US Busts Three India-based Crime Groups, Arrests 24 In Global Crackdown

By Shakir Husain

HYDERABAD, July 8 (NNN) -- The United States (US) said it has busted three India-based crime networks by arresting 24 individuals in North America and Europe.

The groups are charged with a series of crimes, including targeted killings, shootings, extortion and racketeering.

Thirteen suspects were arrested in multiple raids in the US, three in Canada, one in Spain, while seven defendants were already in custody prior to Tuesday's law enforcement operation, named "Operation Hard Ball", according to a US Attorney's Office statement.

US law enforcement authorities are looking for 10 fugitives -- seven in the US, two in India, and one in Europe.

The arrests followed a years-long federal investigation into Indian syndicates that engaged in crimes across international borders, the statement said.

"Working together, law enforcement in the US, Canada, Europe and Asia are determined to target and dismantle these criminal organisations wherever they operate. There is no safe harbour for these thugs," US attorney Bill Essayli said.

"Today's coordinated operation strikes at the heart of three brutal transnational organisations that have terrorised families, exploited communities, and stolen lives through ruthless acts of violence in the US and abroad," said Patrick Grandy, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles field office.

The US indictment named several key figures, including Lawrence Bishnoi, 33, Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, 38, both of India's Punjab state, and Ravinder Singh Dhanda, 57, of Vancouver, Canada.

It alleged that Bishnoi, a gangster long imprisoned in India, projected an image of himself as a patriot, nationalist, and deeply religious through social media posts and interviews with news organisations but used this public image to recruit people to his crime syndicate in India and abroad.

According to the indictment, Bishnoi delegated control to trusted lieutenants and regional leaders of the enterprise to help manage its day-to-day operations, among them Satinderjeet Singh, 32, also known as 'Goldy Brar'.

Bishnoi and Brar are charged with ordering the sensational murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Sikh activist of Indian origin in Canada.

Nijjar was shot dead in June 2023 by two gunmen as he left a Sikh gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia.

Canada designated the Bishnoi gang as a terrorist entity in September 2025.

Meanwhile, the Bhagwanpuria gang, according to US law enforcement, has 1,000 members and operates as a transnational criminal syndicate headquartered in India, with a presence in the US, Canada, Britain, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Separately, the Ravinder Singh Dhanda network, according to the indictment, operated a drug distribution network that provided international smuggling services for bulk quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine to criminals in the US, Canada and Mexico.

-- NNN-BERNAMA