Canada-based pro-Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was wanted by the Indian government, was shot dead in a targetted killing in the Punjabi-dominated Surrey city of British Columbia province, Canada on Sunday evening.
Nijjar, who was the president of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, was associated with Sikhs for Justice.
Nijjar's name was recently floated on a list along with 40 other terrorists released by the Indian government. In 2022, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) accused Nijjar, 46, of killing a Hindu priest in Punjab's Jalandhar. A native of Bhar Singh Pura village, Jalandhar, Nijjar has been also accused by the Indian government of conspiring, mobilising, training, and financing members of the Khalistani Tiger Force. The NIA had declared a sum of Rs 10 lakh reward on Nijjar.
According to a document from the NIA, “The incriminating evidence thus gathered substantiates that he is involved in exhorting seditionary and insurrectionary imputations and also attempting to create disharmony among different communities in India," reports The Indian Express.
In 2018, when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited India, the then-Chief Minister of Punjab Captain Amarinder Singh handed him a list of wanted people and that included Nijjar.
Nijjar was also facing several charges in various cases being investigated by the Punjab Police. The investigation led a red corner notice being issued against him.
