Eby to ask PM to declare India's Bishnoi gang a terrorist group, amid extortion fears

Toronto Star

4 hours ago

British Columbia Premier David Eby says he wants a gang based in India declared a terrorist organization in Canada.
The premier said Tuesday the Lawrence Bishnoi gang had been linked to extortions and other crimes against South Asian community members in B.C., Alberta and Ontario.
He said he would write to Prime Minister Mark Carney to ask that the gang be given the terrorist designation 'to enable police to be able to use the necessary tools to investigate.'
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Police have said South Asian community members are being extorted of cash under threat of violence or death and the India-based gang has been linked to some of those threats.
Eby said the federal government took similar action against a Mexican drug cartel.
'This is a serious step,' Eby said. 'We don't make this recommendation lightly, but this activity strikes at public confidence in the justice system, in our democracy.'
Community members gathered in Surrey on the weekend to talk about the extortion problem and local police say there has been an upturn in complaints from people getting letters, phone calls and social media messages demanding money under threat of violence.
The RCMP alleged last year that Indian diplomats shared information about Sikh separatists in Canada with the Indian government and top Indian officials, then passed information to the Bishnoi gang.
In December 2023, police in Abbotsford, B.C., said they were investigating extortions targeting affluent members of the South Asian community and the crimes had ties to the Bishnoi gang.
India's counterterrorism law enforcement agency, the National Investigation Agency, said in 2023 that Lawrence Bishnoi operates his 'terror-syndicate from jails in different states' in India and through an associate in Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 17, 2025.