The FBI on the evening of July 7 announced a reward of up to $50,000 in exchange for information leading to the arrest of a man allegedly involved in organized criminal activity across the United States, particularly in California, and Canada.
Satinderjeet Singh is accused of being part of the “Lawrence Bishnoi Organized Crime Group,” which committed “a variety of violent acts” across the country, the FBI said. It stated that Singh, accused of being the group’s leader, has ties in Fresno and Sacramento, California, as well as in Canada, India, and Mexico.
“These acts include assassinations of political and religious figures, shootings, murders, kidnappings, extortions, assaults, and the trafficking of narcotics and weapons,” the FBI said.
An alert released by the FBI said that Singh, who was born in Punjab, India, and uses the alias “Goldy Brar,” is 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs about 220 pounds.
An arrest warrant was issued for him after he was charged with Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act conspiracy charges, conspiracy to distribute and possess controlled substances, and conspiracy to interfere and attempted interference with commerce by extortion, it said.
Earlier in the week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said it arrested 24 people, including 11 from California, who are connected to India-based organized crime groups and the assassination of an Indian political and religious figure in 2023 in Canada. Others were arrested in Indiana, Georgia, Canada, and Spain, according to the department.
The DOJ specifically charged Lawrence Bishnoi, the imprisoned head of an Indian criminal gang, with ordering the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
The indictment says Bishnoi directed the operation from an Indian jail cell using smuggled cellphones and provided a co-conspirator with a photograph of Nijjar and several of his addresses to facilitate the killing.
Canadian police in May 2024 arrested and charged four Indian nationals in Nijjar’s killing and have said they were probing whether the men had ties to the Indian government. The U.S. indictment does not name the alleged shooters as defendants, referring to them only as co-conspirators.
Satinderjeet Singh, a childhood friend of Bishnoi, allegedly directed the North American operations of the criminal group.
“Today’s coordinated operation strikes at the heart of three brutal transnational organizations that have terrorized families, exploited communities, and stolen lives through ruthless acts of violence in the U.S. and abroad,” Patrick Grandy, the assistant head of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, said in a July 7 statement.
“We, alongside our partners, remain steadfast in our commitment to identifying these violent organizations, disrupting their activities, and ensuring they face the justice they deserve.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
