A police officer from Punjab is among the 37 accused including gangster Lawrence Bishnoi who is at present lodged at Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad, named by the U.S. Canadian and Europe and authorities for racketeering, targeted killings, shootings, extortion, trafficking of bulk quantities of narcotics across international borders, and other crimes around the world whose impact is especially felt in the Indian diaspora.
The police officer was identified as Gurinderjit Singh by First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli.
Addressing a press conference in the U.S., Mr. Essayli said that the police officer “is not in custody yet but he will be shortly.”
“We have charged him and we will extradite him to the U.S.” he said.
The police officer is accused of working closely with Punjab’s Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, 38, a gangster imprisoned in India, who is an associate-turned-rival of Lawrence Bishnoi, and has also founded his own criminal enterprise in Punjab, a press statement by U.S. Department of Justice said.
It added that the Bhagwanpuria gang operates as a transnational criminal syndicate headquartered in India with members across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. This group includes more than 1,000 members and associates worldwide, and more than 100 members and associates in the United States.
“To expand its power, this group corrupted law enforcement officers in India and partnered with corrupt government officials, including to assist in extortion schemes. It also provided false information to law enforcement officers in India regarding alleged crimes,” the U.S. Department of Justice said.
The Bhagwanpuria group used this false information to target perceived rivals and individuals that members or associates believed were cooperating with law enforcement, often triggering baseless criminal proceedings and extortion plots by corrupt Indian law enforcement officers against perceived rivals.
Elaborating on the role of the police officer, the statement said that in April 2026, Gurlal Singh, 22, of Stockton, California, a member of the Bhagwanpuria syndicate who is an illegal alien from India, threatened a victim and then provided the victim’s name to a corrupt law enforcement officer in India’s Punjab State.
“This ultimately led to the victim, the victim’s father, and the victim’s sister being falsely accused of the January 2026 murder of a victim in India identified in court documents as “B.S.” It also led to the corrupt law enforcement officer in India extorting the victim and the victim’s father in connection with that pending murder case,” it said.
Mr. Essayli said that the police officer extorted a family in Los Angeles with approximately $4,00,000.
A separate member of the Bhagwanpuria syndicate, Gurdev Singh, 26, is alleged to have attempted to extort a family living in the Midwest while he was being held in ICE custody, including by threatening to “put bullets in your kids.”
In total, 37 defendants — including two defendants who ran their global criminal syndicates while imprisoned in India — are charged across three indictments unsealed today (July 8, 2026). Those arrested in the United States — 11 in California, one in Indiana, and one in Georgia — are expected to make their initial appearances today in federal court.
Three defendants have been arrested in Canada, one defendant was arrested in Spain, and seven defendants already were in custody prior to today’s law enforcement operation.
Law enforcement is looking for 10 fugitives — seven in the United States, two in India, and one in Europe.
As part of this investigation, law enforcement has seized approximately 1,000 kilograms of cocaine and 1 kilogram of heroin along with $40,000 in cash and a dozen firearms. A total of 23 search warrants have been executed in the Sacramento area and 11 warrants have been executed in the Los Angeles area.
Published – July 08, 2026 12:11 pm IST
