India behind assassination of Canadian Sikh leader, update (11/29): DOJ indicts Indian national (currently in Czech custody) for similar plot in the US

[CitizenVectron]

Trudeau says intelligence shows India was behind slaying of Sikh leader in Surrey, B.C.

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Federal government considering measures to respond to what it considers a serious violation of Canadian sovereignty, sources say

 

 

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the House of Commons Monday that Canadian national-security authorities have what they consider credible intelligence that India was behind the mid-June fatal shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Sikh leader in British Columbia designated a terrorist by New Delhi and part of a separatist movement seeking an autonomous state for adherents of Sikhism.

 

Mr. Trudeau said he informed the opposition leaders before telling Canadians that India was responsible for this assassination but he did not provide further detail, which he raised personally "in no uncertain terms" with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 summit in New Delhi last week.

 

Sikhs comprise only 1.72% of India's population. By contrast, almost 50% of Indian immigrants to Canada have been Sikh, with Canada having the highest % of Sikh population in the world (as a proportion of national population). They are a powerful political force, especially in BC where they comprise almost 6% of the population.

 

This might explain why Trudeau's recent visit to India was so tense.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

An actual assassination on the territory of a Western nation is a bold move by the Research and Analysis Wing though the R&AW is VERY active in overseas operations against primarily Islamist targets.

 

Needless to say, the ethno-religious/political dynamics involved are "complex" to say the least:

 

Khalistan movement - Wikipedia

EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

 

[TwinIon]

I was completely unaware of this movement, but it sure seems like governments of India have put rather disproportionate efforts into eliminating it.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

3 minutes ago, TwinIon said:

I was completely unaware of this movement, but it sure seems like governments of India have put rather disproportionate efforts into eliminating it.

 

The movement did assassinate an Indian prime minister and blew up an Air India 747 (and attempted to simultaneously blow up another on the same day) off the coast of Ireland that killed 329 people, mostly Canadians.

[TwinIon]

Just now, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

The movement did assassinate an Indian prime minister and blew up an Air India 747 (and attempted to simultaneously blow up another on the same day) off the coast of Ireland that killed 329 people, mostly Canadians.

Yikes, my skimming of that wiki apparently skipped over some important bits. That does seem like the kind of thing to instill longstanding institutional animus.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

3 minutes ago, TwinIon said:

Yikes, my skimming of that wiki apparently skipped over some important bits. That does seem like the kind of thing to instill longstanding institutional animus.

 

The nearly simultaneous bombings of the Air India 747s occurred in 1985.  The second bomb detonated in a baggage handling room of Tokyo's Narita Airport because the terrorists didn't take into account that Japan doesn't observe Daylight Savings Time.  Two baggage handlers were killed by the detonation though.

[CitizenVectron]

14 minutes ago, TwinIon said:

I was completely unaware of this movement, but it sure seems like governments of India have put rather disproportionate efforts into eliminating it.

 

This is a "no good guys" situation. The shocking part is India's government murdering foreign citizens on ostensibly allied soil. I suspect Canadian-Indian relations are about to sour.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Exclusive: Canada worked closely with U.S. on India's possible link to killing- source | Reuters

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Canada worked 'very closely' with the United States on intelligence that Indian agents had been potentially involved in the murder of a Sikh man in British Columbia earlier this year, a senior Canadian government source said on Tuesday.

 

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Canada worked 'very closely' with the United States on intelligence that Indian agents had been potentially involved in the murder of a Sikh man in British Columbia earlier this year, a senior Canadian government source said on Tuesday.

 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday that domestic intelligence agencies were actively pursuing credible allegations tying New Delhi's agents to the shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, in British Columbia in June.

 

"We've been working with the U.S. very closely including on the public disclosure yesterday," the source said. The evidence in Canada's possession would be shared "in due course", said the official who did not give a name due to the sensitivity of the information.

 

 

[brucoe]

This definitely wasn't on my Bingo card this year.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Canadian-Bharatian relations do appear to be a bit rocky at the moment.

 

India suspends visa services for Canadians in further decline in relations | India | The Guardian

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Latest retaliatory move is response to Justin Trudeau’s claims of India’s involvement in Sikh activist’s killing

 

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Relations between India and Canada have further deteriorated after Delhi announced it was suspending visa services for Canadians due to “security threats” faced by its embassy and consulates in Canada.

 

BLS International, which runs the Indian visa offices in Canada, put a notice on its website stating that all visa services for Canadians were suspended until further notice, citing “operational reasons”.

 

Arindam Bagchi, a spokesperson for India’s foreign ministry, confirmed the suspension at a media briefing, mentioning “the incitement to violence, the inaction by the Canadian authorities and the creation of an environment that disrupts the functioning of our high commission and consulates” as the reason.

 

India has long levelled allegations that Canada was providing safe haven for what it says are “terrorists” from the Khalistan movement, a Sikh independence group banned in India. Canada has the largest population of Sikhs outside their home state of Punjab.

 

“You are aware of the security threats being faced by our consulates in Canada,” said Bagchi. “This has disrupted their normal functioning. Accordingly our high commission and consulate are temporarily unable to process visa applications. We will be reviewing the situation on a regular basis.”

 

 

[CitizenVectron]

This will be very interesting, domestically, as the Indian-Canadian population is roughly split between Sikhs and Hindus (with the latter being more recent, generally speaking). I know some recent Indian immigrants, and they are...disturbingly fascist/authoritarian in their views and support of Modi. I expect what will happen is that the Liberals/NDP will court Sikhs, and the Conservatives will try and woo Hindus. 

