India
oi-Prakash KL
Canadian police have said they have found no evidence linking Indian government officials to the 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a statement that could alter the diplomatic debate around one of the sharpest downturns in India-Canada relations. The remark came as newly unsealed US indictments named jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and his aide Goldy Brar in connection with the assassination.
Nijjar, a Canadian citizen and Khalistani separatist, was shot dead outside a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18, 2023. The killing triggered a major diplomatic crisis after then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Parliament that Canadian agencies were examining “credible allegations” of a possible link between Indian agents and the murder.
Canadian police state no evidence links Indian officials to Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s 2023 killing, while US indictments name gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar regarding the assassination as part of a transnational crime probe.
India had strongly rejected Trudeau’s allegation, calling it “absurd” and “motivated”. The dispute led to expulsions of diplomats, travel advisories, a freeze in parts of bilateral engagement and a deep strain in ties between two countries with large people-to-people links.
RCMP says no evidence against Indian officials in Nijjar case
Lisa Moreland, Deputy Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, told CBC News that investigators had not found material connecting Indian government officials to the organised crime investigation and charges now before authorities.
“There is no evidence to suggest that through this organised crime syndicate investigation and the charges laid forward that Indian government officials would be charged or involved in this….nothing has come out to link the Indian government,” she said.
The statement is important because it comes from Canada’s national police force, whose investigation had been closely watched in India, Canada and the wider diaspora. It does not erase the political impact of Trudeau’s 2023 allegation, but it gives fresh weight to New Delhi’s long-standing position that the claim was unsupported by evidence made public so far.
The latest development also shifts attention to a wider transnational organised crime probe spanning the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. US prosecutors have presented the Nijjar killing as part of a broader network of racketeering, extortion, drug trafficking and targeted violence linked to India-based criminal syndicates operating across borders.
US Indictment Names Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar
According to a federal indictment unsealed in Los Angeles, Lawrence Bishnoi ordered the killing of Nijjar, identified in court documents by the initials “HSN”. Bishnoi has been imprisoned in India since 2015, but US authorities allege that he continued to run a criminal enterprise through trusted associates and regional leaders.
US authorities have also charged Satinderjeet Singh, alias Goldy Brar, who they describe as a key aide of Bishnoi and the North American leader of the Bishnoi enterprise. The FBI has announced a reward of USD 50,000 for information leading to Brar’s arrest. The agency said he has links to California, Canada, India and Mexico, according to a report in PTI.
The FBI said a federal arrest warrant was issued for Brar on July 1, 2026, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. He has been charged with racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to interfere and attempted interference with commerce by extortion, and conspiracy to distribute and possess controlled substances with intent to distribute.
US officials said the case is part of a coordinated action called Operation Hardball. Law enforcement agencies in the US, Canada and Europe arrested 24 people, including 11 in California, in connection with three India-based transnational organised crime groups. The charges include targeted killings, shootings, extortion and narcotics trafficking.
What Operation Hardball Alleges
The US Justice Department said the investigation examined criminal syndicates whose activities were felt strongly among Indian diaspora communities. Prosecutors allege the groups used encrypted messaging platforms, including WhatsApp, to threaten victims and families, demand money and coordinate acts of violence in different countries.
Across three indictments unsealed on Tuesday, 37 defendants were charged. Authorities said two defendants allegedly ran their global criminal syndicates while imprisoned in India. Apart from those arrested in California, one person was arrested in Indiana and one in Georgia. Three defendants were arrested in Canada, one in Spain, and seven were already in custody.
Investigators are still searching for 10 fugitives, including seven in the United States, two in India and one in Europe. The Justice Department identified Rohit Godara of Rajasthan as the European leader of the Bishnoi enterprise and Sukhraj Singh Kang of Punjab among the alleged senior figures in the network.
Officials said Bishnoi had delegated operational control to lieutenants, including Brar and Godara. The indictment alleges that these associates spoke on Bishnoi’s behalf and helped direct members of the organisation in the US, Canada and elsewhere. The allegations will now be tested in court as the prosecution proceeds.
First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli said agencies across continents were working to dismantle these organisations. “Working together, law enforcement in the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia are determined to target and dismantle these criminal organisations wherever they operate. There is no safe harbour for these thugs,” he said in Los Angeles.
RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme said the operation disrupted criminals who used “murder, cruelty and fear” to control people in Canada and the United States. FBI official Patrick Grandy described the arrests as a strike against “three brutal transnational organisations” accused of terrorising families and exploiting communities.
Why this matters for India-Canada ties
The Nijjar case became far more than a murder investigation because of the political charge attached to it. Trudeau’s public allegation in 2023 pushed India and Canada into an extended confrontation. India repeatedly demanded evidence, while Canada maintained that the matter was being investigated by its security and law enforcement agencies.
The RCMP’s latest statement does not automatically settle every diplomatic question raised since 2023. However, it narrows the publicly stated investigative position around the current charges. It also places the focus on organised crime networks rather than state involvement, at least in the material now described by Canadian and US authorities.
For India, the development supports its argument that allegations against New Delhi should not be made without verifiable proof. For Canada, the challenge will be to pursue the criminal case while managing the political fallout of a dispute that damaged trust, affected diplomatic staffing and created unease among diaspora communities.
The legal process in the United States and Canada is likely to determine the next phase of the case. For now, the most consequential shift is clear: the public record of the investigation has moved towards transnational organised crime, while Canadian police say no evidence has emerged linking Indian government officials to Nijjar’s killing.
With inputs from agencies
