Canada has become one of the most important operational bases for the Lawrence Bishnoi gang outside India — so much so that Ottawa formally designated the group as a terrorist entity on September 29, 2025.
At the centre of the gang’s Canadian network is Goldy Brar, one of Lawrence Bishnoi’s closest associates. Brar arrived in Canada on a student visa in 2017 and, according to a Canada Border Services Agency report, went on to build the gang’s network across the country, allegedly recruiting Indian nationals on study and work permits in cities like Edmonton and Brampton.
Extortion is the gang’s main business in Canada. South Asian business owners — particularly in Surrey, British Columbia, and Brampton, Mississauga, and Caledon in Ontario — have received WhatsApp calls and messages demanding large sums of money. Businesses that refuse to pay have been targeted with shootings and arson, with attackers sometimes posting videos online claiming responsibility in the gang’s name.
The violence has been stark. In September 2024, shots were fired at the British Columbia home of Punjabi singer AP Dhillon; a man recruited after arriving in Canada on a student visa was later convicted for the attack. In October 2025, the gang claimed responsibility for three shootings in Surrey targeting Punjabi-owned businesses, including gunfire at Kaps Cafe, which is connected to relatives of comedian Kapil Sharma. And just this month, five Indian-origin men aged 21 to 24 were charged in British Columbia over an extortion campaign targeting an auto dealership.
Canadian investigators have also flagged that not every threat made in the gang’s name is genuine — some criminals invoke the Bishnoi name simply to frighten victims into paying.
The Bollywood connection: the gang’s feud with Salman Khan — rooted in the 1998 blackbuck poaching case — has now pulled the film industry into the story. After Sunday’s firing incident involving Tiger Shroff in Mumbai’s Juhu, a purported gang post claimed responsibility and warned that “anyone in the Mumbai film industry who does not listen to us or works with Salman Khan will be next,” while demanding a public apology from the actor. Mumbai Police have not confirmed any link between the gang and the attack, and three suspects have been arrested in Rajasthan’s Kota as the probe continues.
