US gangs and Punjab cops: Why FBI wants SHO extradited as part of OP Hard Ball

Published 8 July 2026 · india

Authorities in the US are preparing to seek the extradition of an Indian police officer serving as the station house officer (SHO) of the Tanda

Authorities in the US are preparing to seek the extradition of an Indian police officer serving as the station house officer (SHO) of the Tanda police station in Punjab's Hoshiarpur after he was charged with allegedly extorting $400,000 from a family in Los Angeles. The case forms part of Operation Hard Ball, an FBI-led international crackdown on "transnational organised crime groups" that has resulted in at least 24 arrests and 37 criminal charges across the US, Canada and Europe. Read Full Story According to federal indictments unsealed in Los Angeles, Gurinderjit Singh, an SHO in Punjab, allegedly worked with members of the Jaggu Bhagwanpuria transnational crime syndicate in the US to extort victims in India through threats of false criminal complaints. Prosecutors allege Singh extorted $400,000 from a family in Los Angeles by filing a false murder charge in India. In response to the allegations, the Punjab Police, in a press release on Wednesday, stated that it had "taken cognisance of certain news reports and social media posts" referring to the allegations made by the FBI against Inspector Gurinderjit Singh Nagra. It added that, pending verification of the facts, the officer has been "shifted" from Police Station Tanda to Police Lines, Hoshiarpur, with immediate effect and that a formal fact-finding enquiry into the matter has been ordered by the DIG, Jalandhar Range, and entrusted to the "Superintendent of Police (Investigation) Jalandhar Rural, an IPS officer". Operation Hard Ball is the culmination of a years-long FBI investigation into criminal syndicates allegedly involved in murder, extortion, drug trafficking, firearms offences and other organised crime activities spanning multiple countries.

According to US broadcaster Fox 11, American authorities plan to formally seek the extradition of several accused currently in Indian custody, including gang leaders Lawrence Bishnoi and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria. In addition, US authorities are pursuing two other fugitives believed to be in India, one of whom was identified by First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli as Gurinderjit Singh, the Los Angeles Times reported. WHY DOES THE FBI WANT TO EXTRADITE A PUNJAB COP? According to a seven-count federal indictment unsealed by the US Department of Justice titled United States v Bhagwanpuria, et al, members of the Jaggu Bhagwanpuria transnational crime syndicate allegedly collaborated with corrupt police officers in Punjab to carry out extortion schemes targeting victims in the US. The indictment, part of the FBI-led Operation Hard Ball targeting three transnational organised crime groups, alleges that in April 2026, Gurlal Singh — an Indian national unlawfully present in the US and based in Stockton, California — threatened a victim in the US and then shared the victim's identifying information with a corrupt Punjab police officer. Prosecutors claim the information was used to falsely implicate the victim, the victim's father, and the victim's sister in the January 2026 murder of an individual identified only as "BS" in court documents in India. The Punjab officer then allegedly leveraged the fabricated murder case to extort $400,000 from the family in exchange for dropping the charges. Although the indictment initially referred only to a "corrupt law enforcement officer" in Punjab, US authorities later identified him as Gurinderjit Singh, the Station House Officer (SHO) of a police station in Punjab, reported the Los Angeles Times.