Ottawa: Canadian authorities arrested Hardip Singh Nijjar for allegedly running training camps for terrorists in Canada and his alleged links with the ISI in Pakistan. Nijjar, who is one of the most wanted Khalistani terrorists by Punjab police, was rounded up on the basis of some crucial intelligence input provided by the Indian Government and later released after questioning. He has been put under strict surveillance for his anti-India activities.
Punjab police had earlier alleged that Nijjar was organising training camps in British Columbia at the behest of the Pakistani spy agency ISI and has made several attempts to book him in the past. He was one of nine people on the list of wanted Khalistanis that was handed over by Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh to Canadian PM Justin Trudeau during his recent visit to India.
In 2010 Punjab police filed an FIR against Nijjar for his role in the bomb explosion near Satya Narayan Mandir in Patiala on April 21, 2010. UK based Paramjit Singh Pamma was one of the main accused in the case. In 2015, another FIR was filed against Nijjar for his alleged role in ‘targeting Hindu leaders’ and yet another case was lodged against him in 2016, pertaining to his alleged ‘involvement in the training and funding to Mandeep Dhaliwal & hatching conspiracy for killing of Hindu leaders’, as per the FIR.
A 'Look Out Circular (LOC) and a 'Red Corner Notice' (RCN) were also lodged against the Surrey resident in 2015 and 2016 respectively with regard to earlier charges. Nijjar is also accused of raising a five-member module of the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and also of attacking Hindu leaders in Punjab.
‘Sikhs for Justice,’ a rights advocacy group, has said that they would defend Nijjar against the Red Corner Notice (RCN) issued by Interpol at the behest of the Indian Government. SFJ’s legal advisor and New York based lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who is representing Nijjar in the case, said, “We have full faith in Canadian legal system which is not going to succumb to Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh’s pressure to stop Nijjar, who is supporting the Khalistan movement democratically. Nijjar is being termed as a “terrorist” and framed in false cases only because he is engaged in a political campaign for a referendum in Indian Occupied Punjab. We will defend Nijjar against any attempt to extradite him to India.”
