US accuses Indian terrorist leader of killing of Sikh | Crime Stories

The US is accusing the Indian boss, linking him to the killing of a Sikh leader that has strained India-Canada relations.

Authorities in the United States have announced that they are indicting the leader of an Indian terrorist group in connection with political assassinations. a prominent Sikh leader in Canada – a mass killing that put relations between Ottawa and New Delhi in jeopardy.

The cases were part of a major operation involving law enforcement in the US, Canada and Europe that swept 37 people suspected of being part of a group of three Indian people arrested for robbery, extortion, extortion, gun sales, drug trafficking and murder, US Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli announced on Tuesday at a conference.

He spoke alongside officials from the Los Angeles Police Department, the FBI and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Authorities are still searching for seven fugitives in the US, two in India and one in Europe.

These groups have “created violence, fear and instability in East Indian communities in California and abroad,” said Patrick Grandy, assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles office.

Lawrence Bishnoi, 33, and his childhood friend Satinderjeet Singh are accused of planning the assassination of prominent Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot outside the temple where he became president in 2023. he said there are “credible objections” that the Indian government was involved in Nijjar’s death. Bishnoi is in jail, but Singh has not been arrested.

The Bishnoi organization “often used violence against prominent religious, social and political leaders” in exchange for large sums of money, prosecutors said.

Nijjar, 45 when he was killed, was a prominent member of the movement to create an independent Sikh state known as Khalistan, and was organizing an unofficial referendum among the Sikh diaspora and the organization Sikhs For Justice. Nijjar, who was born in India and was a Canadian citizen, was wanted by Indian authorities at the time of his death. India had given a prize for the most that will catch him.

The Sikh diaspora has been a source of tension between India and Canada for years. Canada has the largest Sikh population outside of India, and India has repeatedly denied that it tolerates “terrorists and extremists”. Both India and Canada have expelled ambassadors from the other country amid the international row.

The prosecution alleges that some of the defendants used ties to corrupt Indian government officials to harass others or those believed to be cooperating with the police. At least one person accused of organizing crimes is in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, authorities said Tuesday, though it is unclear how he spoke in absentia.

Bishnoi’s attorney was not available Tuesday afternoon.

Essayli said the project is an example of how international cooperation can help.

“Working together, law enforcement officials in the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia are determined to target and dismantle these criminal organizations wherever they operate,” Essayli said.