Man accused in Nijjar’s assassination put on FBI most-wanted list

LOS ANGELES — A man charged in connection with the 2023 assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia has been added to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s ten most-wanted list.

Satinderjeet Singh, who is also known as Goldy Brar, was charged in July with ordering the killing of the Sikh activist outside a temple in Surrey, B.C.

The FBI is offering a reward of up to US$1 million for information leading to his capture.

“The inclusion of this defendant on the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list underscores this administration’s determination to bring the full force of the law upon transnational criminal gangs,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli in a news release.

“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.”

The FBI said Singh is allegedly part of the Bishnoi enterprise and served as its North American leader. He is based in the United States but is also known to frequent Western Canada.

Patrick Grandy, FBI assistant director in charge of the Los Angeles field office, said Singh and the Bishnoi group are allegedly involved in violent acts, including assassinations of political and religious figures, shootings, murders, kidnappings, extortions, assaults, and the trafficking of narcotics and weapons.

“This criminal gang engaged in violent activity in each country in which it operated, including the United States, and used violence to cultivate a climate of fear, particularly in India and among the Indian diaspora communities worldwide,” Grandy said at a news conference in Los Angeles.

The Canadian government last year designated the Bishnoi group as a terrorist entity.

RCMP Deputy Commissioner of Federal Policing Lisa Moreland said Singh and his network have inflicted “devastating havoc on countless lives” through high-profile murders, death threats, extortion and drug trafficking.

“His addition to this prominent and very public list means the world just became a whole lot smaller,” she said a the Los Angeles press conference. “It puts his face in front of millions of people around the world and speaks to the extreme severity of the crimes he commits and dictates.”

As part of “Operation Hard Ball,” police in Canada, the United States and Europe arrested 24 suspects in July in connection with offences by India-based organized crime groups, including Nijjar’s high-profile murder.

Law enforcement said Singh was the lieutenant for Lawrence Bishnoi, a gangster who is in prison in India. Both are charged with ordering the assassination of Nijjar, which triggered a diplomatic uproar.

Then-prime minister Justin Trudeau told the House of Commons in 2023 that there was credible intelligence linking India’s government to the killing, an explosive allegation which ultimately prompted both countries to expel diplomats.

In May 2024, four Indian nationals were charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder in relation to Nijjar’s killing.

Nijjar, who was 45 when he died, was a supporter of an independent Sikh state known as Khalistan, and his followers have maintained that the Indian government was involved in the death.

The case is now before the B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 28, 2026.

— By Kelly Geraldine Malone in Washington with files from Darryl Greer in Vancouver.

The Canadian Press