, intelligence-sharing and tracking of gang-linked financial flows. For Canada and the US, the challenge will be to prove the allegations in court while continuing to protect threatened diaspora figures and witnesses.