LOS ANGELES — Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles announced criminal charges against Lawrence Bishnoi and eight associates on Tuesday. The defendants are identified as members of an Indian organized criminal group known as "Bishnoi." The indictment charges them with racketeering, extortion, and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.

The indictment ties the defendants to the 2023 assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. It accuses Lawrence Bishnoi and another defendant, Satinderjit Singh Brar, of ordering Nijjar's killing. Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot on June 18, 2023, near a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia. Nijjar advocated for the creation of a Sikh homeland in northern India called "Khalistan." India designated Nijjar a "terrorist" in connection with his advocacy efforts. The indictment alleges that two unnamed co-conspirators shot Nijjar and that Bishnoi took responsibility for the assassination.

Indian authorities arrested Bishnoi in 2015. The indictment states that he continued to run a global crime syndicate while in custody. "Using contraband cellphones and other voice over internet protocol devices smuggled into his jail cell, defendant Bishnoi personally directed political assassinations, murders, shootings, extortions, kidnappings, drug trafficking, human smuggling, and other crimes committed by members and associates of the Bishnoi OCG worldwide," the indictment says. Bishnoi remains in custody in India.

Satinderjit Singh Brar is identified as Bishnoi's childhood friend. The indictment alleges that Brar directed the group's North American operations. It also indicates that Bishnoi claimed responsibility on November 25, 2023, for a shooting that occurred on November 24, 2023, in Vancouver, Canada, at the residence of R.G., an Indian actor and singer. According to the indictment, Bishnoi posted a warning in Punjabi on Facebook stating, "no one can save you from us."

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh separatist and close friend of Nijjar, was targeted for assassination in New York City in 2023. The FBI thwarted that plot. Canadian and American law enforcement authorities have alleged that the Indian government ordered the assassination of Nijjar and the attempted assassination of Pannun. Nikhil Gupta pleaded guilty in a federal court in Manhattan in February to conspiring with Vikash Yadav to kill Pannun. Yadav, a former Indian government official, remains at large.