Canada-based Khalistani Leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar Shot Dead In Surrey

Pro-Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed in a targeted shooting in Canada's Surrey.

He was shot outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in the Punjabi-dominated Surrey city of British Columbia province, according to a report in the IANS. Nijjar was the president of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey.

A resident of Bharsinghpur village in Punjab's Jalandhar, Nijjar was found dead inside a car with bullet wounds in the parking lot of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib, of which he was the head, in Surrey around 8:27 pm (local time) on Sunday, PTI reported citing officials.

Nijjar was also associated with the Sikhs For Justice and has been trying to radicalise the Sikh community across the world. With the aim of creating a separate state of Khalistan, he was trying to get the Sikhs to go against India and carry out violent acts. Nijjar who had designated him as a terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

He had played a key role in organising the Khalistan referendum in Brampton city. India had asked Canadian authorities to take action against Nijjar for his alleged involvement in terrorist acts in Punjab.

The NIA, in 2022, had declared a Rs 10 lakh reward on Nijjar for conspiring to kill a Hindu priest in Punjab's Jalandhar. The conspiracy was reportedly planned by the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF).

Khalistan Sympathiser Avtar Singh Khanda Dies in UK Hospital

On June 15, UK-based chief of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), Avtar Singh Khanda, who was the mastermind behind the violent incident at the Indian High Commission in London on March 19, passed away at Sandwell Hospital in Birmingham.

Khanda, also known as Ranjodh Singh, was a political asylum seeker in the UK and played a significant role in radicalising Sikh youth in support of the separatist movement for Khalistan. His father was a former KLF terrorist who was killed by security forces in 1991, and his mother was related to another KLF terrorist, Gurjant Singh Budhsingwala, who had strong links to the Pakistani deep state.

Khanda, along with three other separatists, had been identified by the National Investigating Agency (NIA) as the main culprits behind the dishonoring of the Indian flag during the protest at the London High Commission on March 19. Despite prior alerts by the Indian High Commission to the UK intelligence agency MI-5 about the anticipated violence, the UK Police's action against the protestors was conspicuous.