Bishnoi Gang active in Manitoba

The Bishnoi Gang, which is run by a convicted gangster from his prison cell in India, appears to have gained a foothold in Manitoba.

A civil forfeiture lawsuit filed in the Court of King’s Bench this month has revealed a 36-year-old man, who was arrested this year, had claimed he is a member of the Bishnoi Gang when he tried to extort cash from a Winnipeg resident.

Arshdeep Singh Brar was arrested by Winnipeg Police Service officers in Headingley on March 3 and charged with extortion and two firearms offences, says the claim.

The victim, identified in the court documents as a man of South Asian descent, had gone to police.

The gang, headed by Lawrence Bishnoi, has an “established and growing presence in Canada,” says the claim.

It has been blamed in extortion cases across the country, largely in British Columbia, southern Ontario and Alberta. Gang members seek to obtain money from Indian-Canadian community members and business owners by intimidating them. At times, the incidents have escalated to shootings and arsons.

The forfeiture filing appears to be the first public mention of the crime group — or people connected to it — operating in Manitoba.

“The Bishnoi Gang attempts to create a climate of insecurity and terror within these communities through co-ordinated acts of extortion and intimidation,” reads the Manitoba claim.

“The Bishnoi Gang’s actions commonly involve making anonymous demands by phone, text or social media, which are reinforced against those who refuse to meet their demands by acts of violence, such as shootings and/or arson.”

The gang, which carries out contract killings and trafficks drugs and guns, was deemed a terrorist organization by the Canadian government in 2025.

Brar is accused of calling the Winnipeg victim from a pay phone on Feb. 14, identifying himself as a member of the gang and demanding the victim give him money, says the court documents.

He mailed a letter, written in Hindi, in which he again identified himself as a gang member and directed the victim to leave him $150,000 in cash at a location on the Trans-Canada Highway near Portage la Prairie on Feb. 26.

In the letter, the accused said he had information about the man’s home address, his spouse, children and his brother in India, the filing says. The letter threatened that if the victim made “a mistake,” the amount demanded would double.

The victim received the letter on Feb. 20 and called city police.

On Feb. 28, it’s alleged Brar called the victim and demanded $150,000 by March 2.

The victim said he did not have that much money, but Brar replied he would notify his boss in the Bishnoi Gang, that the victim would face consequences, and that he didn’t care how the victim arranged to get the money, but “he must do it,” the court filing claims.

The victim reported the details to police and officers prepared a package that contained cash.

On March 2, police delivered the package to the drop-off location and Brar drove there in a truck registered to his wife, retrieved the package, and got back in the truck, the filing says.

wPolice pulled him over in Headingley, arrested him and found the package of cash in the truck.

Officials said that in a videotaped police interview, Brar said he had sent the letter to the victim because he had been told to do so by a member of the gang.

American law enforcement officials recently accused the gang’s imprisoned leader, and his deputy in North America of ordering the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Sikh separatist in Surrey, B.C., in 2023. The allegations are included in an unsealed indictment filed in a United States court.

In October 2024, Justin Trudeau, who was prime minister, accused India’s government of involvement in Singh’s killing, although the American indictment does not mention such a connection.

The Manitoba forfeiture claim asks the court to allow the provincial government to seize the 2023 Ford F150 pickup truck registered to Brar’s wife, alleging Brar used it to commit the crimes with which he’s been charged.

Brar’s wife and Ford Credit Canada, which has an interest in the truck, are named as defendants.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca