Punjab-based gangster Jaggu Bhagwanpuria—who has been named by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) as the head of a transnational criminal syndicate— was shifted to a prison in Assam’s Silchar last year after reports emerged that he wielded “significant influence” over prison staff while lodged in Bathinda Central Jail and continued to communicate freely with his associates, according to the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
The US DOJ described the Bhagwanpuria gang as a transnational criminal syndicate based in India, with over 1,000 members worldwide—including more than 100 in the US—and networks across North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. It alleges the group expanded its influence by corrupting Indian law enforcement officials, using false crime reports to target rivals, trigger baseless criminal cases, and facilitate extortion.
A serving Punjab Police officer has also been accused of working with the syndicate, which allegedly engaged in racketeering, targeted killings, extortion, and large-scale narcotics trafficking across multiple countries. The officer has been accused of being hand-in-glove with members of the Bhagwanpuria gang to target perceived rivals with false accusations and demands for money.
Bhagwanpuria, whose real name is Jagdeep Singh, is lodged in Silchar jail under the stringent Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (PITNDPS) Act, which allows authorities to detain habitual drug traffickers for up to two years and provides for attaching their properties and those of their associates.
The NCB, which secured Bhagwanpuria’s PITNDPS detention order on March 21, 2025, said in its report that while lodged in Bathinda Central Jail, he wielded “significant influence” over prison staff and continued to communicate freely with associates in India, Canada and the US to run his drug trafficking network.
{{/usCountry}}The NCB, which secured Bhagwanpuria’s PITNDPS detention order on March 21, 2025, said in its report that while lodged in Bathinda Central Jail, he wielded “significant influence” over prison staff and continued to communicate freely with associates in India, Canada and the US to run his drug trafficking network.
{{/usCountry}}“The PITNDPS used in Bhagwanpuria’s case was based on a late 2024 intelligence report, which highlighted how the 38-year-old man was influential in Bhatinda jail. It was based on this probe that 26 jail officers across Punjab jails linked to this network were later suspended,” an officer aware of the matter said. “There was evidence that the man was in regular touch with jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, US-based Darman Kahlon and Canada-based Goldy Brar from Bhatinda jail and was using more than one phone for this.”
The officer added that Bhagwanpuria does not have a passport and has never left India.
According to US intelligence agency FBI, Bhagwanpuria personally supervised the organisation’s international operations from jail. Members allegedly remitted portions of earnings from narcotics trafficking, extortion and murder-for-hire operations to him and other associates based in India.
From its roots in Punjab, investigators claim, the organisation expanded into an international crime network with operatives across multiple countries.
A native of Bhagwanpur village in Gurdaspur district, Bhagwanpuria allegedly began as a petty chain snatcher before entering organised crime around 2011. His first criminal case, registered in 2012 by the Mattewal police in Amritsar, involved the alleged recovery of 28 grams of heroin. He was later acquitted. Since then, at least 127 more criminal cases have been registered against him.
According to the Punjab Police, Bhagwanpuria was once associated with the gangster Lawrence Bishnoi-Goldy Brar network and was named as a key conspirator in the murder of singer Sidhu Moosewala. However, police investigations later suggested that he split from Bishnoi and Brar after the high-profile killing and began operating an independent network starting in 2022.
The FBI identifies international narcotics trafficking as the syndicate’s primary source of revenue.
Investigators allege that Bhagwanpuria’s network not only trafficked cocaine and methamphetamine for its own members but also functioned as a logistics provider for other drug trafficking organisations. Bulk consignments were allegedly transported through passenger vehicles, long-haul trucks and cross-border routes into Canada.
Bhagwanpuria’s mother, Harjit Kaur, a sarpanch was killed along with his cousin in June 2025.