The authorities in the United States on Tuesday charged gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar for organised crimes and ordering the 2023 killing of Khalistani separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada.A federal indictment unsealed in Los Angeles alleged that Bishnoi ordered the killing of Nijjar, mentioned as “H.S.N.” in the court documents, outside a gurdwara Canada’s Surrey in June 2023.Nijjar was killed by masked gunmen. His killing had led to a deterioration in the relations between New Delhi and Ottawa after Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister at the time, told Parliament that intelligence agencies were examining “credible allegations” linking Indian government agents to the murder. India has rejected the allegations.Nijjar was an advocate for Khalistan, an independent Sikh nation sought by some groups. He was the head of the Khalistan Tiger Force, which is a designated terrorist outfit in India.The charges against Bishnoi and Brar were part of a wider action against India-based gangs.On Tuesday, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said that law enforcement agencies in the US, Canada and Europe had arrested 24 persons linked to three India-based transnational organised crime groups. Eleven of them were arrested in California, and one each in Indiana and Georgia.Three defendants were arrested in Canada and one defendant in Spain. Seven defendants were already in custody.The persons have been charged with several criminal acts, including Nijjar’s assassination.The arrests on Tuesday – codenamed “Operation Hard Ball” – followed a years-long federal investigation into Indian crime syndicates, the attorney’s office said.The groups are alleged to be involved in racketeering, targeted killings, shootings, extortion and the smuggling of narcotics, among other crimes “whose impact is especially felt in the Indian diaspora”.During the investigation, the agencies seized about 1,000 kg of cocaine, 1 kg of heroin, $40,000 in cash and a dozen firearms.The agencies are looking for 10 fugitives, seven of whom are in the US, two in India and one in Europe, the attorney’s office said.As part of Operation "Hard Ball," the FBI and our law enforcement partners throughout California, other U.S. cities and in Canada, India and Europe collaborated to execute dozens of search and arrest warrants targeting 37 members of violent transnational organizations who are… pic.twitter.com/WXIOk6vALU— FBI Los Angeles (@FBILosAngeles) July 7, 2026