[Greatoneshere]

27 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said:

This will be very interesting, domestically, as the Indian-Canadian population is roughly split between Sikhs and Hindus (with the latter being more recent, generally speaking). I know some recent Indian immigrants, and they are...disturbingly fascist/authoritarian in their views and support of Modi. I expect what will happen is that the Liberals/NDP will court Sikhs, and the Conservatives will try and woo Hindus. 

 

Modi and his Hindustan allies have certainly brainwashed Indians in recent years to become more and more fascist. Then you look at how Modi handled Indian Kashmir and the farmers' strikes from last year (or was it 2021) and he's just a giant, fascist POS.

[Brick]

I remember a young (early 20s) guy who used to be at my work was all excited when Modi was reelected. I was just like, "what the fuck?" 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

According to the Financial Times, there was a similar assassination plot in the United States that was thwarted by American law enforcement:

 

US thwarts plot to kill Sikh separatist and issues diplomatic warning to India | US news | The Guardian

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Report comes after Canada claimed ‘credible allegations’ linked Indian agents to June murder of Sikh separatist in Vancouver

 

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US authorities have thwarted a plot to kill a Sikh separatist in the United States and issued a warning to India over concerns the government in New Delhi was involved, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources.

 

There were no immediate responses from India’s foreign ministry or the US embassy in New Delhi to requests for comment on the report.

 

The Financial Times said its sources did not say if the protest to India resulted in the plot being abandoned or if it was foiled by the FBI.

 

The protest to New Delhi was registered after the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, was welcomed on a state visit by the US president, Joe Biden, in June, the report said.

 

The report comes two months after Canada said there were “credible” allegations linking Indian agents to the June murder of a Sikh separatist leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in a Vancouver suburb.

 

India has rejected Canada’s accusations.

 

Apart from the diplomatic warning to India, US federal prosecutors have also filed a sealed indictment against at least one suspect in a New York district court, the FT report said.

 

The paper identified Gurpatwant Singh Pannun as the target of the foiled plot.

 

The FT report said Pannun had declined to say whether US authorities had warned him about the plot, but quoted him as saying he would “let the US government respond to the issue of threats to my life on American soil from the Indian operatives”.

 

 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

An  indictment has been issued:

 

U.S. Attorney Announces Charges In Connection With Foiled Plot To Assassinate U.S. Citizen In New York City

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Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Anne Milgram, the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), and James Smith, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced the filing of murder-for-hire charges against Indian national NIKHIL GUPTA, a/k/a “Nick,” in connection with his participation in a foiled plot to...

 

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Earlier this year, an Indian government employee (“CC-1”), working together with others, including GUPTA, in India and elsewhere, directed a plot to assassinate on U.S. soil an attorney and political activist who is a U.S. citizen of Indian origin residing in New York City (the “Victim”).

 

GUPTA is an Indian national who resides in India, is an associate of CC-1, and has described his involvement in international narcotics and weapons trafficking in his communications with CC-1 and others.  CC-1 is an Indian government agency employee who has variously described himself as a “Senior Field Officer” with responsibilities in “Security Management” and “Intelligence,” and who also has referenced previously serving in India’s Central Reserve Police Force and receiving “officer[] training” in “battle craft” and “weapons.”  CC-1 directed the assassination plot from India.

 

In or about May 2023, CC-1 recruited GUPTA to orchestrate the assassination of the Victim in the United States.  The Victim is a vocal critic of the Indian government and leads a U.S.-based organization that advocates for the secession of Punjab, a state in northern India that is home to a large population of Sikhs, an ethnoreligious minority group in India.  The Victim has publicly called for some or all of Punjab to secede from India and establish a Sikh sovereign state called Khalistan, and the Indian government has banned the Victim and his separatist organization from India.

 

At CC-1’s direction, GUPTA contacted an individual whom GUPTA believed to be a criminal associate, but who was in fact a confidential source working with the DEA (the “CS”), for assistance in contracting a hitman to murder the Victim in New York City.  The CS introduced GUPTA to a purported hitman, who was in fact a DEA undercover officer (the “UC”).  CC-1 subsequently agreed in dealings brokered by GUPTA to pay the UC $100,000 to murder the Victim.  On or about June 9, 2023, CC-1 and GUPTA arranged for an associate to deliver $15,000 in cash to the UC as an advance payment for the murder.  CC-1’s associate then delivered the $15,000 to the UC in Manhattan.

 

In or about June 2023, in furtherance of the assassination plot, CC-1 provided GUPTA with personal information about the Victim, including the Victim’s home address in New York City, phone numbers associated with the Victim, and details about the Victim’s day-to-day conduct, which GUPTA then passed to the UC.  CC-1 directed GUPTA to provide regular updates on the progress of the assassination plot, which GUPTA accomplished by forwarding to CC-1, among other things, surveillance photographs of the Victim.  GUPTA directed the UC to carry out the murder as soon as possible, but GUPTA also specifically instructed the UC not to commit the murder around the time of anticipated engagements scheduled to occur in the ensuing weeks between high-level U.S. and Indian government officials.

 

On or about June 18, 2023, masked gunmen murdered Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia, Canada.  Nijjar was an associate of the Victim, and like the Victim, was a leader of the Sikh separatist movement and an outspoken critic of the Indian government.  On or about June 19, 2023, the day after the Nijjar murder, GUPTA told the UC that Nijjar “was also the target” and “we have so many targets.”  GUPTA added that, in light of Nijjar’s murder, there was “now no need to wait” on killing the Victim.  On or about June 20, 2023, CC-1 sent GUPTA a news article about the Victim and messaged GUPTA, “t’s [a] priority now.”