On June 18, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Khalistan supporter and a designated terrorist by the Indian authorities, was shot dead at the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in the Punjabi-dominated Surrey city of British Columbia province in Canada.
Nijjar was killed in a targeted shootout which was carried out by two unidentified bike-borne assailants in Surrey. As per the information received by the police, the shootout took place at around 08:27 PM.
Surrey Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) stated they “found an adult male inside a vehicle suffering from apparent gunshot wounds” and died because of his injuries. The statement added that police were “not in a position to confirm the victim’s identity at this very early time”. The authorities have called Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) to investigate the shootout.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar was born in Jalandhar district, Punjab (India) and was based out in Surrey, Canada working as a plumber. As per the media reports, he forcibly occupied Guru Nanak Sikh temple in Surrey and became its president.
Nijjar was designated as a terrorist by the Indian authorities. As per the official statement of NIA, “Hardeep Singh Nijjar is presently residing in Canada and is the Chief of Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF). Nijjar is also promoting the secessionist and violent agenda of Sikhs for Justice in India”.
Nijjar was also one of the significant figures in Gurpatwant Singh Pannun-led Sikhs for Justice (SFJ). Pannun appointed him as a representative of SFJ in Canada and tasked him to conduct last year’s ‘Referendum-2020 campaign’ in the Metro Vancouver region, where anti-India slogans were raised.
Indian authorities of NIA (National National Investigation Agency) were in touch with Canadian law enforcement officials for Nijjar’s involvement in the Khalistan movement. Canadian law enforcement detained him briefly in April 2018 but had to release him without filing any charges. NIA wanted him in four cases related to the Khalistan extremist movement.
Last year in July, Nijjar was charge-sheeted by the NIA in India for alleged involvement in the murder of the priest Kamaldeep Sharma at a village in Jalandhar, Punjab. NIA had also announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh for his capture.
As per the NIA’s official statement, “Hardeep Singh Nijjar is wanted by the National Investigation Agency in NIA case in the conspiracy hatched by Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) operating under Nijjar, to kill a Hindu priest at Jalandhar”.
Nijjar was also involved in the killing of Ripudaman Singh Malik, who was acquitted in the 1985 Air India terrorist bombing case. A bomb exploded on Air India Flight 182 “Kanishka” from Canada off the coast of Ireland on June 23, 1985, killing 329 passengers and crew. This included over 280 Canadian citizens, including 29 entire families and 86 children under the age of 12.
According to the reports, Nijjar and another Canada-born Khalistani separatist, Moninder Boyle, hatched the conspiracy to kill Malik. They orchestrated a campaign by spreading rumours that Sri Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS) printed by Malik had mistakes.
The enmity of the extremists with Malik goes back to 2019 when Malik started printing SGGS at his printing press after obtaining written permission from the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC).
Citing mistakes in Malik’s printing of SGGS, both Boyle and Nijjar demanded that permission granted for printing be revoked immediately. Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh budging under pressure and that of the Dhumma group, issued a diktat asking the British Gurdwaras Council to take into possession the printed copies of the SGGS from Malik’s premises. But no mistakes were found in the printing of the ‘Saroops’.
Recently on June 15, the UK-based chief of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), Avtar Singh Khanda, died in a hospital in the United Kingdom. He is the son of killed KLF terrorist Kulwant Singh. He went to the UK in 2007 on a study visa before he took asylum there in 2012.
Sources say Khanda was suspected of being poisoned. According to medical records, he was suffering from blood cancer. He was admitted to City Hospital, Birmingham.
As per the reports, Khanda was also the main handler of Khalistani separatist Amritpal Singh and helped him to evade the police for 37 days between March and April this year. He was also believed to have played a key role in establishing Amritpal Singh as the chief of Waris Punjab De after the death of Deep Sidhu.
It is to be noted that Avtar Singh Khanda is a bomb expert and was the mastermind behind the pulling down of the Indian flag outside the UK High Commission in London on March 19.
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