Canadian law enforcement alerts on threat to associate of Nijjar

Toronto: Canadian law enforcement has warned of a threat to the life of an associate of slain pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

The ‘duty to warn’ notice was verbally conveyed to Inderjeet Singh Gosal, as associate of Nijjar as well as Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) general counsel Gurpatwant Pannun. The warning was given earlier this week by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), in collaboration with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), to Gosal, who resides in Brampton in the Greater Toronto Area.

Gosal has been among the principal organisers of the so-called Khalistan Referendum in Canada, which is being held by SFJ. Gosal said, “I’ve been informed by Canadian officials about the threats to my life.” He added that his “commitment” to the secessionist Khalistan movement remains “unwavering.”

Pannun accused the Indian Government of being behind the threat as part of its “policy of transnational repression.”

In the early hours of February 12 this year, shots were fired at a home owned by Gosal in Brampton. Police have yet to make any arrests in that incident or attribute any motive for it. However, Gosal had linked it to the fact he was organising a protest outside the Indian Consulate in Toronto on February 17.

The notice to Gosal comes days after a car carrying another organiser of the Referendum in Canada, Satinder Pal Singh Raju, was targeted by unknown persons on a highway in California on August 11. Raju was among the main organisers of the referendum in Calgary in Alberta on July 28.

According to an incident report of the California Highway Patrol, seen by the Hindustan Times, there were reports of ‘4-5 shots” fired while the vehicle was in Woodland in Yolo county. The Sacramento office the Federal Bureau of Investigation or FBI is supporting the California Highway Patrol in the investigation. The incident occurred in Yolo County and its deputy sheriff, Lieutenant Don Harmon had confirmed it to the Hindustan Times.

Nijjar, SFJ’s principal figure in the province of British Columbia, was killed in Surrey, British Columbia on June 18 last year. Three months later, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated in the House of Commons that there were “credible allegations” of a potential link between Indian agents and the murder, leading to the rupture of relations between the two countries. India described those allegations as “absurd” and “motivated.”

Four Indian nationals are currently in custody in connection with the Nijjar killing. Investigators have yet to substantiate the allegations of an Indian hand in the murder but have said that angle continues to be probed.

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