Prominent pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Nijjar shot dead in Canada

Toronto: Prominent Canadian pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead in the town of Surrey in British Columbia on Sunday evening.

He is believed to have been shot by unknown assailants near the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib in Surrey. Two persons may have been taken into police custody in the area.

Police received information at approximately 8.27pm of a shooting in the parking lot of a gurdwara. In a release on Sunday night, Surrey Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said they “found an adult male inside a vehicle suffering from apparent gunshot wounds”. He succumbed to the injuries. The statement added that police was “not in a position to confirm the victim’s identity at this very early time”.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) has been called in.

Nijjar was the president of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib. A plumber by profession, he was a major figure in the secessionist organisation Sikhs for Justice (SFJ).

He also headed the organisation’s preparations for the so-called Punjab Referendum to be held in the Metro Vancouver region in September this year.

Nijjar has been the subject of discussions between India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Canadian law enforcement because of his involved with the Khalistan movement.

He has been chargesheeted by the NIA in India in a case related to conspiracy to murder the priest Kamaldeep Sharma, at a village in Jalandhar, Punjab which was allegedly undertaken by the Khalistan Tiger Force. NIA had also announced a cash reward of ₹10 lakh for his capture.

None of the charges against Nijjar have been proven in a Canadian court. SFJ, with whom Nijjar was associated, has denied any use of violence in its activities.

SFJ’s general-counsel Gurpatwant Pannun had argued that the terrorism charges against Nijjar were a “weapon” being used by the Indian government to attempt to stop his participation in the referendum.

Nijjar was elected president of the Surrey Gurdwara in January 2019.

In April 2018, he was briefly detained by Canadian law enforcement but released thereafter without the filing of any charges. At that time he had said he was “targeted and framed in false criminal cases by Indian authorities”.

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