New Delhi: Gangster Nitish Kaushal alias ‘Lala’, who was part of a cross-border syndicate that also involved corrupt officers extorting victims, has been arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
This comes days after he was added to FBI’s most-wanted list. He was captured in Vermont, US Thursday.
Targeting rivals with false charges, colluding with corrupt Indian law enforcement officers, and making extortion calls from international numbers is how the US-based Kaushal operated within the infamous Bhagwanpuria OCG (Organised Crime Group). The US District Court of the Central District of California, Los Angeles had issued a federal arrest warrant for Kaushal on 25 June after charging him with racketeer influenced and corrupt organisations conspiracy.
Kaushal has been held for being part of a ‘Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations (RICO) conspiracy” for his alleged involvement in acts involving murder, kidnapping, drug trafficking, extortion, weapons trafficking, money laundering, and human smuggling, it added.
Nitish Kaushal is #wanted by the #FBI for his alleged involvement in a transnational criminal organization engaged in, among other things, acts involving murder, kidnapping, drug trafficking, extortion, weapons trafficking, money laundering, and human smuggling. This… pic.twitter.com/xuEXpJIx6u
— FBI Most Wanted (@FBIMostWanted) July 14, 2026
In an October 2025 judgement, a US court had observed that Kaushal, as part of the Bhagwanpuria syndicate, had “corrupted law enforcement officers in India and partnered with corrupt government officials to execute extortion schemes”.
According to the order, Kaushal would corrupt law enforcement officers in India, bribe them and ask them frame victims under “false charges”.
“Members and associates of the Bhagwanpuria OCG understood that providing false information on perceived rivals to corrupt law enforcement officers in India would often trigger baseless criminal proceedings as well as extortion plots by corrupt Indian law enforcement officers against perceived rivals,” it observed.
The accused would allegedly then orchestrate phone calls to these individuals and their family members informing them about the upcoming criminal charges and “extort” money.
In one such case, the name of Gurinderjit Singh Nagra, a Station House Officer (SHO) at Tanda police station in Hoshiarpur, cropped up for his alleged involvement in a $400,000 extortion case that he carried out in tandem with the Lawrence Bishnoi and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria gangs.
Nagra, the FBI said, had tried to extort $400,000 from a US-based family by threatening to frame their relatives in Punjab in a murder that took place in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur district.
The case pertained to the killing of local AAP functionary Balvinder Singh, who is identified in the US indictment as B.S., on 15 June at Miani village in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur district.
Also Read: Nearly 1/3rd of gangsters plunging Punjab into chaos sitting on US soil, as foot soldiers face heat
Kidnapping & intimidation
The court further observed that Kaushal was a co-conspirator in the kidnapping and intimidation of a victim on 10 July, 2024 on learning that the victim stole a drug load from the Bhagwanpuria OCG (Organised Crime Group).
“The syndicate lured the victim to a residence in Manteca, California. They then restrained the victim at a residence in Manteca where Kaushal and his associates assaulted him and transported him from there to an apartment in Fresno, California,” the order read.
As part of the syndicate, the court observed that Kaushal was engaged in weapons trafficking as well. “Through straw purchasers in Nevada, U.S.-based members and associates of the Bhagwanpuria OCG would acquire firearms, ammunition, and other weapons. Members and associates of the Bhagwanpuria OCG would sell those weapons in the United States or smuggle the weapons to Canada to generate additional revenue for the enterprise,” the order noted.
Took orders from Bhagwanpuria
Like other syndicate members, the court order said, Kaushal received communication from jailed Punjab-based gangster Jagdeep Singh alias Jaggu Bhagwanpuria who used “contraband cellphones and other VoIP devices”.
The gangster would allegedly receive directions from Bhagwanpuria in connection with shootouts, extortions, and drug trafficking. The syndicate would then complete the tasks and Kaushal would send a portion of their earnings to the Bhagwanpuria through personal and law enforcement sources, it is alleged.
Earlier, in October 2025, the US court named Kaushal along with Bhagwanpuria, Gurlal Singh, Sahibdeep Singh, Guurdev Singh, Amritpal Singh, Harshpreet Singh, Amarbir Singh, Hardeep Singh and Major Singh to be associated with acts involving extortion, kidnapping, and trafficking in controlled substances.
The US court noted that the syndicate began under the leadership of Bhagwanpuria, a former associate of ‘notorious Indian gangster’ Lawrence Bishnoi. Once close allies, Bhagwanpuria and Bishnoi went on to become sworn enemies, a rivalry that began with a bloody gang clash in Punjab’s Tarn Taran jail in 2023.
Bhagwanpuria, it said, developed an independent network of criminal associates that eventually came to rival the Bishnoi OCG, adding that the syndicate’s headquarters remains in India with members in the US, Canada, the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
“The Bhagwanpuria OCG included over 1,000 members and associates worldwide, including over 100 members and associates in the US,” the court order said.
Along with Bhagwanpuria gang’s other associates, Kaushal has been booked several sections including violation of Title 18, United States Code, for continuing a pattern of racketeering activity, and sections related to extortion, chargeable under California Penal Code Sections, kidnapping, relating to interference with commerce by robbery and extortion, multiple offenses involving trafficking of controlled substances in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1) and 846.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: ‘Indian jails not doing enough’—US to seek extradition of jailed gangsters Bishnoi, Bhagwanpuria