What is the Lawrence Bishnoi gang? And why do Canadian politicians want them labelled terrorists?
An India-based criminal organization is drawing increasing political scrutiny in Canada, with some saying it needs to be declared a terrorist organization.
This week, Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown called on Ottawa to declare the Lawrence Bishnoi gang a terrorist organization, joining a chorus of other voices.
'We must take transnational crime seriously and that means giving law enforcement the investigative tools to combat these sophisticated criminal networks,' Brown said on X.
Brown was joined by deputy mayor Harkirat Singh and regional councillors Gurpartap Singh Toor and Navjit Kaur Brar in the request to have the Lawrence Bishnoi gang declared a criminal organization by Ottawa.
'The Bishnoi gang, a transnational criminal network, led from India, has been linked to a growing wave of violence, extortion and intimidation targeting South Asian communities in Brampton and across the Region of Peel,' Brown said in a prepared statement.
The statement did not give examples of specific violent incidents.
The Lawrence Bishnoi group was also named in the murder of Brampton-based rapper Sidhu Moose Wala, when Wala was in India in 2022.
Bishnoi, who is in his early 30s, is the son of a police officer and was educated in a convent school.
Now in custody in India on more than two dozen charges, including murder and extortion, he awaits trial.
He has been accused of using intimidation tactics to extort business owners in Punjabi diaspora communities in North America, Europe and the Gulf states.
The gang is reportedly run by Bishnoi through encrypted cell messages, even though he is behind bars in India.
Brown's comments follow similar ones earlier this week, when B.C. Premier David Eby urged the federal government to label the gang a terrorist organization because of extortion and other crimes against the South Asian community on the West Coast.
Eby said Tuesday that he was going to write to Prime Minister Mark Carney, asking that the Lawrence Bishnoi group be labelled a terrorist group 'to enable police to be able to use the necessary tools to investigate.'
Last fall, the RCMP stated the gang was targeting members of the pro-Khalistan movement who were on Canadian soil, allegedly acting for the Indian government.
On the West Coast, the Lawrence Bishnoi group was accused this week of firing bullets into the home of a Punjabi music producer.
Last year, shots were reportedly fired at the home of Punjabi music star A.P. Dhillon on Vancouver Island and in 2023, shots were fired outside the West Vancouver home of Bollywood singer and actor Gippy Grewal.
Indian media said the Lawrence Bishnoi group claimed responsibility for both attacks.
Moves to label the Lawrence Bishnoi gang a terrorist group throw complications into Carney's attempts to rebuild the Canada-India relationship.
Eby's announcement on Tuesday was praised by the World Sikh Organization of Canada.
'Canadian law enforcement and intelligence agencies have linked the Bishnoi gang to assassinations, extortions, and intimidation carried out at the direction of Indian government agents including the 2023 murder of Canadian Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar and other violent crimes,' the organization said.
With files from The Canadian Press
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