What is the Bishnoi Gang? Why Poilievre is calling for it to be designated a terrorist group
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is the latest politician calling for the federal government to designate the India-based Bishnoi Gang as a terrorist entity.
His urging came during a visit to Surrey, B.C. RCMP there announced last month it had made two arrests in an extortion investigation targeting the South Asian business community.
Police have linked some extortion cases back to the gang, whose leader Lawrence Bishnoi is in prison in India.
Will Poilievre raise this in Parliament?
Poilievre says the Conservatives are planning to push a tough-on-crime agenda in the House of Commons, when Parliament resumes in the fall. A terror designation for the Bishnoi gang will be part of that, he promised.
The move is intended, he says, to help police and prosecutors deal with the international group, which has been active in Surrey, as well as cities such as Calgary and Brampton.
Is he looking for sentencing changes?
Poilievre also says his party will push to increase mandatory prison sentences for extortion, starting with four years for a first offence.
“Our plan repeals catch-and-release bail, brings in mandatory jail time for repeat offenders and ensures that we have a ban on the Bishnoi terrorists, so that this network of extortionists and terrorists are automatically criminalized,” Poilievre said during a news conference.
Poilievre is following B.C. Premier David Eby, who asked the federal government to declare the gang a terrorist organization back in June, and the same call made by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith last month.
What has the Conservative Party said about the Bishnoi Gang?
The Conservative Party released a statement about the Bishnoi Gang on Aug. 11.
Frank Caputo, the Conservative Shadow Minister for Public Safety, wrote to the federal Minister of Public Safety stating that the gang activities “include political shootings, extortion of South Asian Canadians and extreme violence … Additionally, Gang members boast of such activities to intimidate other potential targets.”
As a result, wrote Caputo, “law enforcement and all levels of government (should be given) the tools necessary to address the Gang’s activities. The designation would permit the government to push back against the Gang with financial, criminal and property sanctions.
BREAKING
— Frank Caputo (@FrankCaputoKTN) August 11, 2025
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
Why is this an issue for Sikhs in Canada?
Canada is home to about 770,000 Sikhs – the largest number outside India. Many moved to Canada in the 1980s when Indian forces launched a violent crackdown on alleged supporters of a movement demanding a separate Sikh homeland, Khalistan, to be carved out of the northern state of Punjab.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government have faced allegations from Canadian officials, including Canada’s former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the RCMP, that Indian intelligence agents have been attempting to carry out targeted assassinations of Sikh separatists overseas, including Canada.
What alleged murders are linked to the gang?
The killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, outside a Sikh temple in B.C. on June 18, 2023, pushed Bishnoi and his gang into the centre spotlight of the ongoing diplomatic tensions between Canada and India.
Lawrence Bishnoi gained notoriety back in May 2022, when the gang allegedly murdered prominent Punjabi singer and rapper Sidhu Moosewala in Punjab. Police said Bishnoi’s colleague Goldy Brar allegedly orchestrated Moosewala’s killing from Canada.
The Bishnoi group has also claimed responsibility for attacks on the homes of two prominent Punjabi singers , AP Dhillon and Gippy Grewal, in B.C., over the past two years, as its empire of fear has expanded from Mumbai to Mississauga, Ont. And, on Aug. 7, an alleged Bishnoi gang member claimed responsibility for gunshots fired at a cafe in Surrey, B.C. owned by Indian comedian Kapil Sharma.
How does Lawrence Bishnoi exert control over the gang?
Indian police officials have said that Bishnoi, 32, controls more t han 700 sharpshooters who carry out murders and extortion globally. And he does this from behind bars, shuffling between various prisons for nearly a decade now.
The South Asian community in Surrey and Brampton has been campaigning for more safety on social media, uploading videos of various shootings in the two cities.
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