Ottawa: Canadian police have warned an aide to slain Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, of an increased threat to his life and sent a "duty to warn" notice to him, according to US-based Khalistani leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. Inderjeet Singh Gosal, who worked as an aide to Nijjar, received the notice from police in Ontario who are working with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Pannun said.
"I've been informed by Canadian officials about the threats to my life," said Pannun in a statement, citing Gosal. Neither the RCMP or the Ontario police were immediately available for comment. The office of Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who has overall responsibility for law enforcement, declined to comment.
India-Canada relations
Nijjar was shot dead by two unidentified men outside a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18, 2023. A purported video footage of the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was designated a terrorist by the National Investigation Agency in 2020, where the Khalistani separatist was seen shot by armed men. Four Indian nationals in Canada are facing charges of murder and conspiracy in the death of Nijjar.
Relations between India and Canada after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly accused New Delhi of being involved in the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June last year outside his residence in Surrey, British Columbia. India described the allegations as 'absurd' and 'politically motivated'. India suspended visas for Canadians, while Ottawa recalled 41 diplomats from India.
India has accused Canada of giving political space to extremists and those advocating violence. The acrimony between India and Canada has delayed discussions on a free-trade deal and threatened Ottawa's plans to expand its influence in the Indo-Pacific region, where New Delhi's cooperation is critical to efforts to check an increasingly assertive China.
FBI to probe shooting of activist with close ties to Nijjar
Meanwhile, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said last week that it is investigating the August 11 drive-by shooting that targeted a California activist with close ties to Nijjar. Satinder Pal Singh Raju, of Woodland, California, told Reuters that FBI agents on Thursday came to speak with him and a friend who was driving the truck when they and another passenger were attacked on Interstate 505 South in Yolo County on their way back from a late dinner in Vacaville.
Speaking through an interpreter, Raju said a white car pulled up to the left of their truck, then fell back behind them before pulling up alongside them again. That was when the first bullet was fired. "But then I heard more gun shots fired." He said he immediately thought of Nijjar, saying "this is how Hardeep Singh Nijjar had been assassinated and the whole picture of the scene went through my mind."
Pannun foiled murder case
Months after the Nijjar case flared tensions between India and Canada, the United States foiled an alleged assassination attempt on Pannun. In November last year, US federal prosecutors charged Indian national Nikhil Gupta with working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York.
Gupta, who was arrested in the Czech Republic in June last year, was extradited to the US on June 14. However, India and the US Have maintained that it would not impact the growing bilateral relationship between the two countries and discussions on the matter have been "respectful" and "effective".
(with inputs from Reuters)
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