The India-based Bishnoi gang, accused last year by the RCMP of orchestrating a campaign of violence and intimidation against Sikh activists in Canada, was listed as a terrorist entity by the federal government on Monday.
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree announced the designation in a news release issued early Monday morning, saying it will help Canadian security, intelligence and police agencies.
"The Bishnoi gang engages in murder, shootings and arson, and generates terror through extortion and intimidation," the release said. "They create a climate of insecurity in these communities by targeting them, their prominent community members, businesses, and cultural figures."
British Columbia Premier David Eby, a New Democrat, called for a terrorist designation in June, followed in July by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and in August by federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
The new designation allows authorities to seize property and freeze accounts.
The listing bars Canadians from financing or aiding the group led by Lawrence Bishnoi, the gang's leader in India who has reportedly co-ordinated criminal activities from a cellphone inside a prison.
The gang rose to national prominence in Canada on Thanksgiving weekend of last year, when the RCMP accused the Bishnoi gang of orchestrating violent crimes Canadian Sikhs calling for an independent Sikh state to be carved out of India under the name Khalistan.
Police in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia have made similar claims dating back to at least 2023.
They claimed Indian diplomats shared information about Khalistan supporters in Canada with officials in New Delhi, who then passed along the information to the Bishnoi gang.
India rebutted the allegations almost immediately, and New Delhi insists it has instead been working with Ottawa to try to stop the gang's financial flows to Canada.
The move comes as Canada and India work to gradually re-establish trust in their diplomatic relations, after nearly two years of strain.
In September 2023, then-prime minister Justin Trudeau told the House of Commons that Canada had "credible" evidence New Delhi played a role in the June 2023 assassination of a Sikh activist near Vancouver.
In October 2024, the relationship fractured further when the RCMP said it had strong evidence linking the "highest levels" of the Indian government to a campaign of violence and intimidation against Canadians through the Bishnoi gang.
Following that revelation, Canada expelled six Indian diplomats, including the high commissioner, and India responded by expelling the same number of Canadians.
India has claimed that Canada is allowing Sikh extremists to threaten and commit violence in both countries, saying Ottawa hasn't done enough to stop a repeat of the 1984 Air India bombing.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has sought to gradually re-establish relations with India, with law-enforcement talks playing a key role in rebuilding trust between the two countries.
Carney invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the G7 leaders' summit in Alberta in June, and following a meeting between the two there, both countries agreed to reappoint high commissioners.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand is set to visit India next month, her office has said, while the country's high commissioner officially started his term in Ottawa last week.
Canada's national security adviser Nathalie Drouin also met with her Indian counterpart in New Delhi this month, to discuss transnational repression and other issues.
Drouin last week said India has "absolutely" committed to co-operating and sharing information with Canadian police for ongoing investigations, after the "very productive meeting."
She said that India "committed to non-interference, including refraining from transnational repression."
Monday's terror listing surrounds the organization led by Lawrence Bishnoi, who has been imprisoned in India for nearly a decade on charges of widespread involvement in gang violence.
In 2023, India's counterterrorism body, the National Investigation Agency, said the 32-year-old operates his "terror-syndicate from jails in different states" in India and through an associate in Canada.
Multiple Indian media outlets have reported Bishnoi sent tens of thousands of dollars in money transfers from India to both Canada and Thailand between 2019 and 2021. The Canadian Press could not verify that reporting.
In an interview with The Canadian Press in 2024, Indian journalist Ritesh Lakhi, said Bishnoi took part in street fights and arsons as a student, and likely shared jail cells with notorious gang members.
Bishnoi is infamous for threatening to kill beloved Indian celebrities, political figures and business leaders. In 2022, he was accused of being behind the shooting death of Punjabi rapper Sidhu Moose Wala, who lived briefly in Canada.
Wesley Wark, a senior fellow with the Centre for International Governance Innovation, has previously said that a terror listing likely won't deter the gang, as Canada's main issue is a lack of capacity in gathering criminal intelligence.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
