The 2025 extortion of the director of an immigration consultancy in Surrey is one of the alleged violent criminal acts orchestrated by Indian gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi and his lieutenants around the world, according to a recently released U.S. grand jury indictment.
The immigration consultant, known as H.T. in the indictment, received a voice message on June 11, 2025, from Goldy Brar – the reported head of Bishnoi’s North American operations – that said, “It’s your turn to file your taxes” and “get $500,000 ready; if you ignore me, then I’m happy to kill you.”
Brar called H.T. back on July 25th and left another message in Punjabi (which the indictment translated) and told H.T. that “I will for sure kill you, you sellout” and “save this recording; it is the issued judgment on your death, you c**t, I will kill you.”
The following month, on Aug. 19, Brar called H.T. again and left another voice message and told him, “My promise to you is that you will not die of natural causes; I promise that you will also die by a bullet, understood.” “You will die because of your dog-like tongue,” and “your family will suffer.”
The indictment does not include any further information about Brar attempting to extort H.T.
It also outlines the involvement of Bishnoi in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the president of a Surrey Sikh temple, in 2023.
The two Surrey events are among a wealth of information in a recently released U.S. grand jury indictment of Bishnoi, Brar and nine others.
The Bishnoi Gang is a transnational criminal organization that operates out of India. In September 2025, the Government of Canada listed the Bishnoi Gang as a terrorist entity.
The gang is known to “have a presence in Canada and are active in areas with significant diaspora communities. The Bishnoi Gang engages in murder, shootings and arson, and generates terror through extortion and intimidation,” noted a September 2025 press release from Public Safety Canada.
The founder of the group, Lawrence Bishnoi, has been in prison in India for over a decade but is allegedly known to still order kidnappings, political assassinations, murders, shootings and extortions from his jail cell.
The indictment alleges that the Bishnoi gang often recruited members from impoverished areas of Punjab, India. The minors are often promised money, notoriety and protection.
“The Bishnoi OCG targeted minors for recruitment to minimize the sentencing exposure that otherwise would attach to violent criminal activity committed by members and associates of the enterprise,” reads the indictment.
Loyal members of the group were sent outside of India, including Canada and the United States, on student visas and foreign worker visas to help the group’s criminal operations in that country.
BISHNOI’S HISTORY
The indictment briefly describes how Bishnoi enrolled at a Panjab university in India in early 2010, was described as a student leader, and, during that time, “developed a network of associates and followers.”
Soon after, he “traded campus politics for criminal activity, and refashioned his associates and followers into a criminal organization.”
Bishnoi projects himself as a patriot, nationalist and a very religious person, reads the indictment.
He was arrested in 2015 in India and has been incarcerated ever since, but the Bishnoi group has grown into a “transnational criminal syndicate” with thousands of members around the world, including hundreds in Canada and the United States.
He has been known to “direct and coordinate acts of violence” in Canada and the United States from his prison cell. This includes, but is not limited to, having members of the group carry out targeted killings, shootings, kidnappings, maimings and assaults.
LIEUTENANTS AND REGIONAL LEADERS
“To help manage the day-to-day operations of the Bishnoi organized crime group, Bishnoi delegated control to trusted lieutenants and regional leaders of the enterprise,” reads the indictment.
Bishnoi made Brar, his childhood friend, the head of North American operations. His other two lieutenants are Rohit Godara, 37, of Rajasthan, India, the European leader of the Bishnoi enterprise; and Sukhraj Singh Kang, 58, of Punjab, India.
The group is known to engage in “violent criminal activity” in every country where they operate, the indictment states, and uses violence to create a “culture of fear” in India and Indian diaspora communities around the world.
The group is known to traffic and steal controlled substances, to extort victims to generate income for the Bishnoi group, take murder-for-hire contracts and commit other crimes.
With help from Bishnoi members on the ground, the group identifies people to extort, especially focusing on ones that, by being targeted, “would enhance the Bishnoi’s reputation for extreme violence and maximize the likely success of future extortion schemes.”
The victims would often be targeted using encrypted messaging applications and demand payments and be threatened with physical violence to themselves or their family. They were often promised protection if they did pay.
Brar (also known as Satinderjeet Singh Brar, Satinder Jeet, and Satinder Jit Singh Brar) was added to the FBI’s Most Wanted list in July 2026. A warrant was issued for his arrest on July 1 in the United States District Court in the Central District of California. He is charged with racketeer-influenced and corrupt organizations conspiracy; conspiracy to interfere and attempted interference with commerce by extortion; and conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances.
The indictment also includes Bishnoi and Brar claiming responsibility for shooting at the West Vancouver home of Indian actor and singer, who is only identified as R.G. in the indictment, in November 2023. An online post by Bishnoi, in which he claimed responsibility, stated that “no one can save you from us.”
Brar attempted to contact the actor several times years later between December 2025 and March 2026 and left voice messages on his and his manager’s phones, in which he claimed responsibility for the shooting and demanded money.
He continued to call and leave messages on both numbers, stating, “You can ignore my message; you will not be able to ignore the bullets coming your way.”
Two other grand jury indictments connected to two other Indian-based transnational organized crime groups were also recently released.
The investigation, called “Operation Hard Ball,” has led to 24 arrests of individuals connected to three Indian-based transnational organized crime groups: Lawrence Bishnoi, Ravinder Dhanda and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria. Law enforcement is looking for 10 fugitives, seven in the U.S., two in India, and one in Europe.