{"id":163560,"date":"2024-10-29T04:14:02","date_gmt":"2024-10-29T04:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/10\/29\/this-most-notorious-gangster-running-one-of-the-most-feared-terror-syndicates-is-at-the-center-of-the-india-canada-row\/"},"modified":"2024-10-29T04:14:03","modified_gmt":"2024-10-29T04:14:03","slug":"this-most-notorious-gangster-running-one-of-the-most-feared-terror-syndicates-is-at-the-center-of-the-india-canada-row","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/10\/29\/this-most-notorious-gangster-running-one-of-the-most-feared-terror-syndicates-is-at-the-center-of-the-india-canada-row\/","title":{"rendered":"This most-notorious gangster running one of the most-feared terror syndicates is at the center of the India-Canada row"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"This<\/div>\n
As diplomatic relations fray between India and Canada over the assassination of a Khalistani separatist leader, the spotlight is now turning to one of the South Asian nation\u2019s most notorious gangsters.<\/p>\n

Canadian police earlier this month accused Lawrence Bishnoi<\/a> of colluding with Indian government agents to kill and harass members of the Canadian Sikh diaspora. That comes in the wake of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau\u2019s allegations last year that New Delhi was involved in the killing of a Canadian citizen \u2014 claims that India has strongly denied. Trudeau\u2019s government has upped the stakes in recent weeks, expelling India\u2019s top diplomat in Canada after he refused to be questioned about the case.<\/p>\n

Bishnoi\u2019s alleged involvement highlights what Canada says is the long arm of India\u2019s criminal underworld and its capacity to carry out violence far from home. Bishnoi, in his early 30s, heads \u201cone of the most feared terror syndicates\u201d in South Asia, according to India\u2019s federal anti-terrorism body. His gang, described in Indian court filings, numbers around 700 and includes suspected militants and drug runners in Canada, the US and the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n

Trudeau\u2019s government says Bishnoi coordinated with Indian officials to target dissidents overseas, specifically Khalistanis living in Canada who support the creation of Khalistan in India. Canada had been investigating India\u2019s government involvement in the gunning down last year of Hardeep Singh Nijjar<\/a>, a Canadian Khalistani activist who is considered a terrorist by Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s government. New Delhi has repeatedly dismissed allegations that officials were involved in the attack.

Also Read: <\/strong>Hard-line Khalistanis in Canada doing human trafficking, gun running, alleges ex-Indian envoy<\/a>In the past, Bishnoi has been linked with Sikh militant groups, an irony considering he\u2019s now accused of targeting Canadians campaigning for Khalistan. He and his gang have had strong connections with Khalistani separatist elements, some of who operate from Pakistan, court documents show. India\u2019s federal anti-terror body also alleged that Bishnoi and his associates were involved in the 2016 jailbreak of a suspected Khalistani separatist and that they attacked a police facility in 2022 in the northern Punjab state with sophisticated weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades.<\/p>\n

Bishnoi has spent about a decade behind bars in India, convicted for several crimes stretching back to as early as 2010, when he was charged for trespassing with the intent of assault with weapons, according to court documents. <\/p>\n

He\u2019s built a social-media presence by airing grievances with famous Punjabi singers, Bollywood actors and Indian politicians. Over the years, videos of him on YouTube and Instagram made by supporters have garnered hundreds of thousands of likes. <\/p>\n

Canada Allegations against India<\/h2>\n

Terminder Singh, a lawyer who\u2019s represented Bishnoi in Punjab, declined to comment on Canada\u2019s accusations. \u201cThere has been no proper investigation into these allegations,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s difficult to explain how a man in prison is organizing hits or extorting money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Canada hasn\u2019t yet released evidence connecting Indian officials to Bishnoi. Trudeau has said his government only went public with the accusations after a lengthy behind-the-scenes effort to address the matter diplomatically was rejected by Indian officials.<\/p>\n

