Operation Hardball: Punjab SHO tried to extort $400k from US family

Police inspector Gurinderjit Singh Nagra allegedly worked with members of Bhagwanpuria’s gang and tried to extort roughly $400,000 (around ₹3.81 crore) from a family in the US by threatening to frame their relatives in Punjab for murder, US attorney Bill Essayli said at a press briefing.

Published on: Jul 9, 2026, 08:58:38 IST

By Neeraj Chauhan, Shashank Mattoo, Washington/Chandigarh/Jalandhar

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

A Punjab police inspector has emerged as a key figure in an investigation into India-linked organised crime groups by federal agencies in the US, Canada, and Europe, according to US law enforcement officials and court documents unsealed on Tuesday.

Police inspector Gurinderjit Singh Nagra allegedly worked with members of Bhagwanpuria’s gang and tried to extort roughly $400,000 (around ₹3.81 crore) from a family in the US by threatening to frame their relatives in Punjab for murder, US attorney Bill Essayli said at a press briefing.

The announcement was part of Operation Hard Ball, a sweeping crackdown by US and Canadian authorities against criminal networks that stretched from Punjab to California, executing indictments filed in US courts against notorious gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi, Jaggu Bhagwanpuria and Ravinder Singh Dhanda.

So far, 24 have been arrested and 37 charged in the operation.

US prosecutors said they would push for Nagra’s extradition after he is arrested.

“We have charged him, and we will extradite him into the U.S.,” Essayli said of Nagra’s extradition during Tuesday’s press conference.

As news of his involvement became public, Punjab Police took Nagra – who was posted as the station house officer (SHO) at Tanda station in Hoshiarpur – off active duty and moved him to the police lines, and started a fact-finding inquiry.

The charges against Nagra are detailed in a 44-page indictment filed on June 25 that names Bhagwanpuria as the first defendant. The indictment, filed with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, was unveiled by U.S. authorities on July 7.

According to the indictment, in April this year, Gurlal Singh, a 22-year-old illegal immigrant from India living in Stockton, California, and an alleged member of the Bhagwanpuria syndicate, gave Nagra the name and details of a California-based target for an extortion plot built around a murder in Hoshiarpur.

On January 15, 2026, three assailants shot down Balvinder Singh, a local Aam Aadmi Party leader and owner of a hardware shop, in Miani village of Tanda sub-division. He was identified as B.S. in the indictment. A day later, gangsters Jashal Chambal and Gurlal Rudiana claimed responsibility for the murder in a social media post uploaded from Rudiana’s account.

Nagra then allegedly contacted the father of the target on April 13, threatening to frame the entire family, including the target’s sister, for the murder. On April 16, he demanded a payout, threatening to name all three as accused in the case.

In a press conference on May 24, Nagra along with deputy superintendent of police Davinder Singh Bajwa claimed to have arrested two main shooters behind the killing – Gurman Singh and Sawaraj Singh of Panj Garayian village in Gurdaspur.

Both officers claimed the suspects were linked with US-based gangster Gurlal Singh and that Balwinder’s was a contract killing, for which they were paid ₹1.80 lakh.

They said Balwinder’s daughter had a marital dispute with her husband, California-based Gurpreet Singh, who conspired to kill Balwinder. Police also formally named Gurpreet, his father Charanjit Singh, a retired assistant sub-inspector of police, and his sister in the murder case.

The US indictment, however, showed Gurpreet Singh was the target of the extortion plot, along with his father and his sister.

In the same press conference on May 24, members of the California family were accused of ordering a hit on Balwinder.

According to the indictment, Nagra continued pressuring the victims, especially Gurpreet’s sister. Nagra offered to remove the names of two of the three family members from the murder case if he received payment.

Essayli told reporters that Nagra’s final demand stood at $400,000 (approximately ₹3.81 crore).

The US indictment noted that between April 13 and June 5, Nagra tried to acquire property in Los Angeles county.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Chauhan
Neeraj Chauhan is a senior journalist with Hindustan Times and an investigative reporter specialising in national security, terrorism, organised crime, narcotics, corruption, financial crime and complex investigations. With over 21 years of experience across Hindustan Times, The Times of India, The Indian Express and The Pioneer, he has built deep expertise in India’s internal security and law-enforcement landscape. Neeraj has extensively covered India’s principal investigative, intelligence and security agencies, including the NIA, CBI, ED, IB, R&AW, MHA and other central security forces. His work has included deeply reported investigations into terrorism, terror financing, cross-border crime, narcotics trafficking, cybercrime, financial fraud and political and corporate corruption. He has reported on some of the most significant terror attacks and security developments in India over the past two decades, including the Delhi serial blasts, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the 2019 Pulwama terror attack and the recent Pahalgam attack. His reporting has also chronicled the rise and decline of the Indian Mujahideen, the activities and subsequent crackdown on the Popular Front of India (PFI), Islamist extremist networks, the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir, insurgencies in the Northeast and Maoist violence. Some of Neeraj’s major breaking stories are in Aryan Khan drug case, Sushant Singh Rajput suicide, interception of a 3,000-kg Afghan heroin consignment worth about ₹21,000 crore at Mundra port, Sri Lanka easter bombings, Aarushi-Hemraj murders in Noida, 2G scam, coal block allocation scam, AgustWestland VVIP chopper deal and major bank frauds and extradition cases involving Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya. His reporting is marked by an ability to cultivate sources, analyse confidential and complex documents, and follow investigations over several years—from the initial breakthrough to chargesheets, trials and international legal proceedings. He specialises in making complicated security and investigative developments accessible while examining their wider implications for governance and public policy. A Chevening South Asia Journalism Programme Fellow at the University of Westminster, Neeraj also spent time at the Financial Times as part of the fellowship. He was also a Robert Bosch Media Ambassadors India-Germany Fellow, studying at the University of Tübingen and working with Der Tagesspiegel in Berlin. He has previously taught investigative journalism and crime reporting as a guest faculty member at the Times School of Journalism. Over more than two decades, Neeraj has established himself as an authoritative voice on India’s national security and investigative landscape, with his reporting closely followed by officials, investigators, lawyers, policymakers and readers seeking insight into some of the country’s most complex and consequential developments.Read More
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shashank Mattoo
Shashank Mattoo is the Washington DC-based US Correspondent for Hindustan Times. Shashank covers the Trump administration, the India-US relationship and America's policies towards South Asia and the broader Indo-Pacific.Read More

Punjab Police

Get the latest India News, breaking headlines and real-time updates from across the country. Stay informed about politics, government policies, crime, weather major national developments and Karnataka Bandh LIVE.