'Lawrence Bishnoi Gang Must Be Called 'Terrorist Group'': Canada MP's Demand

NDTV

4 days ago

New Delhi:
Canadian MP Frank Caputo on Monday urged Prime Minister Mark Carney and the governing Liberal Party to declare the Lawrence Bishnoi gang a 'terrorist organisation'. "Communities are being terrorised... it is time for the Liberals to act..." he said on X late last night.
Mr Caputo, the Shadow Minister for Public Safety, joined a growing number of Canadian leaders who have called for action against Bishnoi's gang, which he runs from a prison cell in Gujarat.
In a letter to his cabinet counterpart, Gary Anandasangaree, Mr Caputo highlighted Bishnoi's vast criminal empire and said it was guilty of assassinations and the extortion of Canadian citizens, and engaged in such illegal activities for "political, religious, and ideological reasons".
"The Bishnoi gang's activities lay the groundwork for listing it as a terrorist entity. As you know, they have taken credit for vast violence in Canada and abroad," he said in the letter shared on X.
BREAKING
Conservatives call on the Liberals to designate the Lawrence Bishnoi Gang as a terrorist organization.
Communities are being terrorized. It's time for the Liberals to act.
My letter👇🏼. pic.twitter.com/olUs09kAkz
— Frank Caputo (@FrankCaputoKTN) August 11, 2025
"I implore you to list the Bishnoi gang as a terrorist entity to provide law enforcement and all levels of government with the tools necessary to address the gang's activities. The designation would permit a push back against the gang with financial, criminal, and property sanctions."
He also pointed to similar appeals by four other Canadian politicians, including Patrick Brown, the Mayor of Brampton, home to about 20 per cent of the country's entire Sikh population.
British Columbia Premier David Eby and his Alberta counterpart, Danielle Smith, as well as Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke, have also called for the Lawrence Bishnoi gang to be taken down.
"... there is clear political consensus for the federal government to do so. This designation has been discussed by law enforcement officials, who see first-hand the results of the Bishnoi gang's reign of terror in the South Asian community and throughout Canada," Mr Caputo wrote.
In June, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said the Bishnoi gang's "violent and criminal activities... knows no boundaries and respects no borders", and demanded Mark Carney's government send "a clear message - that you (the Lawrence Bishnoi gang) are not welcome here".
She said designating the Bishnoi gang as a 'terrorist entity' would 'allow provincial and municipal-level law enforcement agencies to access tools and resources needed to effectively disrupt operations...'
The Canadian government has frequently named the Bishnoi gang as one of the more nefarious criminal syndicates in that country, and has also linked it to arms and drugs trafficking.
Lawrence Bishnoi - who has split from Goldy Brar, an associate who ran his Canada ops - and his gang of criminals and assassins have also been linked to various murders both in India and abroad since the headline-grabbing killing of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala in May 2022.
That list includes the December 2023 murder of Rajput leader Sukhdev Gogamedi and the October 2024 killing of Maharashtra politician Baba Siddique, as well as firing outside the home of Bollywood star Salman Khan - targeted over the 1999 blackbuck case - in April 2025.
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But it was the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a pro-Khalistani figure, in June 2023 that cemented the gang's international 'credentials'. Nijjar was a Canadian citizen and his killing sparked a diplomatic row; then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claiming - without any proof - the Indian government was involved.
India trashed the charges, and accused Mr Trudeau of pandering to Khalistani terrorist vote banks.
India-Canada ties nosedived as a result and are only now, after Mr Trudeau was removed, recovering. And the chorus of voices calling for action against the Bishnoi gang - something India often asked of Mr Trudeau - has been seen as a sign the Conservative is looking to push for mending of ties with India.