Brampton mayor 'cautiously optimistic' about Bishnoi gang terrorist designation

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown says he's "cautiously optimistic" about the chances of India's Lawrence Bishnoi gang being designated as a terrorist group after meeting with the public safety minister Wednesday night.

Brown says that he and Peel region police officials met with Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree in Ottawa to discuss the "scourge" of extortion and murders linked to the gang.

RCMP have alleged Indian diplomats shared information about Sikh separatists in Canada with the Indian government and that top Indian officials then passed the information to the Bishnoi gang.

Brown says that the gang has become more brazen in Brampton and local police have spotted vehicles with Bishnoi-affiliated decals.

Anandasangaree said Wednesday morning that national security officials "continuously" review whether criminal organizations meet the legal threshold to be named as a terrorist group.

B.C. Premier David Eby sent a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney earlier this week asking that the Bishnoi gang be designated as a terrorist organization, as the government did with seven other transnational criminal organizations earlier this year.

-With files from Darryl Dyck and Nono Shen.