Last fall, Harsimran Singh was on his way to bring 15,000 fans to Stockton for an international tournament of the ancient Indian game of Kabaddi.
Then, suddenly, the athletes started walking out.
They seemed to be making excuses to avoid the World Cup of Sports. As president of the American Kabaddi Federation, Singh was deeply shocked by the increase in cancellations. He started pressing for answers.
They learned from the athletes and then from law enforcement officials that someone was threatening the players to decide the outcome of the event. He received calls from gangsters, many of whom were serving time in Indian prisons, who instructed him not to participate, and warned him of consequences if he disobeyed orders.
Harsimran Singh said, “The players were very scared; if they had received a call, they did not want to go against the gangsters. They were not ready to play because they did not want to compromise their safety and the safety of their families.”
Singh’s bullying at the tournament was not an isolated incident. As they understood, this was part of a much larger wave of international threats, extortion and violence targeting Indian and Punjabi Sikhs across California.
The method is straightforward: A gang member calls the victim and demands money. If they refuse, a criminal network makes threats or carries out attacks against their relatives, families or businesses – whether in the United States or India.
More than 250,000 Sikhs live in California, the largest population in the US. Like other members of the Indian diaspora, they maintain strong ties to India, with many regularly traveling to visit their families or ancestral homes.
California law enforcement agencies say the combination of wealth, tight relationships and cross-border movement has made them attractive targets for criminal networks with roots in India’s northern and western states – Punjab, Haryana, New Delhi and Rajasthan.
Police in India told CalMatters that gangs often target “real estate developers, liquor contractors, transporters and local businessmen” – people with high incomes or assets. “One of the primary reasons is the large number of Indian expatriates in California, which provide a degree of anonymity and social cover,” a spokesman for an organized crime task force in the Indian state of Haryana said in a written statement.
The FBI Sacramento Field Office began sounding the alarm as early as May 2024, urging members of the Central Valley’s Indian community to report this type of shakedown.
“In recent extortion attempts, individuals demanded large sums of money and threatened physical violence or death if demands were not met,” the FBI said in a statement at the time.
At least two murders in California have been linked to a criminal network targeting the Indian diaspora. Two suspected members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang – described by the FBI as India’s most wanted criminal organization – were killed in Stockton and Fresno, according to local law enforcement agencies.
San Joaquin County Sheriff Patrick Withrow said the criminal pattern was completely unlike a network with domestic roots. “Most of them have an international sort of link, where it extends to India because threats are being made to family members and businesses there,” he said.
Withrow explained that the initial demands were deliberately calibrated to avoid a police response. “They usually start with an amount between $4,000 and $7,000 – they believe that’s a limit someone can pay and still not be contacted by the police,” Withrow said. “Victim families are sometimes paid with the calculation that a payment will also protect their families and businesses in India and the United States.”
It rarely works out that way. “Most of the time, after a few months, the extortion team will come back and demand more money again,” Withrow said.
Withrow said his office has been receiving about two extortion-related cases per month over the past year or two. His office arrested eight alleged members of a gang in July Pavitra Preet SinghWho faces charges related to firearms violations, assault and murders in India.
India’s most wanted
At the center of the criminal operation, the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, commonly known as the Bishnoi Gang, has members across India, the United States and Canada.
The leader of the Bishnoi gang, Lawrence Bishnoi, is imprisoned in an Indian prison, but federal investigators Recent criminal indictments say he continued to direct his global network of extortion and targeted killings, using encrypted messaging applications, cross-border coordination and a cadre of US-based associates to extort victims in both countries.
Investigators believe that Lawrence Bishnoi is able to access contraband cellphones and monitor the criminal activities of the Bishnoi gang, despite Indian authorities detaining him.
According to the FBI, in December 2023, Lawrence Bishnoi contacted an extortion victim in person via an audio call, then turned on his camera to have the victim confirm his identity. The victim took a screenshot, which is a rare documentary evidence directly linking Lawrence Bishnoi to the extortion threat.
The FBI found that members and associates of the US-based Bishnoi gang regularly used WhatsApp and Signal to make threats and demands to victims in India. “If victims do not pay, Bishnoi gang members and associates arrange for their members in India to conduct shootings at victims, their associates, their residences and their businesses,” the federal agency said in a November indictment against an alleged gang member.
According to the FBI, in November 2024, Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Anmol Bishnoi, Lawrence Bishnoi’s younger brother, in Nebraska.
