Not just Nijjar: The 10 Khalistani names India shared with Canada in 2018

Long before the current diplomatic deadlock between New Delhi and Ottawa over the assassination of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Indian agencies and the Punjab government had expressed displeasure over the lack of support from Canadian counterparts in handling with growing Khalistani movement in their country. According to PTI, officials said that pro-Khalistani outfits such as the World Sikh Organization (WSO), Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) and Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) working at the behest of Pakistan have been allegedly operating freely form the Canadian soil. Multiple sets of dossier have been handed over to the Canadian side but India’s deportation requests have gone unaddressed, they said, adding at least nine separatist organisations supporting terror groups have found their bases in Canada. When Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited India in 2018, then Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh delivered him a list of 10 people who were fleeing prosecution. In a post on X, the former CM wrote, “I had brought to the notice of Mr Justin Trudeau as to how the Canadian land was being used against India, still the Canadian govt failed to take any remedial measures so far (sic).”

The claims by the Canadian PM @JustinTrudeau that there was an Indian hand in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjer are completely baseless and he's only playing to the vote bank gallery.

During his visit to Amritsar in 2018, I had brought to the notice of Mr Justin Trudeau as to…

— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) September 19, 2023

The operatives have been charged with a number of offences, including involvement in terrorism. They included Malkeet Singh aka Fauji, Gurpreet Singh, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Gurjinder Singh Pannu, and Gurjeet Singh Cheema. Here’s a list of Khalistani operatives handed over to Canada. Also read: What did India's intel reveal about Khalistani Hardeep Singh Nijjar? Gurjeet Singh Cheema Cheema, a native of Jogi Cheema in Gurdaspur, Punjab, currently resides in Brampton, Canada, according to Hindustan Times. He is an active member of the Singh Khalsa Sewa Club in Brampton, Toronto, and an activist for the International Sikh Youth Federation. He has taken part in radicalising, inspiring, enlisting, and funding Sikh teenagers to commit targeted killings in Punjab. Even more, he travelled to Punjab in March and April 2017 to operationalize a terrorist module for conducting targeted assassinations. In order to operationalise the module, he additionally sent Rs 75,000 to module member Sukhmanpreet Singh in July 2016 and May 2017. Additionally, through his Pakistan-based allies like Lakhbir Singh Rode, he organised a shipment of insurgent equipment from Pakistan. In March 2017, Cheema travelled to Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior to purchase guns for the module. ThePrint reported that he was included in Capt. Amarinder’s list in 2018 due to his claimed involvement in the 2016 murder of a right-wing leader in Punjab. Several chargesheets have been submitted in the case by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) of India. No Interpol Red Corner Notice (RCN) has been issued against him. Gurpreet Singh Gurpreet, a native of Moga, is presently residing in Ontario, Canada. He is also an activist with the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF). He currently holds Canadian citizenship and participates actively in Singh Khalsa Sewa Club in Toronto. He took part in radicalising, inspiring, enlisting, and funding Sikh youth to commit targeted killings in Punjab. In March 2016, Gurpreet travelled to India and created an ISYF cell to conduct terrorist acts in Punjab. He allegedly persuaded Gurpreet Singh, a.k.a. Peet, to support his cause as well. In coordination with the leader of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), Harmeet PhD, who was assassinated in Pakistan in February 2020, Gurpreet acquired two pistols in November 2016 for the module members. He gave money in April 2017 so that the module could arrange for firearms from Gwalior. In order to operationalize the module, he additionally sent Rs 100,972 to its participants between June 2016 and February 2017. Gurpreet is currently the subject of a Red Corner Notice (RCN) from Interpol and is accused of violating numerous provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Arms Act. Also read: How India-Canada ties turned rocky under Justin’s father, Pierre Trudeau Hardeep Singh Nijjar Nijjar, who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh, was born in Punjab on 10 November 1977 and was affiliated with the now-banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF). He was arrested in the mid-1990s. He managed to get bail and fled India on 19 February 1997, by assuming a fake identity of Ravi Sharma and securing a travel document in that name. According to PTI, in 2013-14, Nijjar visited Pakistan where he met Jagtar Singh Tara of Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), wanted in the assassination of Punjab’s former chief minister Beant Singh. He was during that period roped in by the ISI which helped him in organising secret training camps for Sikh extremist groups associated with the Khalistan movement in Missigen Hills, British Columbia. Nijjar set up an armed training camp in December 2015 in Mission Hills, British Columbia, Canada, to instruct Mandeep Singh Dhaliwal, Sarbjit Singh, Anupveer Singh, and Darshan Singh nicknamed Fauji in the use of AK-47 assault rifles, sniper rifles, and pistols.

