New Delhi: The notorious India-based Lawrence Bishnoi gang tried to create alarm and panic in Canada by sending threat letter to a police station in British Columbia.
The Bishnoi gang claimed to have over 1,000 members ready for shootings across the country as part of an extortion racket targeting south Asian business owners in Canada.
Police told a local court recently that the threat letter claimed to have shooters “ready and raring to go” amid a growing extortion crisis which authorities are struggling to contain.
The contents of the letter, sent to a police station in Abbotsford in August 2025, were partially revealed during a deportation hearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board, The Independent reported.
The group described its protection racket as the collection of “taxes”, and warned that businesses in Canada will face violence if they didn’t pay up.
Canada designated the Bishnoi gang as a terrorist entity last year. Though based in India, the hang is believed to have a presence in the US, UK, Australia and the UAE.
Constable Kevin St Louis said that the letter outlined the gang’s structure and capabilities. “This specific letter outlined essentially their criminal organisation, where they talked about having upwards of 1,000 individuals who are willing to carry out these shootings as a part of the group,” he said.
“It also alludes to how every business needs to pay their tax, which I think clearly demonstrates the monetary gain that this group is looking to obtain as a result of these extortions,” he added.
A top police official told Canada’s Global News that detectives were trying to find out where the letter came from. “Details of this letter were shared with our law enforcement partners engaged in combating the extortion crisis across Canada,” he said. “I’m not in a position to comment further on any of the details contained within the letter or investigative steps taken since.”
In recent years, Canadian police have been grappling with organised crime, shootings and extortion schemes targeting members of the South Asian community.
Over the last two years, several incidents of organised crime, shootings and extortion targeting members of the south Asian community, including celebrities, have taken place. There were multiple shooting incidents outside comedian Kapil Sharma’s cafe, and also near singer AP Dhillon’s residence, all reportedly tied to extortion demands attributed to the Bishnoi gang.
There are 3.38 million people of Indian origin or Indian citizens living in Canada, which is around 8.3 per cent of the country’s population.
