Lawrence Bishnoi Gang Exploited Canada’s Student Visas To Recruit Indian Youth For Extortion Network Expansion: Report

A classified report by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has revealed that the notorious Lawrence Bishnoi gang exploited student visas and work permits to expand its criminal network in the country.

According to the report titled 'The Bishnoi Gang: An Emerging Threat in Canada', was prepared by the intelligence agency as a tactical guide for Canadian border and immigration officials to understand the gang's operations. Prepared in December 2025, a version was later made public.

How Goldi Brar entered Canada and expanded the network

Bishnoi's top aide, Goldi Brar, entered Canada on a student visa in 2017 to attend Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops. However, it wasn't clear if he ever went to class.

He started working to build the Lawrence Bishnoi gang's North America network. In February 2019, he applied for refugee status in Canada but failed to appear during the proceedings on July 14, 2022.

The report claimed that his application was closed and that he was busy expanding the network during that time.

Like himself, Brar relied on student visas and work permits to recruit Indian youth and get them into Canada. CBSA report stated that the Bishnoi gang primarily dealt in extortion.

How the extortion network worked

The CBSA report mentions the case of Abhjeet Kingra, who had arrived in Canada on a student visa in 2018. However, he later became a Bishnoi gang shooter.

During his deportation hearing, Kingra claimed that he was struggling financially and was lured into a shooting with an offer of 4,000 Canadian dollars.

In September 2024, he fired 14 bullets at Punjabi singer AP Dhillon's Colwood home in British Columbia while his accomplice set fire to vehicles parked outside. Initially, the Police had believed the hand of Rohit Godara's network was behind the attack.

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After Hardeep Singh Nijjar's murder, the gang claimed responsibility for the Sukhdul Singh Gill murder. Gill was a member of Bishnoi gang's rival, the Bambiha gang. It was this incident after which the Bishnoi gang expanded its extortion operations in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario.

As per the CBSA report, the Lawrence Bishnoi gang used to threaten the South Asian businessmen through WhatsApp calls and messages. The gang would demand millions of dollars. If refused, the gang members would open fire at their home, shop, restaurant, or business establishment.

In many cases, the gang's attackers would make videos of the attack and share it on social media with a claim in the name of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.

This act would instil fear in others who would pay without resistance. While investigating the cases, police found out that the threat was made using the name of Brar, but it was never confirmed if threats were made directly by Brar.

In some of the cases, Brar's name may have been used to exert influence, the report added.

Rise of crimes involving Indian students

In 2014, the overall extortion cases in Canada saw a steep decline of 10 per cent, but the cases against Indian citizens spiked by 47 per cent. Between 2016 and 2024, the rise of crimes against Indian citizens on study permits rose by 8,800 per cent.

4,000 Indian students were accused in a total of 17,929 offences between 2019 and 2023. Out of these 17,929 cases, 4,920 were linked to serious or organised crime.

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The CBSA report stated that in 2024 alone, Indian student visa permit holders were charged in 13,040 criminal cases. However, the report also acknowledged that the Indian students charged in 2024 represented only about one per cent of the,125 Indian students present in Canada.