Federal prosecutors have charged the alleged leader of an Indian organized crime group and eight associates in a sweeping racketeering case that links the organization to the 2023 killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, expanding a U.S. investigation into what authorities describe as a global criminal enterprise.

The indictment, unsealed Tuesday in federal court in Los Angeles, accuses Lawrence Bishnoi, the alleged head of the "Bishnoi Gang," and co-defendant Satinderjit Singh Brar of ordering the June 18, 2023, assassination of Nijjar, who was fatally shot outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia. Prosecutors identify the victim as "H.S.N.," matching Nijjar's initials.

Nijjar was a prominent advocate for an independent Sikh homeland known as Khalistan, a movement opposed by the Indian government. India had designated him a terrorist, an allegation rejected by his supporters. 

His killing triggered a diplomatic crisis after then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly alleged there were credible allegations linking Indian government agents to the assassination. India has repeatedly denied involvement.

According to the indictment, two unnamed co-conspirators carried out the shooting while Bishnoi directed the operation from India.

The indictment also alleges Bishnoi publicly claimed responsibility for another violent attack in Canada.

"On November 25, 2023, defendant Bishnoi claimed responsibility on behalf of the 'Lawrence Bishnoi Group' for a shooting that occurred on November 24, 2023 in Vancouver, Canada at the residence of R.G., a prominent Indian actor and singer, in an online post to Facebook that warned, in Punjabi, 'no one can save you from us,'" the indictment says.

Although Bishnoi has been jailed in India since 2015, prosecutors allege he continued directing the criminal organization from prison using illicit communications.

"Using contraband cellphones and other voice over internet protocol devices smuggled into his jail cell, defendant Bishnoi personally directed political assassinations, murders, shootings, extortions, kidnappings, drug trafficking, human smuggling, and other crimes committed by members and associates of the Bishnoi OCG worldwide," the indictment says.

Prosecutors allege Brar, described as Bishnoi's childhood friend, oversaw the organization's North American operations and helped coordinate the Nijjar killing.

The charges come as U.S. authorities continue investigating alleged efforts to target Sikh separatists in North America.

Federal prosecutors previously charged Indian national Nikhil Gupta in connection with an alleged murder-for-hire plot targeting Sikh activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York. Gupta pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiracy charges. Former Indian intelligence officer Vikash Yadav also has been charged in that case and remains at large. U.S. prosecutors have alleged Yadav directed the plot, while India has denied directing overseas assassination operations.

Pannun, a leader of Sikhs for Justice and a close associate of Nijjar, said Tuesday the latest indictment should not end with charges against members of the alleged crime syndicate.

"Justice cannot stop with the jailed gangsters, the triggermen, or the intermediaries," Pannun said. "The trail of evidence leads directly to the highest echelons of the Indian government."

The Los Angeles indictment charges the defendants with offenses including racketeering conspiracy, extortion conspiracy and drug-trafficking conspiracy. Prosecutors separately announced indictments against members of two other alleged Indian organized crime groups as part of what officials described as a broader effort to dismantle transnational criminal networks operating in the United States and abroad.