In a dramatic escalation of diplomatic tensions, Canadian authorities on Monday alleged that agents of the Indian government have been collaborating with organised crime groups, including the notorious Bishnoi gang, to target leaders of the pro-Khalistan movement abroad.

The bombshell claims were made during a press conference held by Canadian police, who pointed to “organised crime groups like the Bishnoi group” as operatives in what they described as a covert campaign against Sikh separatists in Canada. The Khalistan movement, which seeks to establish an independent Sikh homeland in India’s Punjab region, has long been a point of friction between New Delhi and Sikh diaspora communities in the West.

The announcement came just hours after both Canada and India expelled senior diplomats in a tit-for-tat move, worsening relations already strained over the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh separatist leader, outside a gurdwara in British Columbia in June 2023. Ottawa has maintained that it possesses credible intelligence linking Indian agents to the killing, a claim New Delhi has categorically denied, calling it “preposterous” and accusing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of pandering to domestic political constituencies.

At the centre of the latest allegations is Lawrence Bishnoi, a 31-year-old gangster whose notoriety stretches from India’s northern plains to international headlines. Though imprisoned since 2015, Bishnoi’s gang has continued to wield influence across India and beyond, police say.

His name resurfaced in the media over the weekend following the assassination of Baba Siddique, a 66-year-old former legislator and prominent political figure in Mumbai. Siddique was shot dead outside his son’s office in what Indian police describe as a carefully coordinated attack. Three suspects are in custody, and a purported aide of Bishnoi has claimed responsibility on social media.

Indian authorities consider Bishnoi the mastermind behind several high-profile crimes, including the killing of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala in May 2022. Moose Wala, a cultural icon among youth in Punjab and the diaspora, was shot dead near his village in a murder that sent shockwaves across India and overseas Sikh communities.

Bishnoi first rose to infamy in 2018 after threatening Bollywood superstar Salman Khan, accusing him of killing blackbuck antelopes during a film shoot in Rajasthan. The blackbuck is a protected species and considered sacred by the Bishnoi community, to which the gangster belongs. During a court appearance in Jodhpur, Bishnoi shocked the media by publicly declaring: “Salman Khan will be killed here, in Jodhpur… Then he will come to know about our real identity.” Ironically, Siddique, the politician recently murdered in Mumbai, was known to be a close friend of the Bollywood actor.

Currently incarcerated in Gujarat’s high-security prison, Bishnoi remains under investigation in multiple cases. Yet, the reach of his criminal network continues to raise serious concerns about organised crime’s influence both within India and potentially in international operations.

As Canada pushes forward with its probe into the Khalistan leader’s killing and other alleged plots, the diplomatic standoff between Ottawa and New Delhi appears far from resolution. The involvement of a figure like Bishnoi only deepens the complexity of the case, bringing into question the extent of coordination between state and non-state actors in transnational conflicts.

Both governments have thus far held firm in their opposing narratives, leaving bilateral relations in a state of unprecedented uncertainty.