BC’s premier has downplayed concerns raised in an RCMP report about the Indian government’s alleged collusion with a gang accused of robbing and killing in Canada.
During an exchange campaign in India, David Eby answered questions about an RCMP document that said the Bishnoi gang “works for the Indian government.”
Asked about the newly released report obtained by Global News, Eby said it was “a summary of publicly available news reports from more than a year ago.”
“This was not an RCMP intelligence report,” he said from Mumbai on Wednesday. His office did not respond to follow-up questions from Global News.
But a former intelligence analyst who reviewed the document disagreed with Eby’s interpretation, and the Canadian Sikh Association called the prime minister’s statement “misleading and dangerous.”
“The RCMP and senior Canadian officials have publicly disclosed that they have evidence linking the Bishnoi gang to the Indian government,” the World Sikh Organization of Canada said.
“This is not based on a compilation of newspaper headlines; it is a national security assessment. Dismissing it is tantamount to Indian government rhetoric, undermining international pressure, and putting British Columbians at risk.”
Eby has been criticized by Canadian Sikh groups and conservative opponents for launching a trade campaign against India amid police allegations linking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to violence in Canada.
Amid a crackdown on extortion in BC, Alberta and Ontario last June, Eby asked the federal government to list the Bishnoi gang as a terrorist organization.
RCMP report on the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and its alleged ties to the Indian government.
World News
An RCMP report released to Global News on Monday that appeared to be a response to the prime minister’s request repeatedly noted the Bishnoi gang’s ties to the Indian government.
“The Bishnoi criminal group is known to use violence to further their criminal enterprise, while allegedly representing the government of India,” the RCMP’s national security branch wrote.
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The Prime Minister said that “the section referred to in the first news report was a summary of publicly available news from the period of October 2024, the allegations we knew.”
But the quote in question was not found in the news report, and the document refers to Eby’s June 2025 call to list the Bishnoi gang as a terrorist group, meaning it was written at least eight months after October 2024.
While the three-page report contains footnotes to several headlines, it also includes a link to Public Safety Canada accusing Indian embassies of collecting information “used to target members of the South Asian community.”
Former Canadian Security Intelligence Service analyst Phil Gurski said it was common practice for intelligence reports to be leaked to the media along with classified information.
The reports used to place groups on Canada’s terrorist list, for example, “are written by CSIS and based on intel, but they use open source intel that is consistent with the listing being public,” he said.
The RCMP report was classified as Protected A, and several sections were redacted – suggesting it was more than a news summary. The warning below warned that sharing the text is illegal.
“The management and storage of this document must comply with the management and storage guidelines established by the Canadian government for classified information,” he said.
“Failure to comply with this rule would constitute a violation of RCMP policy and federal law.”
The report is consistent with previous government statements about alleged ties between the Indian government and the Bishnoi organized crime group.
National security adviser Nathalie Drouin testified in October 2025 that “the highest levels of the Indian government” directed “the commission of serious criminal activity against Indo-Canadians through Lawrence Bishnoi’s organized crime network.”
Under Prime Minister Mark Carney, the government has also taken a conciliatory approach to India as it seeks to alienate Canada’s trade partners amid President Donald Trump’s war.
Although Ottawa listed the Bishnoi gang as a terrorist group in September, for example, a profile on Public Safety Canada’s website makes no mention of the group’s alleged ties to the Indian government.
“The Bishnoi gang has been linked to many violent crimes and murders in India,” Public Safety Canada told Global News when asked about the exclusion.
“Indian authorities have filed multiple charges against this gang; a number of gang members have also been sentenced to prison, and its leader has been in jail in India since 2014.”
“Tackling transnational crime is a priority for both Canada and India. As gangs have networks in both countries, Canada remains committed to working with key partners to combat terrorist organizations and their fundraisers.”
India has long complained to Canada about its failure to arrest members of the Khalistan movement, which advocates for independence in India’s Sikh-majority Punjab region.
Canadian authorities believe that Indian agents acted personally, ordering the killing of pro-Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, BC, on June 18, 2023.
The suspected killers were arrested in May 2024. Global News reported that Canada had received communications linking senior Indian officials to the shooting.
A number of other suspected assassination plots, mainly targeting pro-Khalistan activists, have also been discovered, according to the RCMP.
On October 14, 2024, RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme said that Indian officials were linked to a series of violent crimes, prompting Canada to expel six Indian politicians.
Eby said he was “extremely cautious” before going to India, and had received information from the Canadian military and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
“We need to ensure justice for Mr. Nijjar, his family, the community,” he said. “And at the same time, we cannot sit while our quality of life is being eroded and our economy is being eroded because of the decisions of the president of the United States.
“India will be the third largest economy in the world. And Canadians and British Columbians will only benefit from a close relationship with India that includes mutual respect between the two countries for our sovereignty and our concern, which is on both sides about the problems between the two countries, and those that are solved at the government level.
“So this is very serious stuff.”
Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca
