Former SHO of Tanda police station is accused of conspiring with Lawrence Bishnoi and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria gangs to extort a Los Angeles-based family
18 July, 2026 – Chandigarh : The Hoshiarpur police have arrested Punjab Police Inspector Gurinderjit Singh Nagra, the former Station House Officer (SHO) of Tanda police station, who has been accused in an international extortion case targeting an Indian-origin family in the United States.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had, on February 7, named Nagra in connection with an alleged international extortion racket.
According to US authorities, Nagra was involved in a $400,000 extortion plot and allegedly worked in connivance with the Lawrence Bishnoi and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria gangs to target families based in the United States.
Following reports alleging his involvement in the FBI probe, the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Hoshiarpur, had ordered his immediate transfer to the Police Lines.
A senior police official, requesting anonymity, confirmed the arrest and said further details would be shared later in the day as the investigation was still in progress.
Nagra’s arrest comes a day after the FBI arrested India-linked gangster Nitish Kaushal alias “Lala”, barely two days after placing him on its Most Wanted list for his alleged role in a Punjab-origin transnational organised crime syndicate.
A 44-page federal indictment, unsealed in Los Angeles as part of the FBI’s Operation Hard Ball, alleged that members of the Jaggu Bhagwanpuria gang were paid as little as Rs 20,000 to carry out murders in certain parts of India.
The chargesheet also alleged the involvement of corrupt government officials, including Gurinderjit Singh Nagra, then SHO of Tanda police station in Hoshiarpur. It accused him of conspiring with the gang to extort $400,000 from a Los Angeles-based family by threatening to implicate their relatives in Punjab in false criminal cases.
The indictment further alleged that the network was involved in murder-for-hire, extortion, racketeering, narcotics trafficking, firearms offences and kidnappings while operating across India, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
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According to investigators, more than 24 suspects have been arrested, dozens of search warrants executed, and around 1,000 kg of cocaine, 1 kg of heroin, firearms and cash seized. Several suspects remain absconding.
The Tribune