The nephew of Indira Gandhi’s assassin was the ringleader of one of New Zealand’s most significant drug operations, local media have revealed.
Baltej Singh, the nephew of Satwant Singh – one of the bodyguards who assassinated Indira Gandhi in 1984 – was arrested in 2023 and is currently serving a 22-year sentence for his crimes, but his name has not been released to the public due to ongoing name suppression lawsuits.
That restriction was recently lifted and Singh has no plans to challenge it in the High Court, his name can now be published, New Zealand news website Stuff reported.
Here’s everything we know about him and his drug operation.
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Who is Baltej Singh?
Baltej, the nephew of Indira Gandhi’s assassin Satwant Singh, was not always on the wrong side of the law and was a successful and respected businessman from Auckland.
However, in 2021, Singh rented an industrial unit and started importing huge quantities of drugs, including ephedrine and methamphetamine.
Stuff reported that in August 2021, Singh imported 1,440 cans of coconut water from New Delhi, some of which contained ephedrine – a drug used to make meth – as well as dissolved methamphetamine.
Months after this first shipment, Singh imported another pallet of cans of coconut water, some of which contained ephedrine and meth, from New Delhi via Dubai.
This continued into 2022: a 40-foot container containing nearly 30,000 cans of Honey Bear lager arrived from Toronto in October, and a few months later in December another 40-foot container containing 22,680 bottles of kombucha arrived from the US.
Singh picked up these two shipments in January 2023 and had them delivered to his rented unit.
Around the same time, Singh teamed up with another man – Himatjit ‘Jimmy’ Singh Kahlon – for distribution purposes.
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The death of 21-year-old Aidan Sagala from drinking Honey Bear lager – due to “off the charts” meth levels – has prompted an investigation.
Sagala received the beer from Singh’s associate Kahlon, who subsequently tried to obtain other products to distribute, and was eventually caught, found guilty of manslaughter, and sentenced to 21 years in prison.
Meanwhile, Singh was detained by police at Auckland Airport days after Sagal’s hospitalisation.
After the Auckland businessman was arrested, police also found over $10,000 in cash in his backpack.
Meanwhile, searches of Baltej Singh’s rented storage premises revealed 338.6 kg of solid meth and a further 428.6 kg of liquid containing an estimated 260-340 kg of the banned drug.
Police also recovered $121,600 from the trunk of Singh’s Chrysler 300.
During the trial, Singh’s barrister Ron Mansfield KC said the businessman was recruited into the drug trade because of his reputation at the behest of someone in India.
While the judges acknowledged that Singh was not “at the top of the hierarchy” of the operation, they found Singh’s claim that he was “forced” to import meth to be “implausible” and sentenced him to 22 years in prison.
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Baltej Singh Name Suppression Case
Around the time of his arrest, Singh also applied for permanent name suppression to prevent his name from being published, and the same was granted in the High Court after his lawyer argued that the Auckland businessman and his family would face extreme danger if named.
In support of the appeal, Baltej’s father also filed an affidavit in court, saying that the family had become “notorious” among Sikhs and Hindus due to their links to the assassin of Indira Gandhi and had been subjected to constant threats and intimidation.
However, the High Court decision was challenged by the Crown in November 2025, with the Court of Appeal ruling in favor of the Crown and allowing Baltej Singh to be appointed.
While Singh originally planned to appeal the decision to the New Zealand High Court, he has since withdrawn his efforts, Stuff reported.
