Lawrence Bishnoi gang used Canada's student visa programme to expand network, classified CBSA report claims

The Lawrence Bishnoi gang exploited Canada’s student and work visa programmes to expand its criminal network, with top Bishnoi associate Goldy Brar playing a key role in establishing the syndicate’s presence in the country, according to a Global News report, citing a classified intelligence report by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).

The CBSA report, obtained by Global News, claims Brar arrived in Canada in 2017, reportedly to study at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia. However, official records show it is “unknown” whether he ever attended classes.

Instead, investigators allege Brar helped Bishnoi expand the gang’s operations into Canada, where it has been linked to high-profile murders, a political assassination and a wave of extortion targeting members of the South Asian community.

According to the report, the intelligence assessment, prepared by the CBSA’s Intelligence and Investigations Directorate, warns of the gang’s “growing operational presence in Canada” and its “demonstrated use of Canada’s immigration programmes for criminal purposes.”

“Investigations increasingly identify Indian foreign nationals on study permits and work permits as participants in these organised criminal activities,” the report said.

“The sustained expansion of Bishnoi-linked extortions and the involvement of student permit and work permit holders raises significant concerns for CBSA operations.”

The document, titled ‘The Bishnoi Gang: An Emerging Threat in Canada’, was circulated among immigration officers in December 2025 to help identify and counter the group’s activities. Although classified, a copy later became public through court proceedings.

According to the report, while Canada’s overall extortion rate fell by 10 per cent in 2024, the number of Indian nationals charged with extortion rose by 47 per cent during the same period.

The report attributed the increase to a growing pattern of extortion calls targeting South Asian Canadians, with alleged Bishnoi gang members demanding large sums of money.

Investigators also identified two recurring factors in the cases – the name Goldy Brar and suspects who had entered Canada on student or work permits.

“The upwards trend in extortion charges mirrors a similar trajectory seen with serious and organised crime charges within the Indian student permit holder demographic,” the report added.

The CBSA report further stated that crimes involving Indian student permit holders increased by 8,800 per cent between 2016 and 2024, describing India as the “top source” country of foreign students charged with criminal offences.

“It would be prudent to recognise that these statistics likely underrepresent the extent of the issue as many crimes go undetected and unreported,” it noted.

Between 2019 and 2023, around 4,000 Indian nationals who entered Canada on study permits were charged with a total of 17,929 offences, according to the report.

Of those, 4,920 charges were classified as serious or organised crime-related, while 97 per cent of those offences were considered violent.

The report also said more than 13,040 criminal charges were filed in 2024 against Indian citizens in Canada on study visas, marking a significant increase.

However, it noted that the report did not mention that the 2,418 individuals charged represented just over one per cent of the 188,125 Indian students in Canada that year, instead highlighting the upward trend in criminal cases.

The intelligence assessment also examined the potential security implications of Canada’s international student programme, which saw enrolment exceed 800,000 students in 2022.

While the federal government later capped foreign student visas in late 2024, citing housing pressures, the CBSA report suggested the programme may also have created opportunities for organised crime groups to establish operations in the country.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada did not respond to questions on whether weaknesses in the visa programme may have enabled the Bishnoi gang to gain a foothold in Canada.

A department spokesperson said the international student programme has declined by 83 per cent over the past two years and that Indian nationals now account for about one-quarter of all student visas, down from 41 per cent previously.

Commenting on the findings, criminologist and former CBSA officer Prof. Kelly Sundberg told Global News Canada’s “wide-open, honour-based” foreign student programme was clearly exploited by the Bishnoi gang.

He argued that inadequate screening allowed gang figures to enter Canada while also providing access to young international students who could be recruited into criminal activities.

“It’s a perfect storm of nonsensical policy and law resulting in a flood of young foreigners into Canada with limited supports for them once here, leaving them prey for the criminals of their home country to recruit them here,” he said.

“Ottawa is 100 per cent to blame.”

Deportation hearings reveal network

Recent immigration hearings have reinforced the CBSA’s findings that the Bishnoi gang used Canada’s student visa programme to build its criminal network.

Over the past six months, several suspected Bishnoi gang members arrested in Canada’s crackdown on extortion rackets have appeared before the Immigration and Refugee Board in deportation proceedings.

According to Global News, many of the accused had entered Canada on student visas, with the CBSA’s intelligence report repeatedly cited during the hearings.

The report identifies Brar as the architect of the model. It says Brar arrived in Canada on a student visa in 2017 before attempting to secure refugee status in 2019. His claim was later deemed abandoned after he failed to appear for a hearing. Brar has since been accused of involvement in the killings of a youth leader in India and Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala.

US court documents also allege Brar recruited Indian youths on student and work permits to carry out the 2023 killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia.

Canadian authorities have accused Indian diplomats of sharing intelligence with the Bishnoi gang, while the CBSA noted, “These allegations suggest potential overlap between organised crime and state-linked actors pursuing parallel objectives.”

The report says the gang expanded its extortion network after Nijjar’s killing, targeting South Asian Canadians through WhatsApp threats, shootings and social media intimidation.

Criminology professor Wade Deisman told Global News that the objective was broader than financial gain, arguing the gang sought to create a climate in which the community “are going to kind of submit to there being a taxation scheme.”

“It’s not an extortion crisis, it’s a public safety crisis,” Deisman added.

The CBSA also said Bishnoi continues to direct the gang from prison through associates such as Brar, who allegedly recruit international students into organised crime.

“Evidence suggests the Bishnoi gang’s major operations continue to be orchestrated by Bishnoi from behind bars,” the report said.

As an example, the report cited Abjeet Kingra, who entered Canada on a student visa before allegedly joining the gang. Kingra testified he accepted money for a shooting because he needed to support his family in India.

“Because I thought I would be able to help my family back home in India, because my job wasn’t going well here.”

The report said Kingra was later convicted for the 2024 attack on Punjabi singer AP Dhillon’s residence.

“Kingra was hired to ‘terrorise’ Dhillon at the behest of the Bishnoi gang, underscoring the gang’s use of SP (student permit) holders to execute violent acts in Canada,” it said.

The report added that recent intelligence suggests Brar’s name is increasingly being invoked in extortion cases, with gangs expanding their targets beyond Punjabi Sikhs to other Indo-Canadian communities.

“This is in stark contrast to what was seen across Canada in 2023 and 2024, and does not align with the original modus operandi of Bishnoi Gang-related extortions and killings targeting alleged members of the pro-Khalistan movement or those who may have voiced concerns against the Government of India,” it said.

Sikh Federation of Canada leader Moninder Singh urged greater transparency over the alleged role of Indian officials.

“The central issue is not simply how the Bishnoi group operates in Canada, but how Indian intelligence and diplomatic officials have used that criminal network to surveil, intimidate, extort and attack Sikhs in Canada,” he said.

With inputs from agencies