Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles announced criminal charges on July 7, 2026, against Lawrence Bishnoi, the leader of the Indian organized criminal group known as "Bishnoi," and eight associates. The indictment ties them to the assassination of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot on June 18, 2023, near a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia.

Nijjar was a prominent political dissident advocating for the creation of a Sikh homeland called "Khalistan" in northern India. The indictment alleges that Bishnoi and another defendant ordered the killing, while two unnamed co-conspirators carried out the shooting. Bishnoi reportedly took responsibility for the act.

The indictment also references a November 24, 2023, shooting at the residence of R.G., a prominent Indian actor and singer in Vancouver, Canada. Bishnoi claimed responsibility for this attack in an online Facebook post warning, in Punjabi, "no one can save you from us."

Despite his 2015 arrest by Indian authorities, Bishnoi is accused of continuing to direct a global crime syndicate from jail, using contraband cellphones and internet devices to orchestrate political assassinations, murders, extortions, kidnappings, drug trafficking, and human smuggling worldwide.

Following Nijjar's murder, another Sikh separatist and close associate, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, was targeted for assassination in New York City, but the FBI thwarted the plot.

In addition to charges against Bishnoi and his group, federal prosecutors announced indictments against two other Indian organized crime groups: the Jaggu Bhagwanpuria Organized Crime Group and the Dhanda Drug Trafficking Organization. Defendants including Singh Brar face charges related to racketeering, extortion, and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.

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