LOS ANGELES (Diya TV) — The FBI has issued a wanted notice for an Indian national accused of involvement in a transnational organized crime syndicate rooted in India’s Punjab state, days after federal authorities announced a broader international crackdown on India-linked criminal networks.
The FBI identified the fugitive as Nitish Kaushal, also known as “Lala,” alleging he took part in the Jaggu Bhagwanpuria Organized Crime Group, which prosecutors say originated in Punjab and operated in California’s Central District and elsewhere. The organization is accused of involvement in murder, kidnapping, drug trafficking, extortion, weapons trafficking and human smuggling, and the FBI alleges Kaushal personally carried out acts of violence on the group’s behalf, including kidnappings and assaults.
A federal arrest warrant was issued for Kaushal on June 25, 2026, by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles, charging him with Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) conspiracy. The FBI described Kaushal as born on June 15, 2000, with black hair and brown eyes, standing approximately 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighing about 190 pounds. The agency said he “should be considered armed and dangerous and an escape risk” and asked anyone with information on his whereabouts to contact the nearest FBI office, a U.S. embassy or consulate, or submit a tip through the FBI’s online portal.
The notice follows the Justice Department’s announcement of “Operation Hard Ball,” a years-long, multi-agency investigation that resulted in 24 arrests across the United States, Canada and Europe and 37 defendants charged across three separate federal indictments unsealed in early July. Of those, 17 defendants were charged in connection with the Bhagwanpuria organization alone, in a seven-count indictment accusing the group of operating a criminal enterprise engaged in murder-for-hire, drug trafficking, kidnappings, extortion and weapons trafficking in the U.S. and Canada. Prosecutors say the Bhagwanpuria syndicate has more than 1,000 members and associates worldwide, including more than 100 in the United States, and that it corrupted law enforcement officers and government officials in Punjab to help carry out extortion schemes reaching victims as far away as the American Midwest. Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, 38, of Punjab, is described by prosecutors as a rival-turned-associate of fellow gang leader Lawrence Bishnoi who built his own criminal enterprise in the state.
The other two indictments unsealed as part of Operation Hard Ball targeted networks led by Bishnoi and by Ravinder Singh Dhanda, with prosecutors alleging the Bishnoi organization directed the 2023 assassination of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia, from behind bars in India using smuggled cellphones. Officials said the operation involved more than 50 coordinated search warrants and represented what First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli described as an unprecedented level of international law enforcement collaboration. “Transnational criminal gangs who spread fear, drugs, and violence will face the full force of justice and the weight of the federal government,” Essayli said. “There is no safe harbor for these thugs.”