He sent Dhaliwal to Punjab in January 2016 with the intention of killing Shiv Sena leaders and inciting communal unrest there, but the terrorist was apprehended by Punjab Police in June of the same year. According to the dossier, Nijjar and gangster-turned-terrorist Arshdeep Singh Dala trained a module of four KTF members who carried out the targeted assassinations and abductions in 2020 and 2021. Following their detention, three members of the module revealed Nijjar and Dala’s identities. Nijjar was also connected with Sikhs For Justice, another banned terrorist organisation, as the head of its Canada chapter. An official informed NDTV that Nijjar was responsible for multiple violent anti-India protests in Canada and had publicly threatened Indian diplomats. Additionally, he had ordered that Canadian gurudwaras stop hosting events that included representatives of the Indian embassy there. Nijjar, who was designated as a terrorist by the Union Home Ministry, was also accused of working closely with Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) led by Jagtar Singh Tara. He has been associated with Dal Khalsa leader Gajender Singh, a key accused in the hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight in 1981. His name figured in the most wanted list handed over by then-Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh to Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau in 2018. Nijjar along with criminals like Arsh Dalla were generating huge amounts of funds for anti-India activities by various means which included drug money and finances from Gurdwaras, the officials said. Nijjar was killed outside a Gurdwara, in a parking area in Surrey, British Columbia on 18 June. Gurjinder Singh Pannu Pannu, who was born in 1992 in the Tarn Taran neighbourhood, now resides in Hamilton, Canada. According to HT, he is a committed member of the Singh Khalsa Sewa Club as well as an ISYF activist. Additionally, Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), a prohibited organisation, is connected to him. In addition, he raised money to operationalise terrorist module members while radicalising young Sikhs. In order to buy weapons, he had sent Rs 370,836 to Gurpreet Peet and other members of a terrorist cell between June 2016 and February 2017. Pannu is wanted by Interpol, just like his accomplice Gurpreet Singh. According to Interpol, he is accused of conspiring, harbouring terrorists, belonging to a terrorist organisation, funding terrorist activities, violating the Arms Act, and setting off explosions that endanger life or property, as per ThePrint. In addition to Cheema, Pannu’s name was also mentioned in relation to the Right-wing leader’s 2016 slaying. Malkeet Singh alias Fauji Malkeet, also known as “fauji,” was born and raised in Talwandi Nahar, Amritsar, and currently resides in Surrey, Canada. He belongs to the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) organisation. Malkeet was engaged in radicalization, inspiration, recruitment, and financial support. In 2014, he purchased guns from Uttar Pradesh to activate a terrorist module. He enlisted Gurjit Ghaint, Gurmukh Singh, Hari Singh, and others to carry out targeted assassinations in Punjab alongside Manvir Duhra. In 2014, after forming the module, he travelled to Canada. Gurjit has kept in touch with the other module members even after returning to Canada. According to the Interpol RCN issued against him, he is accused of “attempting to wage war or aiding the waging of war against the Government of India.” Malkeet Singh was charged as one of the associates of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, founder of the outlawed Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) and one of the most outspoken advocates for a separate homeland for the Sikh community, in a chargesheet filed by the NIA against sympathisers of the Sikh separatist movement for launching “concerted secessionist campaign” under the banner of “Referendum 2020”. Also read: How the pro-Khalistan sentiment has grown in Canada Parvikar Singh Dulai Dulai, a Surrey resident and Canadian national, is an ISYF activist. In November 2015 and November 2016, he travelled to Pakistan. Dulai keeps in touch regularly with the ISI-backed Khalistani militants in Pakistan as well as Ranjeet Singh, the KZF’s leader. Additionally, he