India and Canada have expelled six diplomats from each other in tit-for-tat measures after Ottawa accused Indian government agents of being linked to the 2023 assassination of a Sikh leader near Vancouver.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), investigating the case at the heart of Monday’s breakdown in relations, accused Indian government agents of being linked to an organized crime group called the “Bishnoi gang.”
India’s top investigative body, the National Investigation Agency, describes the group as a criminal group led by Lawrence Bishnoi, whose lawyer says he is contesting more than 40 cases accusing him of murder and robbery, and many cases are yet to be started.
India has not responded to allegations of links between government officials and the Bishnoi group. The Foreign Ministry did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
India has earlier dismissed all Canadian allegations about the killing as “silly”.
Here are some important facts about Bishnoi and his allies.
The NIA has accused the 31-year-old law graduate, who has been in jail since 2015, of running a nationwide crime syndicate.
Born in the northern province of Punjab, Bishnoi is short and thin, sporting a beard and mustache when seen in public for court appearances.
In a statement, the NIA said it is running its team in prisons in various states, as well as in countries such as Canada, in collaboration with partners, who are linked to “pro-Khalistani” elements in neighboring Nepal and other countries.
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However, Bishnoi said he was against Khalistan, or the demand for an independent Sikh state, and was not “anti-national,” in an interview with an independent news channel last year.
The video of the interview has been taken down and the police are investigating how the video was made.
Bishnoi is an inmate of the Sabarmati Jail located west of the industrial city of Ahmedabad in the state of Gujarat. Media say he has been moved to different prisons because of concerns about his safety – and his ability to break prison rules.
CANADA IS TO BE BLAMED FOR?
Canada did not name specific charges, but the RCMP said there were “specific targets” of those who support Khalistan in the country.
It named the Bishnoi organized crime group as having masterminded some of those acts, and suspected links to Indian agents.
ARE THERE ANY EYE CASES TOO?
Bishnoi and his accomplices are facing multiple murder, burglary and terrorism-related charges.
The NIA said it wants to expose the wave of terrorism through the targeted killing of prominent social and religious leaders, movie stars, musicians and businessmen.
Other high-profile cases include the 2022 murder of a popular Punjabi rapper named Sidhu Moose Wala, which the NIA laid at the doorstep of Bishnoi’s cronies.
The police, who arrested more than 20 people, named Bishnoi as the main suspect, the media said.
In a video released by media channels, Bishnoi threatened to kill actor Salman Khan, an icon of India’s Bollywood film industry, in 2018. Shots were fired near Khan’s home this year. Bishnoi has not commented on the issue.
Police arrested two gunmen for the attack and later said Bishnoi’s gang was following.
On Saturday, gunmen in the business capital of Mumbai shot and killed a member of Parliament named Baba Siddique before fleeing.
A person claiming to be part of the Bishnoi group has claimed responsibility for his murder in a letter he wrote on Facebook. Police officials told the media that Bishnoi was behind the plot, without revealing any evidence.
WHAT IS BISHNOI’S POSITION?
Bishnoi’s lawyer, Rajani, who uses only one name, said he faces about 40 murder, burglary and terrorism-related charges dating back to 2012 across India.
He denied the allegations, and many of these cases are yet to begin, he added.
(Reporting by Krishn Kaushik; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
