Surrey mayor backs premier’s request to declare India’s Lawrence Bishnoi gang a terrorist group

Surrey’s mayor is throwing her support behind the premier’s call for the federal government to have an India-based gang designated as a terrorist organization.

The RCMP has linked the Lawrence Bishnoi gang to extortions and other crimes against South Asian community members in Alberta, Ontario, and Surrey.

Last week, B.C. Premier David Eby said he would write to Prime Minister Mark Carney to ask that the gang be given the terrorist designation “to enable police to be able to use the necessary tools to investigate.”

Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke says she has also written to Carney with the same request.

Locke says a terrorism designation would give police the proper tools to fight organized crime networks and protect residents and businesses — whether the groups allegedly involved in extortion threats and other crimes are based locally or internationally.

She says she’s also asked the provincial minister of public safety and solicitor general, Garry Begg, to establish a public phone line for tips.

“Sadly, not everybody is calling police when they get these issues, but we need something so that people can start to feel confident… I think we all have to question, why are people in our city, in our province, in our country afraid to call the authorities? That’s a big problem. People must report,” said Locke.

Meanwhile, Brampton, Ont., Mayor Patrick Brown said he’s “cautiously optimistic” about the chances of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang being named a terrorist group after meeting with federal Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree last week.

Brown said the gang has become more brazen in Brampton, and local police have spotted vehicles with Bishnoi-affiliated decals in the Ontario city.

Asked about Eby’s request on June 18, Anandasangaree said national security officials “continuously” review whether criminal organizations meet the legal threshold to be named as terrorist groups.

The Criminal Code defines terrorist activity as a violent act that is, in whole or in part, committed for political, ideological, or religious purposes and is meant to intimidate a segment of the public.

Lawrence Bishnoi has been in an Indian prison since 2015 and has more than two dozen criminal cases pending against him. He has been accused of orchestrating violent acts of extortion while incarcerated, using a cellphone.

Once a group is listed as a terrorist entity in Canada, any property owned by the group can be frozen by the government, and law enforcement can deploy additional tools to probe crimes associated with financing, travel, and recruitment.

Locke says she’s conferred with Brown about the issue.

She’s calling for a national dashboard to support the flow of information about alleged gang crimes.

“So that information goes from Brampton to Surrey, from Surrey to Brampton, to Edmonton, to wherever. Immediately. We need that. We need to make sure that we are doing everything that we can to make that flow of information very quick and in real time — not waiting for sometimes hours or days,” said Locke.

—With files from Srushti Gangdev

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