BC Premier Pushes for Terror Designation Against Lawrence Bishnoi Gang

 June 20, 2025 – In a significant development reflecting escalating concerns over transnational organized crime, British Columbia Premier David Eby yesterday, Thursday, June 19th, publicly stated his intention to urge Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to formally designate the Lawrence Bishnoi gang as a terrorist organization in Canada. This move is aimed at providing law enforcement with enhanced tools to combat the gang's alleged involvement in extortion, shootings, and arsons targeting South Asian communities across multiple Canadian provinces.

Premier Eby's announcement came after a public safety forum held in Surrey over the past weekend, where community members voiced fears about increasing threats of violence and extortion. He indicated he would be writing a letter to Prime Minister Carney requesting the terrorist designation for the India-based gang.

"There are allegations that gangs in India are operating here in our and other provinces to intimidate and extort business owners," Eby stated in a video shared on social media. "This will enable police to use the necessary tools to investigate and bring this activity to an end, not just in our province, but also in Alberta and Ontario."

Eby highlighted that conventional policing methods might not be sufficient to tackle this issue effectively, as it constitutes "transnational organised crime," which he considers "more in the nature of terrorism than it is traditional crime." He pointed out that the federal government had previously taken similar action against a Mexican drug cartel.

The Lawrence Bishnoi gang, named after its jailed leader in India, has been linked to a series of high-profile criminal cases, including extortion threats to Indian celebrities and businessmen, with alleged overseas operatives playing a key role. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) in India has described Lawrence Bishnoi as running a "terror syndicate" from Indian jails, with operations extending to Canada through local associates.

The call to designate the gang as a terrorist entity comes just days after Prime Minister Mark Carney and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met at the G7 Summit earlier this week, agreeing to reset diplomatic ties that had been strained following allegations of Indian government involvement in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) also released its annual report this week, reiterating that India continues to pose a foreign interference threat and citing RCMP evidence linking Indian government agents to "criminal networks to sow violent activity in South Asian communities in Canada." National security experts have pointed to the involvement of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang in this context.

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown has also echoed Premier Eby's call for the federal government to label the Bishnoi gang as a terrorist organization, citing the gang's alleged involvement in crime and violence in the Peel region.

While the move is supported by concerned community members and some law enforcement officials who believe it will provide stronger investigative tools, some experts warn that it could complicate Prime Minister Carney's attempts to rebuild the Canada-India relationship, given the past allegations of the gang being used as a proxy.