India, June 2 -- Toronto: Criminal activities of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang in Canada are being driven by at least three different factions, who use recent temporary residents as their foot soldiers. This was revealed by a Canadian police officer while testifying before the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB), according to Canadian media reports. The testimony came from Kevin St Louis, a constable with the Edmonton Police Service and an investigating officer for Project AI-Extortion. During a deportation hearing of an Indian national by an IRB member, he said, "As the investigation continued we believe there was a fracture in the group." "This ultimately resulted in several different groups carrying out the same type of crime," the outlet CBC News quoted him as saying. Other than Bishnoi himself, the factions are led by Goldy Brar, a former lieutenant now a rival, and a person identified as Jora Sidhu. Satinderjeet Singh, better known as gangster Goldy Brar, is wanted in connection with the murder of singer and politician Sidhu Moose Wala in May 2022 and is believed to be currently operating from North America. Jora Sidhu was part of the Bishnoi gang hierarchy. He was killed in Dubai last year. "He was ultimately identified via his voice by the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) national co-ordination centre. And he was the one that was making the WhatsApp phone calls," St Louis revealed. He also said that every individual identified during the investigation "is a temporary foreign worker or on a student visa and relatively new to Canada". In April this year, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), Canada's financial intelligence unit and anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing supervisor, reported that several outfits have been involved in such criminality not just the Bishnoi gang. It mentioned the use of students from India, particularly for undertaking transactions relating to extortion. The Bambiha gang, named after deceased kingpin Davinder Bambiha, "functions as a rival to the Bishnoi syndicate and has grown into a sprawling network of operatives involved in extortion, contract violence, and large-scale protection rackets", the report noted, adding that it operates through a multi-layered structure of regional commanders inside India and international coordinators based abroad, including Canada and the US, enabling it to sustain operations ranging from violent attacks to coordinated intimidation campaigns. While they were not mentioned in the report, Indian authorities have alleged that two prominent figures linked to the Bambiha gang in Canada, Sukhdool Gill and Arshdeep Gill, were both also connected to the separatist movement. Sukhdool Gill, also know as Sukha Duneke, was killed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in September 2023, while Arshdeep Singh, better known as Arsh Dhalla, has faced multiple charges in recent years. "These groups appear to recruit or rely on individuals already living in Canada," it pointed out, along the lines of what St Louis said....