keeps close contact with well-known Canadian Sikh extremists like Gurjeet Singh Cheeman, Gurpeet Singh, and Bhagat Singh Baggu Brar, as per HT. He and Gurjeet Cheema plotted terrorist acts in Punjab in 2017 and planned the purchase of weapons, fundraising, training, and other activities. A portion of the money raised by Dulai on Surrey’s Baisakhi Parade was used to fund terrorist activities in India. Dulai’s name appeared on the Punjab government’s list of wanted men in 2018, the same year he was put on the no-fly list in Canada. Bhagat Singh Brar, another person on Amarinder’s list of 10, was also added to the no-fly list along with him. They were viewed as “facilitators” of terrorism by the government of Canada. According to a report by the Canadian daily National Post, they later appealed the ruling in a local court, but the ruling was upheld. A procession in honour of Talwinder Singh Parmar, who is suspected of bombing Air India flight 182 in 1985 and killing 329 people on board, is said to have been organised by Dulai. Bhagat Singh Brar A Canadian national and son of the Pakistan-based Lakhbir Singh Rode, Brar is associated with Canada-based Hardeep Singh Nijjar (chief of KTF). The NIA has filed a chargesheet against Rode for his alleged involvement in a bombing at a court building in Ludhiana in 2021. Rode is the nephew of radical Sikh preacher Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. He was involved in the preparation for a terror attack in India during his 2015 trip to Pakistan. He helped members of a terrorist cell in Punjab acquire firearms in 2017 with the assistance of Rode and Harmeet Singh PhD from the other side of the border. In front of the Canadian Parliament on 10 June 2017, he served as a major speaker alongside Moninder Bual, Sukhminder Singh Hansra, and Gurpatwant Singh Pannu. Brar, a resident of Brampton, was added to the no-fly list after Canadian authorities determined that he was a “Khalistani extremist who has been engaged in [redacted] terrorist-related activities, particularly in fundraising for terrorist attacks overseas,” according to a note obtained by Global News. Tehal Singh Tehal alias Tut is from Paragpur in Jalandhar. He is Sulinder Singh’s close friend and has been managing money for supporters of Sikh separatism. Sulinder Singh, Gurjit Singh Cheema, Gurpreet Singh Brar, and he have been encouraging young people in Punjab to revive militancy. For the past 34–35 years, he has lived in Brampton, Canada, according to Hindustan Times. Also read: How Justin Trudeau’s anti-India antics have angered Canadians Sulinder Singh Sulinder, an ISYF activist, resides in Brampton, Canada. In 2016–17, he and Gurjeet Singh Cheema inspired Sikh youngsters in Punjab to engage in terrorist actions there. He was heavily involved in fund-raising to purchase firearms for the members of the module. HT reported he also communicates frequently with Wadhawa Singh Babbar, the head of the BKI, who is stationed in Pakistan. Hardeep Sohota Sohota is connected to the Khalistan Commando Force and lives in Surrey. He has been charged with planning schemes to carry out targeted attacks on certain individuals in Punjab. He is connected to separatists Satinder Pal Singh Gill, Parvikar Parry Dulai, and Moninder Bual. Additionally, he travels to Pakistan and meets with extremist Sikhs there. In order to put plans for carrying out targeted killings in Punth into action, Sohota met with Jagtar, also known as Jaggi Johal, in Canada in August 2016. India-Canada row The tensions between India and Canada deepened on Monday as Canadian PM Justin Trudeau alleged that India may have been involved in the murder of Khalistan Tiger Forces leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

He said, “We are there to work constructively with India. We hope that they engage with us so that we can get to the bottom of this very serious matter.” In retaliation, Ottawa and New Delhi both dismissed senior diplomats and asked that they go back to their respective countries. The claims made by Canada were dismissed by India, which referred to them as “absurd” and “motivated.” India asked for proof to back up Ottawa’s assertions in public, but Trudeau hasn’t given any information on the information Canada’s intelligence services have gathered. With inputs from agencies