Overview
- U.S. Department of Justice and partner agencies announced Operation Hard Ball in early July, filing indictments against roughly 37 suspects, arresting dozens across the U.S., Canada and Europe, and seizing about 1,000 kilograms of narcotics, weapons and cash.
- U.S. court filings allege Lawrence Bishnoi’s network directed transnational drug trafficking, extortion and targeted killings and include claims that associates conspired in the 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a charge now in U.S. prosecutions.
- Canada’s RCMP said its own probe found no evidence linking Indian government officials to Nijjar’s killing, a finding that narrows the dispute to alleged gang activity rather than state action and may ease bilateral diplomatic tensions.
- In Ayodhya, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Trust tightened controls after investigators uncovered fake receipts and accepted resignations: new rules require three authorised signatories for bank transactions, more security staff, CCTV and larger counting teams.
- Social-media misinfo has complicated public debate: fact-checkers traced a viral Arundhati Roy clip to a 2010 speech and protest footage of CJP figures was shown to be miscontextualised, while student hunger strikes and political demands for a court-monitored probe continue.