In its rebuttals, India has underlined the dearth of information in the public domain. Randhir Jaiswal, a spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs, said New Delhi also has a track record of distancing itself from Bishnoi, including asking Canada to extradite members of his gang residing in the country.<\/p>\n

Also Read: The myth of Lawrence Bishnoi: Why Canadian police is wrong<\/a>
<\/strong>
\u201cWe informed Canada about them several years ago and recently as well,\u201d Jaiswal told reporters earlier this month. \u201cThere has been no response from Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though Bishnoi is currently jailed in the state of Gujarat, some Indian officials still believe he\u2019s capable of carrying out criminal activity. India\u2019s federal anti-terror body \u2014 the National Investigative Agency \u2014 told a trial court last year that Bishnoi is so adroit at operating from inside his cell that he hasn\u2019t felt the need to apply for bail.<\/p>\n

How Lawrence Bishnoi started criminal acivities<\/h2>\n

Born in Dutranwali \u2014 a small town in Punjab near the India-Pakistan border \u2014 Bishnoi grew up in a relatively prosperous family, according to Indian police officials, who asked not to be identified because they weren\u2019t authorized to discuss ongoing investigations. Court documents peg Bishnoi\u2019s first brush with the law to his time as a college student, when he shot a political rival.<\/p>\n

Bishnoi started building his criminal syndicate in 2013, according to Indian court filings. By his early 20s, he was already named in nearly a dozen criminal cases. In 2022, Bishnoi claimed responsibility for the death of famed Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala<\/a>, a development that catapulted him to the front pages of Indian newspapers. The Bishnoi gang also took credit on social media for the shooting last month of the politician Baba Siddique.<\/p>\n

One Indian police officer, who asked not to be named to discuss classified information, said Bishnoi loves his carefully cultivated image as a \u201cpatriotic gangster\u201d and dark hero who takes to crime to right wrongs. Bishnoi is a gun-for-hire \u2014 killing, extorting and threatening for profit, the officer said.<\/p>\n

Connections between India\u2019s political establishment and local criminal groups \u2014 including Bishnoi\u2019s \u2014 aren\u2019t unheard of. Last December, the Delhi police arrested a former Indian intelligence agent for allegedly extorting money from a businessman on behalf of Bishnoi. The agent, Vikas Yadav<\/a>, is also wanted in the US for trying to assassinate an American citizen active in promoting a breakaway state for Sikhs, who mostly populate Punjab in northern India.<\/p>\n

Yadav\u2019s lawyer, R K Handoo, said the case was \u201cfalse and charges baseless.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also Read: Ex-RAW agent with shocking US charges of Pannun murder plot was arrested by Delhi Police<\/a>
<\/strong>
Under previous governments, high-level committees have warned about a nexus between the underworld and politicians, including coordinating attacks in South Asia. What\u2019s new, however, is potentially striking in countries like the US, Canada and Australia \u2014 wealthy Western democracies that consider India a strategic partner.<\/p>\n

As Canada and India continue to trade barbs, Modi has refrained from publicly commenting. But during election rallies, the Indian prime minister has credited his administration with pursuing and eliminating alleged criminals in other countries. It\u2019s a topic former Indian premiers usually avoided addressing.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder this strong government, our forces have been killing terrorists on their own turf,\u201d Modi said at a recent political rally in the region of Jammu and Kashmir.
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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As diplomatic relations fray between India and Canada over the assassination of a Khalistani separatist leader, the spotlight is now turning to one of the South Asian nation\u2019s most notorious gangsters. Canadian police earlier this month accused Lawrence Bishnoi of colluding with Indian government agents to kill and harass members of the Canadian Sikh diaspora. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img.etimg.com\/photo\/msid-114714914,imgsize-44062.cms","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[602],"tags":[12162,17734,17032,127185,66839,31338,127182,164,127184,127183,127188,127187,371,8271,158,127189,11924,122768,127186],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163560"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163560"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":163562,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163560\/revisions\/163562"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}