Canada lists Bishnoi Gang as terrorist entity
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Ottawa (PTI): Canada on Monday said it has listed the Bishnoi Gang as a terrorist entity for creating a "climate of fear and intimidation".
"Acts of violence and terror have no place in Canada, especially those that target specific communities to create a climate of fear and intimidation," an official statement said.
The development comes more than a week after National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his Canadian counterpart Nathalie Drouin held wide-ranging talks in New Delhi.
During their talks, the two sides had agreed to adopt a collaborative approach towards a new chapter in bilateral ties, including working closely to combat terrorism and transnational crimes.
"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," Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said on Monday.
With the addition of the Bishnoi Gang, there are now 88 terrorist entities listed under the Criminal Code in Canada.
A terrorist listing 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, including those related to financing, travel and recruitment, according to an official statement.
It is a criminal offence for anyone in Canada and Canadians abroad to knowingly deal with property owned or controlled by a terrorist group. It is also an offence to directly or indirectly provide property knowing that it will be used by or benefit a terrorist group.
The Criminal Code listing can also be used by immigration and border officials to inform decisions on admissibility to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
The Bishnoi Gang, led by Lawrence Bishnoi, is a transnational criminal organisation operating primarily out of India. They have a presence in Canada and are active in areas with significant diaspora communities, the statement said.
Canadian Police have linked some extortion cases back to the gang, whose leader is in prison in India.
"The Bishnoi Gang engages in murder, shootings and arson, and generates terror through extortion and intimidation. They create a climate of insecurity in these communities by targeting them, their prominent community members, businesses, and cultural figures," the statement said.
"Listing the Bishnoi Gang will help Canadian security, intelligence, and law enforcement agencies in combating their crimes and making communities safer," it added.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre last month asked the federal government to designate the Bishnoi gang as a terrorist entity.
In June, British Columbia Premier David Eby asked the federal government to declare the gang a terrorist organisation, a call repeated by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith earlier.
The gang leader, Lawrence Bishnoi alias Balkaran Barar, is a product of a gangster-terror network nexus and has been named by India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) in several high-profile cases.
Bishnoi, now aged 32, forayed into the world of crime when he was a student at Panjab University in 2010.
According to police records in India, Bishnoi is a native of Punjab's Fazilka district and graduated in law from Chandigarh. He allegedly owns around 100 acres of land in Punjab, the records show.
In a bid to dismantle the gangster-terror network associated with the Babbar Khalsa International, the NIA named Bishnoi in a chargesheet more than two years ago in a terror case, detailing his criminal activities, and smuggling of weapons, explosives and drugs from Pakistan.
The anti-terror agency said Bishnoi was instrumental in coordinating communication channels, enabling seamless interactions among gang members, even those incarcerated in jails. It further added that he was running an extortion syndicate with Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar, who has close links with pro-Khalistan terror outfit Babbar Khalsa International (BKI).
Bishnoi, who has been in custody for more than a decade, has been operating his terror-crime Syndicate from jails wherever he has been lodged over the years.
Convicted in four criminal cases in Punjab, including on charges of extortion, murder, attempt to murder, and offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Bishnoi mostly operated in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi before setting his sights on Maharashtra.
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We will move court again to resist voter deletions: Mamata
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday hit out at the BJP and the Election Commission over voter deletions during the SIR exercise and said her party will move a court again to resist the removal of electors from the rolls.
Her comments came after nearly 91 lakh voters' names were deleted from the electoral rolls following the completion of the Special Intensive Revision in the state.
“You will not be able to defeat the TMC by deleting names. We will move a court again to resist the exclusion of names," Banerjee said while attacking her principal challenger BJP over the roll revision exercise.
Banerjee had in February argued in the Supreme Court as she sought an intervention in the SIR process.
The EC figures, which pushed the total deletion to over 90.83 lakh names from the original voter base of 7.66 crore in October 2025, showed that the proportion of removal of electors now remains at over 11.85 per cent.
Criticising the poll panel over the SIR process, she also said, "We will fight legally to get the names included on the list as per the Constitution. If people cannot cast their votes, what is the need to frame the tribunal? And then you are saying that the list has been frozen. What is this? We will challenge it and try to understand it."
Addressing a poll rally at Arambagh in Hooghly district, the TMC supremo accused the saffron party of trying to manipulate the electoral rolls and offering money to woo voters.
Banerjee also charged the Election Commission with intimidating people over the phone.
“It (EC) is working at the behest of the BJP. It is calling people over the telephone to threaten and intimidate them,” she claimed.
Later, while speaking at a rally in Balagarh in the same district, Banerjee warned that voting for the BJP would effectively mean "giving up fish, meat, and speaking in Bengali".
“People are not allowed to eat eggs, fish, or meat in the BJP-ruled states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra. The same will happen here if the BJP comes to power," Banerjee claimed.
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