Indian officials’ allegations He played a central role in two of India’s most sensational murders: the murder of globally acclaimed Punjabi rapper Sidhu Moose Wala in Punjab in May 2022 and the murder of Baba Saddiqui, a prominent politician and former minister of state for Maharashtra.
Within weeks of Anmol’s arrest, Sunil YadavAn Indian national and a suspected member of the Bishnoi gang, was killed in Stockton. in fresno, Banwari Godara – a suspected associate of the Bishnoi gang – was fatally shot near a truck repair yard on October 18.
The killings took an international turn in January, when Indian authorities announced the arrest of four suspects allegedly responsible for two of the murders. According to Indian investigatorsThe suspects were members of a gang that is a rival of Bishnoi. Investigators believe the suspects fled to the United States after the murders. Law enforcement agencies in California have not announced arrests or suspects in the murders.
Sacramento County police are linking Indian-based gangs to 20 shootings over the past four years, according to sheriff’s Detective Steve Hernandez.
Enforcement actions continued throughout 2025 with numerous arrests reported by the FBI and California Highway Patrol. In April 2025, FBI Director Kash Patel The arrest was trumped by FBI Sacramento Harpeet Singh, whom Patel described as an alleged terrorist responsible for attacks in Punjab, was also linked to two international terrorist groups.
A California-based Sikh businessman told CalMatters that he has received an extortion demand from a member of the Central Valley-based Bishnoi gang. He said on the condition of anonymity that the victim has been receiving calls for the last two and a half months because he is receiving threats.
At one point, he said, the gangster demanded $1 million.
He said, “It has had a psychological impact on my life; it has restricted me, and if I had to travel to India I could not move around freely.” The man has reported the threats to Fresno police and the FBI.
The victim received threats till Canada
One of the most recent cases involves Jasmeet Singh, an Indian national who was living in the Stockton and Fresno areas when he allegedly made multiple threats against a victim who had relocated to Canada from India, according to an indictment filed in federal court in December.
After moving to Canada, the victim retained an Indian phone number. Months later, Jasmeet Singh The indictment says he obtained that number to initiate a series of threats via phone calls and voice messages, and became angry after learning that the victim had cooperated with Indian law enforcement.
Jasmeet Singh.
(United States District Court for the Eastern District of California)
Jasmeet Singh reportedly identified the victim’s vehicle as a white Range Rover, indicating surveillance capabilities spanning international borders.
According to the indictment, Jasmeet Singh told the victim, “You’re going to die in Canada. I won’t even leave you able to go to India.”
Jasmeet Singh said in a voice message sent that day, “Go to whoever you want to complain to, complain there too. We will kill you there too.”
Although Jasmeet Singh did not directly mention the Lawrence Bishnoi gang by name during those alleged calls, the FBI concluded that the nature and context of the threats – particularly references to the victim’s cooperation with law enforcement – indicated Jasmeet Singh’s association with the gang.
The investigation was initiated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who initially flagged Jasmeet Singh’s conduct and shared information with their American counterparts, leading to an FBI investigation.
He was arrested in December and taken into federal custody awaiting trial. His next court date is in May. His attorney has not responded to CalMatters’ requests for comment.
Naindeep Singh, Executive Director jakara movementA prominent California-based Sikh advocacy group has alleged international extortion gangs have been active in the state for some time.
Many Sikh community members “prefer to remain silent out of fear of retribution against them, their bodies, their businesses, and their loved ones in the United States or India,” Naindeep Singh said.
The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office and the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office acknowledged this under-reporting. A spokesperson for the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said, “We believe there are more crimes being committed than we have.”
Naindeep Singh and other members of the community have contacted Fresno police and federal agents to warn them about extortion attempts.
security in kabaddi tournament
In Stockton, Harsimran Singh sat in his business office, explaining to a visitor that his World Cup program finally went ahead.
The sport, partly tag and partly wrestling, has been plagued by a series of murders of players and various organized crime groups in India in recent years, even as its popularity has grown in California.
American Kabaddi Federation President Harsimran Singh in his office at a trucking yard in Stockton.
(Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters)
Harsimran Singh believes that the Jaggu Bhagwanpuria gang targeted his tournament. Its leader Jaggu is in Bhagwanpura jail in India.
“Law enforcement officials also wanted us to be careful, and we had to assign a lot of security personnel and make sure everything ran smoothly,” he said.
Police and FBI agents came to help the private guards, even though Harsimran Singh never filed a formal complaint with them.
Harsimran Singh said, “We do not want to indulge in any activity that can cause damage to our property or our lives. We would like to avoid that.”
Security remained intact.
