Canada orders deportation of ‘bottom-tier’ member of Bishnoi gang

The crackdown on India-based organized crime continued on Friday as Canada’s immigration tribunal ordered the deportation of an accused member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.

Described as a “bottom-tier” associate of the Bishnoi gang in Edmonton, Jashandeep Singh is the latest Indian citizen to face deportation for his involvement in the violent crime group.

While the top leaders of the Bishnoi gang were charged with racketeering this week, Singh is among the lower-level suspects Canadian authorities have opted to expel from the country.

Like many in the Bishnoi gang, Singh came to Canada on a student visa. He said his parents borrowed money to send him to an Edmonton college in 2022 so he could have a brighter future.

But he acknowledged he made a “mistake.”

After identifying him from video found on seized phones, Edmonton police accused Singh of falling under a mid-level Bishnoi member named Arshdeep Singh in the gang’s hierarchy.

At an Immigration and Refugee Board hearing, a police officer testified that Singh was caught on video holding a gun that was used in a May 19, 2025 extortion shooting in Surrey, B.C.

In the footage, Singh aimed the handgun at the head of another man. He was also present when the same weapon was fired off in Edmonton a few hours later, the police officer said.

He later hid the gun so police would not find it, according to the allegations.

A different firearm was later found during a police search of the home Singh shared with roommates, said the officer, who described him as a “soldier” in the Bishnoi gang.

Testifying in his defence, Singh denied being a gang member and denied hiding any guns. He said the videos were filmed at Arshdeep’s birthday celebration.

He said Arshdeep was a friend and they had met at school. Police said Arshdeep reported to Goldy Brar, the Bishnoi lieutenant for North America. Arhdeep was deported in February.

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Singh also claimed he was intoxicated at the time the videos were recorded, after consuming marijuana gummies, and was only joking around when he picked up Arshdeep’s gun and held it to someone’s head.

But the refugee board said in its decision that Singh was not a credible witness and his statements to investigators contained “numerous inconsistencies.”

2:26 Wiretap evidence sheds light on Nijjar murder

His deportation order was the result of the police task forces that have been set up in several provinces to tackle Indian crime groups that are victimizing Canada’s South Asian communities.

The case highlights the reliance of the extortion gangs on Indians living in Canada on student and work visas who are being recruited to play various roles in the extortion networks.

Headed by Lawrence Bishnoi, who operates out of an Indian prison, the Bishnoi gang is largely responsible for the extortion epidemic that has targeted Canadian cities with large Sikh populations.

Using the WhatsApp messaging platform, Bishnoi and his right-hand man Brar have demanded large sums of money from South Asian business owners and individuals in B.C., Alberta and Ontario.

To encourage them to pay up, they hire Indian nationals living in Canada as students and temporary workers to shoot at and set fire to the victims’ homes, vehicles and businesses.

“Every individual that we’ve identified during this investigation is a temporary foreign worker or on a student visa,” Edmonton Police Service Det. Kevin St. Louis testified at Singh’s hearing.

He said that although the gang members were paid, the amounts were not large and the gang members were often new to Canada and were seeking a sense of community in the Bishnoi gang.

The RCMP also believes Bishnoi and Brar carried out the 2023 killing of B.C. Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, and that the Indian government was ultimately behind the crime.

On Tuesday, the U.S. unsealed charges accusing Bishnoi and Brar of directing political assassinations and alleging they ordered the killing of a victim identified as H.S.N., an apparent reference to Nijjar.

The Bishnoi gang’s leader in Europe, Rohit Godara, was also charged as a result of the investigation, Operation Hard Ball. He remains at large, as does Brar, a former resident of Brampton, Ont.

The RCMP said on Friday that while no charges were laid against any Indian officials as a result of Operation Hard Ball, the Nijjar murder “remains the subject of a separate and ongoing investigation.”

4:15 Two dozen arrested in ‘Operation Hard Ball’

Canadian police have made several arrests aimed at dismantling Indian gangs, but deportations have become a key tool against the extortion groups, since most members are not Canadian citizens.

The CBSA said it had opened 484 investigations as a result of extortion task forces across the country, and 139 removal orders had been issued as of June 18. Eighty-one have already been removed from Canada.

Singh said in his testimony that he was ashamed of his actions.

“They have many hopes and dreams for me. I do not want to tarnish their hopes and dreams. I admit my mistake of that day. I did this foolishness.

“I should be given one chance.”

Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca