A previously known letter attributed to gangster Goldy Brar has brought renewed attention to the alleged scale of the Lawrence Bishnoi network’s activities in Canada, after Canadian media obtained documents connected with investigations into extortion-related activities.
The letter was sent in August 2025 to the Abbotsford Police Department in British Columbia. Its existence had previously been known, but CBC News has now reported details from documents obtained during its investigation.
In the letter, the writer claimed that the Bishnoi network had more than 5,000 gang members in Canada and issued a threat that the organisation would expand its influence across the country. The letter was ostensibly sent by Satinderjeet Singh, widely known as Goldy Brar, who has been described as a former North American associate of Lawrence Bishnoi.
The claims contained in the letter have not, by themselves, established that the network actually had 5,000 operational members in Canada. Canadian authorities have separately been investigating the alleged expansion of organised criminal networks linked to India.
A Canadian Border Services Agency tactical document associated with the case reportedly noted uncertainty over whether Brar was attempting to leverage his split from the Bishnoi organisation to expand his own operations. The document also referred to intelligence concerning the use of names associated with the Bishnoi network in extortion cases, particularly in Alberta.
The issue comes against a wider backdrop of Canadian investigations into alleged links between organised crime and Indian nationals operating in Canada.
A classified Canadian intelligence report obtained by Global News earlier this year alleged that the Bishnoi organisation had developed an operational presence in Canada and had exploited immigration pathways, including student visas, to facilitate the movement of young recruits. Those allegations form part of an ongoing law-enforcement picture rather than proof that every person associated with such pathways was involved in criminal activity.
Brar is wanted in India in connection with the 2022 killing of Punjabi singer and politician Sidhu Moose Wala. Indian authorities have for years linked him to the Bishnoi criminal network.
The latest documents have therefore revived questions about the international reach of organised crime groups originating in India and their alleged use of extortion, recruitment and violence in Canada.
Canadian and Indian authorities have increasingly focused on such networks as part of broader efforts to tackle transnational organised crime.
The contents of the 2025 letter are significant primarily because they provide an insight into the threats allegedly being made to Canadian law-enforcement authorities. However, claims made by a person presenting themselves as a gang leader should not automatically be treated as an independently verified assessment of the actual size or capability of a criminal organisation.
This is a web generated news report
