The federal government has listed the Bishnoi Gang as a terrorist entity, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree announced on Monday.
“Specific communities have been targeted for terror, violence and intimidation by the Bishnoi Gang. Listing this group of criminal terrorists gives us more powerful and effective tools to confront and put a stop to their crimes,” the minister said in a statement.
Listing a group as a terrorist entity in Canada gives the federal government the power to freeze or seize property, vehicles and money, along with giving Canadian law enforcement additional tools to prosecute terrorist offences.
The Bishnoi Gang is one of a number of criminal enterprises from the Punjab and Haryana states in northern India that have spread into North America in recent years, even as its founder Lawrence Bishnoi has languished in Indian prisons since 2014.
Their violence is partly rooted in village codes of honour and vendetta, but it’s mainly driven by modern imperatives of business and politics. Indian media describe drug smuggling and extortion as the gangs’ biggest sources of income, both at home and abroad.
In a statement, Public Safety Canada said the Bishnoi Gang is a transnational criminal organization that’s active in parts of Canada with significant diaspora communities.
“The Bishnoi Gang engages in murder, shootings and arson, and generates terror through extortion and intimidation,” the statement says.
“They create a climate of insecurity in these communities by targeting them, their prominent community members, businesses and cultural figures,” it adds.
Listing the gang as a terrorist entity also gives federal immigration officials the right to deny people associated with the gang entry to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
