Indian diplomats to get extra protection over Khalistan threats

Toronto: When they return to India at the end of this week, High Commissioner to Ottawa Sanjay Kumar Verma and five other officials are expected to get enhanced security cover due to the perceived threats against them by pro-Khalistan elements.

A person familiar with the proposed measure also said that other Indian diplomats and officials who were till recently in Canada would also be given the cover. Other than Verma, India’s Consul General to Toronto Siddhartha Nath, who was also asked to leave Canada, are considered the most “exposed”. Nath had only taken charge of the Toronto Consulate in August last year, nearly two months after Nijjar’s killing.

This follows the secessionist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) stating that it was offering $ 500,000 to track the High Commissioner. In a statement, SFJ’s general counsel Gurpatwant Pannun said they were allocating “a hefty budget of $500,000” so that “even after Verma’s expulsion and departure from Canada, it will continue tacking his movements and whereabouts in pursuit of bringing him to justice” for the alleged role in the killing of pro-Khalistan figure and SFJ’s principal organiser in the province of British Columbia Hardeep Singh Nijjar. SFJ noted it had been “consistently writing” to the Canadian PM to “investigate and expel” Verma.

Nijjar was gunned down in Surrey, BC on June 18 last year and 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.

India is likely to crack down on Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards issued to Canadians of Indian origin, particularly those about whom there is even the slightest suspicion of supporting pro-Khalistan activities in Canada, a person familiar with proposed next steps said. But it’s unlikely to freeze issuance of visas for Canadian citizens as it did last year soon after Trudeau’s statement.

Trudeau said, in a statement on Monday, that his Government was taking the action of giving a “deportation notice” to the six Indian officials because it was “necessary to disrupt the criminal activities that continue to pose a threat to public safety in Canada.”

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