The government has listed the India-based Bishnoi Gang as a terrorist entity, saying the designation will make it easier to catch and prosecute its members. For The National, CBC’s Lyndsay Duncombe explains who’s behind the gang and its ties to Canada.

Ottawa

The Canadian government has officially designated the Bishnoi gang as a terrorist group, attributing to it a series of violent acts and intimidation within Canadian communities. Lawrence Bishnoi, the gang's leader, is reported to have continued running operations from prison, with the group claiming responsibility for high-profile murders, including that of rapper Sidhu Moosewala and alleged links to the killing of Sikh separatist Harjeet Singh Nijer.

Authorities state that the terrorist designation is intended to facilitate prosecution and disrupt the gang's activities. However, some experts caution that this move may inadvertently raise the gang's profile and that much of the extortion in British Columbia's South Asian community may be carried out by local criminals using the Bishnoi name to instill fear.

Why Canada put the Bishnoi Gang on its terrorist list

The Canadian government blames the Bishnoi gang for terror, violence and intimidation in Canadian communities. This is its leader, Lawrence Bishnoi, a 32-year-old gangster. He's been in jail for a decade and runs his operation from behind bars. From behind the prison, he started to expand his criminal empire. He says that the two key ingredients of the Bishnoi gang are fear and money. We create fear to generate money for us. That's his basic formula as a criminal mastermind. Wesley Wark is a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation. He's advised the federal government on national security. The Bishnoi gang is very famous in India. In fact, Lawrence Bishnoi has even done interviews from jail. The group claimed responsibility for the murder of rapper Sidhu Moosewala in 2022. He was based in Brampton but killed in Punjab. And then there's the murder of Sikh separatist Harjeet Singh Nijer outside his Suri Gurdwara two years ago. Sources close to the investigation tell CBC News the three men charged with the murder were linked to the Bishnoi group. Canada said India was behind it, setting off a diplomatic crisis. Canada has declared its deep concerns to the top intelligence and security officials of the Indian government. Last year, RCMP held a news conference calling out India's links to organized crime in Canada. And claimed by one organized crime group in particular which is the Bishnoi group. So that's what we're seeing here in Canada. Is the Indian government complicit in the running of that organization? Do we know that? That is the allegation. It's never been tested in court but it's a pretty high-profile diplomatic allegation, that's for sure. Search for Bishnoi online and you'll see videos like this. There's a pop culture folklore around the gang. And BC's former top cop says adding the terrorist designation to the group makes it worse. Matter of fact, what we have done by identifying him as a terrorist group, we've raised his profile. He believes much of the extortion targeting BC's South Asian community is actually local. I believe that it's absolutely ridiculous we're trying to pin this down to one particular person when we have a multitude of crime groups and individuals and thugs that are involved in this activity. So now we have local gangsters going out and saying that they are part of the Bishnoi gang to instill that fear in the community so they can extort that money from them. Lawrence Bishnoi, age 31, a terrorist and a gangster. The government says naming the Bishnoi group terrorists will make it easier to catch and prosecute them. It may also increase the fear the name inspires.

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