Explained: History Of Punjab-Gangs Of Young Adults Based In Canada Of Punjabi Ethnic Group

Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, also known as Sidhu Moose Wala, was shot dead on Sunday evening while traveling in the Jawaharke village in the state's Mansa district. The murder of a singer turned politician in the state of Punjab has stirred up outrage.

According to Punjab police, the attack on Sidhu Moose Wala was carried out by Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar and his gang member Lawrence Bishnoi. According to local authorities, Moosewala's death was the consequence of an inter-gang dispute.

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"The Lawrence Bishnoi gang is responsible for this assassination. A gang member has accepted responsibility from Canada "According to Punjab DGP VK Bhawra.

What are Punjab gangs based in Canada?

According to reports, Punjabi-Canadian criminal gangs are formed in a community-based in Canada and are primarily made up of young individuals of Punjabi ethnic origin.

These gangs are collectively among the leading three significant homegrown organised crime challenges in Canada, trailing only the Italian-Canadian Mafia and Asian organised Triad crime collectives.

According to the 2004 RCMP British Columbia Yearly Police Report, they are the 3rd most organised and sophisticated criminal organisation in British Columbia, only after the outlaw motorcycle clubs and the previously cited Asian criminal organisations including the Triads drug gangs.

According to a report, from 2006 to 2014, 34 South Asians accounted for 21.3 percent of clan-related casualties in British Columbia.

The Inception

These groups prospered because local residents saw them as protectors. According to the Tribune, Pape Avenue in downtown Toronto was once the center of the Punjabi public before it expanded to Brampton and Mississauga a few years ago.

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"On Pape Avenue, the Punjabi population used to have a shelter home. People reaching Canada used to first stay there before finding their own accommodation but local residents reportedly harassed them. When confronted by these Punjabis, it turned out to be a serious fight between the two. From there, some of these Punjabi youth saw a potential to benefit," says the same report.

These criminal gangs have grown significantly over the ages. According to reports, 165 people have died in gang wars in this city since the 1990s.

Bindy Johal, widely regarded as the first significant Punjabi-Canadian crime leader, was the mastermind behind the notorious "The Elite," a criminal gang that allegedly committed over 30 murders. This group was responsible for the murders of the Dosanjh brothers, Ron and Jimmy.

In the early nineties, the Dosanjh brothers were thought among the 1st structured Indo-Canadian criminal groups in Vancouver. Johal, too, was assassinated in 1998 by his close former associate, Bal Buttar. Buttar was also attacked, but he managed to escape.

What are the various Punjabi criminal groups?

British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario have the most organised Indo-Canadian criminal squad in existence. Brothers Keepers Gang was Formed by Gavinder Singh Grewal, the majority of its members and leaders previously comprised the Red Scorpions leadership, but divided off to constitute their own gang and reportedly targeted surviving Red Scorpions members throughout British Columbia towns.

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Excluding a few groups, the Punjabi Mafia group, which was originally considered liberal in its affiliation, has become more ethnocentric over years. The group is loosely associated and made up of many groups that may or may not cooperate. Dosanjhs, Johals, Adiwals, Cheemas, Buttars, Dhaks, Duhres, and others are among these groups. These gangs are still functional and well known in Vancouver, where they have been since the early to mid-1990s.

The Punjabi Mafia was initially formed by Ranjit Cheema, the Dosanjh Brothers, and Robbie Kandola, with Bindy Johal controlling a warring group before his demise.

The Sanghera Crime Gang, formed by Uddham Singh Sanghera, was accused by police of mainly being in charge of more than 100 shooting incidents during the Vancouver gang war in 2009. The Vancouver Police Unit has targeted and, in many cases, been able to detain their gang members. Even though residues of the gangs are said to be operative, the authorities have convicted associates of the Sanghera family to jail sentences.

But who exactly is Lawrence Bishnoi? We take a closer look.

The "Lawrence Bishnoi" gang

Lawrence Bishnoi, 31, has been imprisoned in Rajasthan's Bharatpur prison since 2017, charged with crimes including attempted murder, trespassing, theft, harassment, and other.

The "gangster," who is from the Bishnoi community, which considers blackbucks sacred, came to popularity when one of his gang members was detained in 2018 who revealed intentions to eliminate Bollywood superstar Salman Khan, allegedly at Lawrence's request. Salman Khan was found guilty in the 1998 blackbuck hunting case, and Lawrence's associates asserted that Lawrence desired to "avenge Khan's killing of blackbucks," according to The Indian Express in 2020.

According to reports, Bishnoi was a youth leader at Punjab University. His father was a police officer with the Punjab Police Department. Bishnoi is charged with several murder cases in Rajasthan and Punjab, and his group is as infamous as he is.

Lawrence Bishnoi and his gang member Satinder Singh, alias Goldy Brar, turned up in the Moose Wala assassination case after the two held responsibility in 2 different posts on their respective Facebook timeline.

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Bishnoi was taken into custody in 2017 and has been imprisoned in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, since then, yet he continues to run his criminal gang from behind bars. According to the Indian Express, Bishnoi was charged with attempted murder in 2010. In 2011, a lawsuit of armed robbery was also registered in his name. He reportedly had ties to gangster-turned-politician Jaswinder Singh, who'd been assassinated in 2016.

Bishnoi's closest associate, Goldy Brar, is believed to be rooted in Canada. He is "wanted" in multiple cases, and a court in Punjab's Faridkot province released an open-ended non-bailable arrest warrant for Goldy Brar in 2021 in connection with the murder of Youth Congress politician Gurlal Singh Pehalwan.

Aides of the Lawrence Bishnoi group have a history of committing crimes in Delhi, Rajasthan, Punjab, and Haryana. The group has recently attempted to extend its area of control from Punjab, Rajasthan, and Delhi to Gurugram.

"Today, Moose Wala was assassinated in Punjab, and I, Sachin Bishnoi, and Lawrence Bishnoi take the responsibility. It's our work. Moose Wala's name was mentioned in the murders of our brothers Vikramjit Singh Middukhera and Gurlal Brar, but no action was taken against him by the Punjab Police. We also learned that Moose Wala was involved in our associate Ankit Bhadu's encounter. Moose Wala was working against us. Delhi Police had taken his name, but Moose Wala used his political power to save his skin each time," Goldy wrote on his social media handle.

Previous attacks on Punjabi singers

Sampat Nehra, who is also a close associate with the Bishnoi gang, told police about the alleged Salman Khan plot, and Kala Jathedi, who was arrested under the MCOCA Act by the Delhi Police Special Cell and is presently on the run.

Nehra, the son of a retired Chandigarh policeman, had also taken responsibility for an April 2018 attack in which Punjabi vocalist Parmish Verma was shot. The 31-year-old singer was shot at as he returned home from a performance at a mall in Chandigarh. The attackers followed Parmish's SUV and opened fire on him and his friend, Kulwant Singh Chahal. Parmish and Kulwant were both injured in the legs.

According to the police, the singer was attacked because he refused to comply with gangsters' extortion demands.

Just as the industry was about to recover from the singer's shooting incident last year, which forced the postponement of some of his projects, news of Punjabi singer Karan Aujla being attacked in Canada shocked everyone. The event was initially blamed on the Punjab-based Bambiha gang. However, they soon refused their own claims.

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