Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown is calling on the federal government to declare the India-based Lawrence Bishnoi gang a terrorist group, citing their connection to violent crimes in the Peel region.
Brown tells Now Toronto that the criminal network has been involved in many crimes in Peel region over the past year, and says it’s time for the federal government to step in.
“We’ve seen activities of very serious crime, extortions, murders that this gang is involved in,” Brown said.
The mayor says the gang has more than 700 shooters internationally, and insists that they are a threat to the region’s public safety.
“They’re predatory in nature, and take advantage of some of those most vulnerable in our community, and they’re well resourced,” he said.
The gang’s presence stretches far beyond the GTA. Brown’s calls come days after British Columbia Premier David Eby also urged Ottawa to make the move, citing the gang’s connection with criminal activity in the province’s lower mainland.
Brown says Peel police have already apprehended individuals associated with the group, and says designating the group as a terrorist organization would give police the “tools” to further combat them.
“What the designation does is it gives additional investigative powers…. by declaring them a criminal entity, it makes it easier, faster, quicker for police to investigate,” the mayor said.
Brown says through a designation there would also be greater collaboration with national intelligence agencies.
Earlier this week Brown, alongside Chief of Peel Police Nishan Duraiappah, met with officials in Ottawa, including the Prime Minister’s office about the region’s concerns.
“I thought it was important to really clearly state threats that we face with transnational crime in the GTA,” he said. “I would say I’m cautiously optimistic they understand the severity of the threat we face, and I’m hopeful that a designation will be coming.”
Following Eby’s comments, the World Sikh Organization of Canada (WSO) also spoke out against the group, and says it supports the listing of the gang as terrorists, and says the gang is being used as a “proxy” by the Indian government.
“Premier Eby’s request for a terrorist designation is an essential first step that will give police stronger investigative tools and allow them to freeze the gang’s assets, sending a clear signal that state-sponsored violence has no place in Canada,” the WSO said in a press release earlier this week.
Brown says due to threats and acts of extortion, and several shootings and murders linked to the group, Peel residents have grown worrisome.
“What I want them to know is I can do everything I can to make sure law enforcement has every tool at their disposal to combat this,” he said.
