CHANDIGARH: A letter allegedly sent by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang to the “defence minister, army and police” of Canada last year, claiming to have 5,000 gang members in Canada and “more guns” than the police, has gone viral on social media after recently being obtained from police investigation files.
The letter was reportedly addressed to Canada’s defence minister, army and police was sent to the Abbotsford Police Department in Canada. It was recently released through an Access to Information Act request for exhibits from an Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) hearing involving a Bishnoi associate who was ordered to be deported in July.
The letter was among the exhibits presented at an IRB hearing involving a Bishnoi associate. The exhibits included videos highlighting multi-jurisdictional, multi-agency efforts to disrupt the amorphous cells of young Indian nationals allegedly behind the extortion crisis gripping Canadian communities.
The documents include allegations against two men identified by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) this week for their links to Bishnoi-related extortion cases. These were Amitoz Bajwa and Sahibjot Singh, who were part of a network of Edmonton-based suspects implicated in shootings and threats against victims in Alberta, Ontario and British Columbia.
The letter, which contains spelling errors and lacks punctuation, states: “We are giving you a written warning and challenge. We are Indian gang Canada has no guts to stop us is that clear we will rule in CANADA now no one can stop us we are very powerful. This is our time now Indian we have more than 5000 gang member in Canada they can do shooting for only $1000 can you stop us no way. You will see we will takeover CANADA soon.”
This development comes two days after the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) deported Karamveer Singh, a close associate of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, along with four other Indian-origin nationals from Punjab, Palwinder Singh, Jasmer Singh, Amitoz Bajwa and Sahibjot Singh, under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act for their alleged links to organised crime and extortion-related violence. Each of the cases involved offences linked to the Bishnoi network.
Recently, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) issued a special bulletin detailing a sustained campaign of coercion.
According to the bulletin, the activity typically involves “financially vulnerable, young male Indian nationals in Canada on study permits” being used as foot soldiers by gangs to carry out targeted acts of violence against South Asian diaspora communities across Canada.
The analysis suggests that multiple crime groups appear to be involved in ongoing extortion activities, including the Bishnoi Gang and Bambiha Gang. Notably, reporting submitted to FINTRAC indicates the possibility of “copycat” actors leveraging the influence associated with these crime groups to maximise their own impact.
A classified CBSA intelligence report reportedly revealed that the gang had systematically exploited Canada’s international student visa and work permit programmes to recruit vulnerable youth into transnational extortion and violent crime operations.
A tactical guide circulated among immigration officers in December 2025, titled The Bishnoi Gang: An Emerging Threat in Canada, warned of the group’s growing activities targeting South Asian communities. Intelligence assessments reportedly noted a sharp rise in crimes involving Indian student permit holders between 2016 and 2024.
Between 2019 and 2023, around 4,000 Indian nationals on study permits were charged with 17,929 offences, of which 4,920 were classified as serious or organised crime-related, according to the reported assessments.
In 2024 alone, more than 13,040 charges were reportedly levelled against Indian citizens in Canada holding study visas.
