New Delhi: Gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and his six associates have been indicted by the District Court of California for engaging in, among other things, acts involving extortion and trafficking in controlled substances.
The recently released indictment document says that Bishnoi’s syndicate, referred to as the Bishnoi Organized Crime Group or the “Bishnoi OCG”, evolved over the years into a ‘transnational criminal syndicate’ headquartered in India with members across the US, Canada, the UK, Europe, Australia, and elsewhere.
Bishnoi, the global leader of the syndicate, was arrested by Indian authorities in 2015. But he continued directing crimes committed by members and associates of the Bishnoi OCG worldwide personally through contraband cellphones and other voice over internet protocol devices smuggled into his jail cell, according to the indictment.
These crimes include, but aren’t limited to political assassinations, murders, shootings, extortions, kidnappings, drug trafficking, and human smuggling, it notes.
Satinderjeet Singh, more famous with his alias Goldy Brar, and Rohit Godara led the Bishnoi OCG in North America and Europe, respectively, while Sukhraj Singh Kang acted as the organisation’s ‘India-based lieutenant’, the indictment states.
Other than these four main gang leaders, the document names three more persons—Rajan Bhatti, Bhulwan, and Sumit—who were allegedly involved in the activities of the syndicate.
Here is a list of overt acts listed by the FBI as undertaken by the Bishnoi OCG in furthering their criminal objectives.
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Killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar
The indictment says that Bishnoi and Goldy Brar ordered the assassination of ‘H.S.N (Hardeep Singh Nijjar), a prominent religious and political leader from the Punjab state of India who was living in British Columbia’ on 18 June 2023.
Four conspirators were involved in the plot, according to the document. Later that same day, Nijjar was killed by two of the conspirators while leaving a Gurudwara in Surrey.
Gippy Grewal shooting & extortion attempt
On 25 November 2023, Bishnoi took responsibility for a shooting the previous day at the residence of actor-singer Gippy Grewal, recognised in the indictment as R.G., writing in a Facebook post “no one can save you from us.”
The ‘Bishnoi OCG’ further contacted Grewal and his manager several times between December 2025 and March 2026, demanding payments by threatening to kill him.
Brampton extortion attempt
Between 6 December 2023 and 4 January 2024, a person, identified in the indictment as A.G. from Brampton, Ontario, was contacted multiple times on the phone by Bishnoi and his associates, who demanded a payment of $500,000 CAD and threatened to harm A.G.’s family members and employees, according to the document.
Fontana threat
On 5 December 2024, a man identifying themselves as a member of the ‘Lawrence group’ contacted a person, identified only as S.S, in Fontana, California. He referenced Nijjar’s killing, and told SS, “I have got all your information”.
The caller further threatened to “meet” S.S. at their immigration hearing, according to the indictment document.
Sunil Yadav murder
Indian drug smuggler, Sunil Yadav, was killed in Stockton, California, on 23 December 2024. Goldy Brar and Rohit Godara claimed the killing “on behalf” of the Bishnoi OCG with a warning message on Facebook that said, “[all] our enemies, be prepared, any corner of the world you reach, we will reach there.”
Extorting law-enforcement informant
The indictment also describes a January 2025 US law-enforcement undercover operation with two individuals—an undercover law-enforcement agent, and a confidential informant.
As part of the operation, the two individuals posed as debtor and creditor. The document details how the Bishnoi gang threatened the debtor with bodily harm and death to get the creditor’s money back. “Once you begin paying us, then nobody will threaten you or your family,” the debtor was told. The gang was demanding a fee of $16,000 for ‘helping’ the creditor.
Extortion attempts in US, UK, Canada
On 11 June 2025, the Bishnoi OCG contacted two individuals, H.T. in Surrey and S.S. in the UK, and demanded money from them by giving them death threats, records the document.
Similarly, on 4 December 2025, a man identified as M.K. in Thousand Oaks, California was asked to pay a sum of USD 3 million at first, and later USD 5 million. “Whether in America or India, we will finish all of your activities completely,”M.K. was threatened.
Drug trafficking and theft in US
The indictment alleges that in November 2024, the Bishnoi group coordinated the transport of about 49 kg of ‘a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine’ in long-haul trucks across the US to the US-Canada border.
As part of the operation, a syndicate member met a confidential informant of the law enforcement in Greenwood, Indiana, to coordinate logistics.
It further alleges that Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar directed a co-conspirator to steal narcotics from a rival drug trafficking organisation in the greater Los Angeles area—about 220 kg of cocaine in March 2024, 500 kg of methamphetamine in April, and another 300 kg of cocaine in July 2025.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
Also Read: Minor recruits, web of lieutenants & ‘patriot’ image—US indictment lays bare Bishnoi syndicate