Canada: Lawrence Bishnoi gang declared terrorist outfit

Virendra Pandit

New Delhi: Canada has officially designated dreaded gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and his criminal network, implicated in murder, extortion, and arms and drug trafficking in India and overseas, as a terrorist entity, the media reported on Monday.

Canadian Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree made an announcement on this after calls from Conservative and NDP politicians.

This is being viewed as a prelude to tightening screws on pro-Khalistani activities as well in Canada.

“Acts of violence and terror have no place in Canada, especially those that target specific communities to create a climate of fear and intimidation. That is why the Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, Minister of Public Safety, announced today that the Government of Canada has listed the Bishnoi Gang as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code,” the government statement read.

Bishnoi has been imprisoned in India for years. Yet he is reportedly still orchestrating terror activities across international borders.

This designation allows Canadian authorities to freeze or seize any assets linked to the Bishnoi gang in Canada, including money, vehicles and property. It also empowers law enforcement officials with enhanced powers to pursue and prosecute gang members for a range of offences, especially those connected to the financing of terrorist activities.

Under Canadian law, it is a criminal offence to knowingly provide property or financial support to a listed terrorist group or to deal with its assets. The designation can also be used by immigration and border authorities to determine admissibility into Canada.

“The Bishnoi Gang is a transnational criminal organisation operating primarily out of India. They have a presence in Canada and are active in areas with significant diaspora communities. The Bishnoi Gang engages in murder, shootings and arson, and generates terror through extortion and intimidation,” the statement said, adding that the gang creates a climate of insecurity in these communities by targeting businesses, cultural figures and community leaders.

The government said the listing will support ongoing efforts by Canadian security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies to counter the gang’s activities.

The notification – another step forward in repairing the frayed bilateral India-Canada ties after an all-out diplomatic war in the final months of Justin Trudeau’s prime ministership – comes a month after a Canadian MP, Frank Caputo, urged Anandasangaree to slap the ‘terrorist’ tag on Bishnoi.

British Columbia Premier David Eby and his Alberta counterpart, Danielle Smith, as well as Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke, had also called for the Lawrence Bishnoi gang to be taken down.

The Canadian government has frequently named the Bishnoi gang as one of the more nefarious criminal syndicates in that country, and has also linked it to arms and drugs trafficking.

Bishnoi, who split from Goldy Brar, who ran his Canada operations in June, and his gang of criminals and assassins have been linked to various murders since the headline-grabbing killing of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala in May 2022.

That list includes the December 2023 murder of Rajput leader Sukhdev Gogamedi and the October 2024 killing of Maharashtra politician Baba Siddique, as well as firing outside the Mumbai home of Bollywood star Salman Khan – targeted over the 1999 blackbuck case – in April 2025.

But it was the killing of Hardeep Nijjar, a pro-Khalistani figure, in June 2023 that cemented the gang’s international ‘credentials’. Nijjar was a Canadian citizen, and his killing sparked a diplomatic row. Trudeau had claimed – without proof – the Indian government was involved. India trashed the charges and accused Trudeau of pandering to Khalistani terrorist vote banks.

After this spat, India-Canada ties nosedived for several months. However, since Mark Carney appointed Trudeau’s successor, they have been recovering, slowly.

On August 1, Ottawa posted a new diplomat in New Delhi, the first since top officials on either side were pulled out in the aftermath of the row with Trudeau.