India flags concerns over Punjab gangsters operating from Canada

THE REQUEST COMES EVEN AS MULTIPLE INDIAN EXTRADITION REQUESTS REMAIN PENDING WITH THE CANADIAN AUTHORITIES

TORONTO: The Indian High Commission in Ottawa has flagged India’s concerns to Canadian authorities over the involvement of gangsters operating from the North American country in violent crime in Punjab as singer Sidhu Moosewala’s killing late last month renewed the focus on the matter.

The Punjab Police have said Goldy Brar, a Canada-based member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang with 16 cases registered against him in India, was involved in Moose Wala’s murder. Moose Wala was murdered days after Punjab’s state intelligence headquarters in Mohali was attacked.

Lakhbir Singh Landa, who lives in Canada and has around 20 cases pending against him in India, has been named as the main conspirator in the attack.

An official, requesting anonymity, said Canada-based radicals and gangsters were involved in acts of crime in India and that Ottawa has been asked to take cognisance and urgent pre-emptive action.The request comes even as multiple Indian extradition requests remain pending with Canadian authorities.

Officials did not specify the exact number or names but added about 10 of them related to gangsters and three or four to terrorism.The matter was also raised when a National Investigation Agency team visited Ottawa in 2021 and met with Canadian officials. A statement issued then said that discussions were held about collating evidence on several ongoing investigations into cases of terrorism and other serious crimes to bring about successful prosecution of the accused in both India and Canada. The two sides discussed issues related to evidentiary requirements in India and Canada and possible cooperation for capacity building in the police investigation.

Indo-Canadian gangs, comprising mainly people of Punjab origin, especially in and around Vancouver in British Columbia, date back to early 1990s with emergence of Bindy Johal, the first major mafioso from the community.

The new gangs have emerged from among new immigrants, according to Shinder Purewal, a political science professor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. The phenomenon has gone from being home-grown to being imported from India, particularly with regard to the narcotics trade.The Indian links were always present in drug smuggling, they have become more pronounced, he said.