Canadian law enforcement has said there was no evidence to suggest Indian officials were linked in any manner to the slew of charges filed after Operation Hard Ball, led by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The charges that were announced during a press conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday by the United States Department of Justice included those related to the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia on June 18, 2023.
In an interview with the outlet CBC News on Tuesday, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) deputy commissioner Lisa Moreland did not respond to questions related to the charges levelled by the government of then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that there were “credible allegations” of a potential link between Indian agents and the murder. She said she would not respond to that particular matter as court proceedings in the case against four Indian nationals was ongoing.
However, she said, “There is no evidence to suggest through this organised crime investigation and the charges and indictment laid forward that Indian officials were charged or involved in this.” She reiterated that point later stating “firmly” that “nothing has come out today to link the Indian government.”
The DoJ indictment directly includes the killing of Nijjar, and said that it was directed by Lawrence Bishnoi, leader of the eponymous gang and currently jailed in India, and Satinderjeet Singh, better known as Goldy Brar, then a close lieutenant and now running a competing faction. Brar, who is wanted in India in connection with the murder of Sidhu Moose Wala, is believed to be in North America at this time.
Moreland said that India had cooperated in the Operation Hard Ball investigation.
In a statement issued after he appeared at the press conference in LA, RCMP commissioner Mike Duheme said, “Today, together with the FBI Los Angeles, we announced several arrests and charges against the leaders of three global organised crime networks: Lawrence Bishnoi, Ravinder Dhanda and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria. These groups have been engaged in extortions, drug trafficking, kidnapping and widespread violence – namely the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar – in Canada and the United States.”
While the operation spanned two years, it also covered the period during which Indian withdrew six diplomats and officials from Canada in October 2024 after Ottawa asked New Delhi to waive their immunity so they could be questioned in relation to violent criminal activity in the country. None of those allegations figured in the extensive indictments by the DoJ.
Overall, 37 defendants were charged and 24 arrested, and ten fugitives sought.
Other than the Bishnoi gang, the Jaggu Bhagwanpuria outfit and the one run by Ravinder Singh Dhanda, a resident of Vancouver in British Columbia, were also charged with transnational criminal activity including extortion-related violence and drug trafficking.
Washington is expected to seek the extradition of Lawrence Bishnoi, according to Moreland.
The Bishnoi indictment said that gang targeted impoverished people from Punjab for recruitment and sent them to Canada as international students or temporary workers.
Three accused arrested in Canada made their court appearance in BC on Tuesday. They are Ravinder Singh Dhanda, 57 of Vancouver, Jaskarn Baghri, 50, from Surrey, and Gurtej Singh Smagh, 43, from Creston. The last named was said to have an informant within the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
The allegations levelled by Trudeau in the House of Commons three months after Nijjar was killed led to relations between Canada and India cratering. They recovered after Mark Carney succeeded him as PM in March last year and ties were renewed. That included Canada’s National Security and Intelligence Advisor visiting India in September 2025 and NSA Ajit Doval visiting Ottawa in February this year to strengthen the ongoing security and law enforcement dialogue between the two countries.
