Canada has designated India’s Bishnoi gang a terrorist entity, in a decision that would give enforcement agencies greater power to stop its crimes.
Public Safety Canada described the gang as a transnational criminal organisation that was active in parts of the country with significant diaspora populations.
It was engaged in “murder, shootings, and arson”, the department said, and “generates terror through extortion and intimidation”.
“They create a climate of insecurity in these communities by targeting them, their prominent community members, businesses and cultural figures.”
Designating the gang a terrorist entity bars Canadians from giving it financial and material support and allows for freezing of assets, property seizures, and criminal charges against affiliates under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
The gang, alleged run by Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar, spread into North America from the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana.
Bishnoi, described by police as the group’s founder, has been imprisoned in India since 2014. Brar, 29, Bishnoi’s key lieutenant and the gang’s public face, fled India on a study permit in 2017.
Last year, Canadian police claimed that Indian agents were using the Bishnoi gang’s members for killing and extorting Khalistan supporters, an allegation India rejected saying no evidence was ever shared.
The Khalistan movement, which seeks to establish an independent state in northern India for its Sikh religious minority, enjoys significant support within Canada’s Indian diaspora.
“Specific communities have been targeted for terror, violence and intimidation by the Bishnoi gang," public safety minister Gary Anandasangaree said in a statement.
"Listing this group of criminal terrorists gives us more powerful and effective tools to confront and put a stop to their crimes."
The decision came after political pressure from opposition parties and provincial premiers in Alberta and British Columbia to crack down on gang violence. British Columbia premier David Eby had urged prime minister Mark Carney earlier this year to list the gang as a terrorist entity, citing “state-sponsored terror on our soil”.
“BC was the first to call on Ottawa to list them as a terrorist entity back in June,” the premier said.
“This move gives authorities powers to freeze and seize the gang’s assets and keep our streets safe.”
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre had also demanded the government declare the gang a terrorist organisation and he welcomed the move on Monday.
“This gang has been responsible for much of the extortion that has terrorised Surrey, Brampton, northeast Calgary," Mr Poilievre said.
The World Sikh Organization of Canada issued a statement welcoming the decision, saying it was “an important first step”.
The gang is accused of carrying out the killings of popular Punjabi rapper Sidhu Moose Wala and Mumbai politician Baba Siddique and sending death threats to Bollywood star Salman Khan.
India’s National Investigation Agency previously described the Bishnoi gang as a major criminal syndicate with more than 700 members that was involved in illegal drug trade, extortion of celebrities and smuggling of weapons to carry out assassinations.
The Indian government had linked parts of its operations to the Khalistan movement and demanded the Canadian government arrest and extradite certain members.
Canada’s move against the gang comes at a time when its ties with India are thawing. Relations had almost collapsed after the murder of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in 2024. Then-prime minister Justin Trudeau publicly accused the Indian government of involvement in the assassination, something India denied.
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