E-Paper
Canada judge overrules decision to release Indian national from detention over Bishnoi gang links
Karamveer Singh, an alleged member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and a self-professed supporter of Khalistan, is a fugitive who fled India in 2019 while on bail in a murder case
Toronto: A Federal Court judge has reversed the decision to release an Indian national associated with the Bishnoi gang, while also being a self-professed Khalistani separatist.
That ruling came from Federal Court judge Phuong Ngo last week, cancelling the previous decisions from members of the Immigration and Refugees Board of Canada (IRB) to grant Karamveer Singh his release from immigration detention based on bonds furnished by his sisters and brother-in-law. The ruling in response to an appeal on behalf of Canada’s Minister of Public Safety against the IRB decision, as the judge also deemed the source of funds to be dubious.
In the ruling, the judge said the respondent was a “foreign national and citizen of India, who is also a fugitive wanted by Indian authorities following a murder charge in 2012” and also “allegedly a member of the Bishnoi Gang, a transnational criminal organisation operating primarily out of India, that was listed by the Government of Canada as a terrorist entity in September 2025”.
The outlet Vancouver Sun reported last week that Singh told the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) during an interview in June 2025 that “he feared returning to India because of his political opinion and activism for a separate state of Khalistan, as well as because he feared being arrested on ‘false murder charges”.
Singh fled India in 2019 after getting bail in the murder case, and arrived in the United States, where he claimed asylum. He entered Canada in January 2025 and made a refugee claim.
He has been in custody since April this year for his alleged involvement “in the extortion of Punjabi musicians”, the outlet reported, adding that an “FBI report also said he ordered the September 2024 shooting and arson at the Colwood home of music star A P Dhillon.” Colwood is a town in the province of British Columbia.
Singh faces removal proceedings in Canada.
