The high-profile murder of a Punjabi rapper, repeated death threats against a Bollywood star, and the murder of a Mumbai-based politician earlier this month are all linked to one of India’s most feared gangsters, Lawrence Bishnoi. It is considered a crime.
The latest addition to that list is the RCMP’s allegation that Bishnoi gangs are targeting members of the pro-Khalistan movement in Canada on orders from the Indian government.
RCMP Deputy Commissioner Brigitte Gauvin named the Bishnoi group last Monday during a stunning press conference in which the Mounties outlined allegations that India’s top diplomat was involved in criminal activities in Canada. . Mr. Gauvin said investigators believe the gang “has ties to Indian government officials.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also made this connection clear last week in his testimony before the commission investigating foreign interference.
He said the diplomats collected information on Canadians who had “differences” with the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and that the information was sent to “criminal organizations like Lawrence Bishnoi” before it was sent to the Indian government’s He said he communicated this to the highest level. gangs,” ultimately leading to “violence against Canadians on the ground.”
Indian officials have rejected the accusations as “ridiculous” and accused Canada of harboring violent members of a group called Khalistan, which seeks the creation of an independent homeland for Sikhs, and has accused Canada of harboring violent members of a group called Khalistan, which seeks to create an independent homeland for Sikhs. He claimed that he was trying to win the votes of the Sikh majority. community.
Last Thursday, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said Canada was ignoring 26 pending extradition requests for gangsters, including members of the Bishnoi group, for whom India is seeking return and prosecution. There is.
“This is a contradiction in terminology that we don’t understand,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said, adding that Canada is linking Indian government officials to the same gangs India is seeking to extradite. “It’s really strange,” he said.
gain notoriety
The RCMP mention is another example of the growing international influence of the 31-year-old Bishnoi, whose notoriety continues to grow despite spending the past nine years in prison.
The Bishnoi group may have begun its criminal journey with a modest intimidation of student politics on a university campus in Punjab, but the gang’s reach now extends beyond North America to “Europe and the Gulf states, and It has spread to other areas with large Punjabi diaspora communities,” said Deepak Badana, a Delhi-based journalist who has been investigating Bishnoi activities for TV station News 9 in recent years.
Indian investigators estimate that Bishnoi controls a gang of 700 members across several Indian states, and police in Punjab state alone say the group’s hitmen use Approximately 2,500 known hideouts have been tracked.
Bishnoi himself has filed more than 30 criminal cases.
A common assumption is that the gang’s major activities, from extortion to targeted assassinations, are organized by Bishnois from behind bars, using cell phones and encrypted messages. is.
Gurmeet Chauhan, head of Punjab’s anti-gang task force, said: told BBC News “We’re letting criminal gangs escape from prison seamlessly without having to coordinate everything,” Bishnoi said.
“Unlike other gangsters who are localized, he is thinking big,” Chauhan added.
Not from a crime family
Given that Bishnoi’s activities and influence have only grown during his time in prison, some believe he enjoys some degree of protection from the state and other powerful allies.
“We are aware that these gangs operate with political support in India,” said Jupinderjit Singh, deputy editor of the Tribune newspaper in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh. . “Gangs here cannot thrive without support from politicians.”
Mr Singh, who recently published the book, said Mr Bishnoi’s rise to the top of India’s criminal hierarchy was “unusual” as he was not born into a crime family. Who killed Mooswara? A story of violence in Punjab.
Sidhu Moose Wala was a Punjabi rapper whose shooting death in May 2022 shocked India and its diaspora communities. Bishnoi denies any involvement in the killing, but Indian police say he, his brother Anmol and Goldie Brar, one of Bishnoi’s closest aides, are the main suspects and that they are from Canada. He is believed to be contributing to the operation of the gang from his base.
Bishnoi grew up in a relatively wealthy landowning family in Punjab, where her father was a police officer and her mother was given an English name. She attended a local convent school from an early age, and her son is a lawyer. I dreamed of becoming
Singh said Bishnoi got involved in violence and extortion while attending college in Chandigarh, but truly developed into a gangster lifestyle after his first stint in jail.
“He was supposed to be kept somewhere else. [ward]”But he was openly meeting and interacting with very hardened criminals, including terrorists and gangsters. When he goes out, he is a different person,” Singh said.
Bishnoi has been in jail since 2015, moving from prison to prison across India before arriving at his current location at Sabarmati Jail in Gujarat. Many experts say these moves put Mr. Bishnoi in contact with prisoners immersed in India’s criminal underworld, allowing him to rapidly expand his network.
underground conflict
Recent events have raised fears that Bishnoi gangs are aiming to seize control of Mumbai’s criminal underworld, which could lead to further violence.
After the shooting of influential 66-year-old politician Baba Siddique in a busy downtown area of Mumbai on October 12 brought back dark memories of the gangland murders that have swept the city. Members of the group took to social media to claim credit. 1990s.
Local media coverage Regarding the politician’s murder, the Mumbai police said they had repeatedly requested that Bishnoi be transferred from a Gujarat jail to a Maharashtra jail where he could face fresh charges. said the application was rejected by India’s Ministry of Home Affairs.
In April last year, a shooting incident occurred in front of Bollywood star Salman Khan’s home in Mumbai. Mr. Bishnoi had publicly promised to kill Mr. Khan for poaching two blackback antelopes, a species worshiped by his Hindu sect. Bishnoi and his brother were again named as the main suspects in the case.
Singh said that like other prominent Indian gangsters, Bishnoi has built a personal myth and stoked fears about his outsized influence.
“Ever since Lawrence Bishnoi entered the world of crime, he has said one thing every few months: ‘I have to do something big,'” said the investigative journalist.
The aim is to “keep the fear of his name in the public eye” and to boost his “brand value,” which increases with each new criminal charge reported in the media.
“stupid” statement
Ajay Sahni, executive director of the Delhi-based think tank Institute for Conflict Management, said the Canadian police statement is exactly that.
“I think the RCMP’s statement is very disappointing, if not foolish,” Sahni said, adding that he doubts investigators will be able to substantiate the gang’s alleged links to the Indian government based on hard evidence. He said it was “nonsense” to mention the Bishnoi Group’s name without a statement. It will hold up in court.
“The Indian government is escalating the threat posed by Khalistanis,” Sahni told CBC News in an interview at his Delhi office. “And by making these kinds of statements, the Canadian government is reinforcing the power of this criminal group not only in India but also in India.” [also] In Canada. ”
Journalist Deepak Badana also questioned what Canadian police were trying to achieve by naming Bishnoi gangs.
“He was nominated [as linked to] “A lot of things will change, but very little will change,” Badana said, adding, “I don’t think it will help anyone other than Bishnois.”
Known Bishnoi gang members often like to publicize their exploits on social media, but do not mention the RCMP statement in any of their posts.
Singh said Bishnoi was using the prison’s relative security from rival gang members to his advantage. But the journalist, who has perused interrogation records and other court documents, believes Mr. Bishnoi is fully aware that he will not be safe behind bars for long given his rapidly expanding influence. are.
“Gangsters like Bishnoi know in their hearts that they live by guns and die by guns.”