US and Canada charge Indian gang leader with orchestrating murder of Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar

US and Canadian authorities have charged Lawrence Bishnoi and 36 others in connection with the 2023 murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar and other cross-border crimes.

• FBI and RCMP announced charges against 37 people under Operation Hard Ball, including murder-for-hire, shootings, extortion, and drug trafficking.
• Lawrence Bishnoi, head of an Indian criminal gang, was charged with orchestrating Nijjar’s assassination from prison using smuggled mobile phones.
• Nijjar, a prominent Sikh activist and Canadian citizen, was fatally shot outside a temple in Surrey, British Columbia, in June 2023.
• Authorities are still searching for seven fugitives in the US, two in India, and one in Europe.