FBI arrests Jaggu Bhagwanpuria’s aide in US amid Hard Ball crackdown
New Delhi, July 17 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) In a continuation of Operation Hard Ball, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested Nitish Kaushal, an alleged associate of jailed gangster Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, in Vermont, the USA. The arrest is part of the FBI’s ongoing investigation and crackdown on organised crime syndicates linked to gangsters of Indian origin.
Kaushal’s arrest came just two days after the FBI placed him on its Most Wanted list.
“Nitish Kaushal is wanted by the FBI for his alleged involvement in a transnational criminal organisation engaged in, among other things, acts involving murder, kidnapping, drug trafficking, extortion, weapons trafficking, money laundering, and human smuggling. This organisation originated in the Punjab state of India and operated in the Central District of California and elsewhere,” the FBI said in a post on X.
The FBI said that the Bhagwanpuria syndicate is involved in several serious offences, including murder, kidnapping, drug trafficking, extortion, weapons smuggling, human trafficking and human smuggling.
Kaushal was part of the organisation and was involved in carrying out serious crimes, including kidnapping and assaults on behalf of the syndicate.
On June 25, the US District Court for the Central District of California had issued an arrest warrant against him. He had been charged with the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisation (RICO) Conspiracy.
Indian officials described the arrest as a welcome development, saying it would help dismantle the gangster-terror nexus. They said both networks operate in close coordination, with their activities backed by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), whose primary objective is to revive the Khalistan movement in Punjab through organised criminal and terror networks.
Operation Hard Ball, which began early this month, has been a sustained action by the FBI, and the drive aims at dismantling gangster networks. As many as 24 arrests have been made across the US, Canada and Spain so far as part of the campaign. There were also 37 indictments made in this case.
At the centre of the investigation is jailed Indian gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. US prosecutors have accused him of orchestrating murders, extortion and international drug trafficking from prison in India through smuggled mobile phones. The FBI is also searching for Bishnoi’s close aide, Goldy Brar, who carries a bounty of $50,000.
This action by the FBI and the Canadian authorities also led to a major revelation regarding the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada in June 2023.
Under then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, India was accused of being involved in the killing, an allegation New Delhi strongly denied. The row led to a sharp deterioration in diplomatic ties between the two countries. However, relations have improved significantly since Mark Carney took over as Canada’s Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on several occasions on the sidelines of international events, with the two leaders agreeing to deepen cooperation across multiple sectors, including security. India has repeatedly warned the US, Canada and several other countries about the threat posed by the gangster-terror nexus, stressing that it endangers not only India but the wider international community as well.
An Intelligence Bureau official said Operation Hard Ball has exposed the fact that these syndicates are no longer confined to one region but have grown into a transnational security concern.
“Backed by Pakistan’s ISI, these gangs have evolved into transnational criminal syndicates that pose a threat to several countries. They have expanded their drug trafficking operations and use violence and extortion to exert control over sections of the Indian diaspora,” the official said.
The official said the biggest victims of these syndicates in Canada have been members of the Indian diaspora. Those who refused to support them were threatened and targeted, while more recently even Canadian nationals have come under attack. Their activities have declined following a sustained crackdown by US and Canadian authorities. The official added that India has consistently shared actionable intelligence, which has played a key role in enabling these operations.
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