Accused Bishnoi gang boss in Canada Goldy Brar targeted by $1M bounty on FBI's Top Ten Wanted list

An alleged Indian gangster once based in Canada and accused of arranging the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C., has been placed on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list with a $1-million bounty for his capture.

Satinderjeet Singh, 32, better known as Goldy Brar, is accused of being the North American leader of the Lawrence Bishnoi crime group, which police say has terrorized Canadian communities through murder, extortion, shootings, arson and threats.

The FBI said Brar is considered “extremely violent, armed, and dangerous.” He is known to reside in California and various parts of Canada.

“The FBI and our partners have made it our priority to apprehend him, which is why we’re adding him to the FBI’s list of Top Ten fugitives and offering a reward of up to $1 million dollars for his capture,” said FBI Los Angeles Field Office Assistant Director in Charge Patrick Grandy on Monday.

“The amount of attention this list will bring to his face and description cannot be overstated; his photo will be found on every FBI-affiliated website and social media platform and will be publicized on every phone around the world until he’s caught,” Grandy said.

A U.S. indictment in July accused Brar of being a key underboss of Lawrence Bishnoi, accused of being a powerful gangster who despite being imprisoned in his native India retains control of a large criminal enterprise with a global reach.

Brar was a childhood friend of Bishnoi’s and an associate from their university days in India before Brar moved to Canada. According to the indictment, Bishnoi empowered Brar and another underboss to speak for him while he was jailed and to direct Bishnoi’s soldiers worldwide.

The U.S. indictment accuses Bishnoi and Brar of ordering the 2023 killing of Nijjar, who was ambushed by gunmen as he left a Sikh temple in Surrey, B.C., on June 18, 2023. The assassination seemed deeply political: Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, was an outspoken critic of the Indian government and a leader in the Khalistan movement, which seeks to create an independent homeland for Sikhs in India’s Punjab region.

In October 2024 at Canada’s foreign interference commission hearings, then-prime minister Justin Trudeau directly named Bishnoi as a criminal connection between the Indian government and violence in Canada. That testimony followed Trudeau’s explosive comments in the House of Commons in 2023 alleging that agents of India’s government were involved in Nijjar’s murder, which decidedly soured Canada’s relations with India.

Indian officials have denied involvement in the attack.

Canada designated the Bishnoi enterprise as a terrorist entity last year.

RCMP Deputy Commissioner Lisa Moreland supported the heightened pressure for Brar’s apprehension.

“Goldy Brar and his network have wreaked devastating havoc on countless lives — through high-profile murders, shootings, death threats, extortion, arson, and drug trafficking,” she said in a written release issued by the FBI.

“His addition to the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list speaks to the collective resolve to capture him. The RCMP is committed to continue working with partners in the FBI to bring Goldy Brar to justice.”

U.S. officials said Monday that Brar is based in the United States and leads the North American operations of the Bishnoi gang. Bishnoi gangsters most often targeted the India diaspora living abroad.

The U.S. Top Ten listing stems from a federal U.S. probe started in Los Angeles into Indian organized crime groups, called Operation Hardball.

In 2024 to 2025, Bishnoi gangsters are accused of stealing more than 500 kilograms of cocaine in the Los Angeles area from rival drug trafficking gangs. The operation tackled three India-based transnational crime groups.

A U.S. indictment charges Brar with racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to interfere and attempted interference with commerce by extortion, and conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances.

Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, says adding him to the wanted list shows the priority the U.S. government has in confronting transnational crime.

“Working together with law enforcement in Canada, Europe, and Asia, we will continue to hunt down thugs such as ‘Goldy Brar’ and ensure they never see the outside of a prison again,” Essayli said.

Interpol has issued a Red Norice alert for Brar on behalf of the Indian government and Canada placed him as a top wanted fugitive in 2023 through the BOLO Program.

Brar is 32 years old, 5-foot-9, with black hair and brown eyes.

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