Leaked audio claims Goldy Brar ordered Nijjar killing over drug links
NEW DELHI — US-based gangster Goldy Brar is heard in a leaked audio recording saying he ordered the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada
NEW DELHI — US-based gangster Goldy Brar is heard in a leaked audio recording saying he ordered the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada in June 2023, alleging the pro-Khalistan figure was involved in drug trafficking and pushed drug abuse among young people. The recording surfaced on Sunday and has reignited questions around one of the most politically charged killings in recent Canada-India ties.
Intelligence sources confirmed the voice in the audio was Brar’s, according to reports citing the leak. In the conversation with UK-based Sikh separatist Paramjit Singh Pamma, Brar says Nijjar backed people linked to drugs and helped strengthen them for his own use. “Because of this, we had to kill him,” Brar is heard saying in the recording.
A killing that shook diplomacy
Nijjar was shot dead outside a gurdwara in Canada on June 19, 2023. His death triggered a major diplomatic crisis after then-Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau’s government accused India of involvement in the killing. New Delhi rejected that allegation and pushed back sharply.
The new audio gives a different lens. It points to gangland rivalry and alleged criminal networks, not a state-backed operation. That matters. The claim now sits at the intersection of separatist politics, organised crime and a long-running diplomatic row.
Brar, who is wanted in India for multiple murders including the killing of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala, has also faced US charges with Lawrence Bishnoi in connection with racketeering, extortion, drug trafficking and Nijjar’s killing, according to the reports. The leaked recording surfaced as joint US-Canada law enforcement action targeted transnational crime syndicates.
Why the audio matters now
Former Indian High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Verma said the recording should be independently verified, but argued the episode appeared to be linked to a gang war involving drugs, weapons procurement and rivalry between criminal groups. He said drugs were only one element in the wider conversation.
The line Brar is heard repeating is stark. He says Nijjar supported people who groomed teenagers to sell drugs and pressured young people to become informants. Those claims remain unverified, but they have already sharpened the debate over what really drove the killing in Surrey.
The case is likely to keep drawing attention because it touches three sensitive files at once: Canada’s public safety battle with transnational gangs, India’s fight against organised crime, and the unresolved politics around Khalistani separatism. The leaked audio ends up doing one thing very clearly — pushing a murder case that already strained two countries back into the spotlight, with Brar now alleged to have spoken in his own voice.
