Nijjar was a killer, not a religious head, says Indian Intel

Ottawa is yet to provide credible evidence that India was behind the killing of Khalistan Tiger Force terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, but Canadian intelligence continues to push the narrative of him being the innocent and religious-minded head of Guru Nanak Gurudwara in Surrey, Canada.

A dossier put together by Indian intelligence agencies claims that he became the head of the Sikh temple by threatening his own cousin and the temple’s former president Raghbir Singh Nijjar.

Nijjar, the dossier adds, was an old associate of Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) terrorist Gurdeep Singh aka Deepa Heranwala, who was involved in over 200 killings in Punjab in late 1980s and early 1990s. He was initiated into crime by another gang lord, Gurnek Singh aka Neka.

Nijjar escaped to Canada on a forged passport in the name of “Ravi Sharma” in 1996 and kept a low profile as a truck driver and a plumber, the dossier adds. He came in touch with Pakistan based KTF chief Jagtar Singh Tara and visited Pakistan under the cover of being a Baisakhi jatha member in April 2012, it says. He was radicalised by Tara and cultivated by Pakistan spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), with the former imparting him arms and explosives training in 2012 and 2013. The dossier even claims that in 2013, Tara sent the US-based Harjot Singh Birring to Canada to train Nijjar in using a handheld GPS device. In 2015, after the deportation of Jagtar Singh Tara to India from Thailand, Nijjar assumed the role of operations chief of KTF.

By then, there was already an Interpol Red Corner notice against him, according to the dossier. This was issued in November 2014, but he was then granted citizenship despite his request for political asylum being rejected twice by the Canadian immigration authorities.

After assuming charge of KTF in Canada, Nijjar was actively involved in spotting, networking, training, funding and operationalizing KTF module members according to the dossier, which lists his activities.

• In 2014, according to the dossier, Nijjar provided funds to another Canada based Sikh radical, Surjit Singh Kohli, who in turn gave money to former Babbar Khalsa International terrorsit Parminder Singh aka Kala to purchase a weapon to kill Baba Piara Singh Bhaniarawala, a socio-religious head in Ropar, and Shiv Sena leader Sanjeev Ghanouli, claiming that both were anti-Panthic.

• In December 2015, Nijjar organised an arms training camp in Mission Hills, British Columbia, Canada, to impart training on the use of AK-47 assault rifles, sniper rifles and pistols to Mandeep Singh Dhaliwal. In January 2016, he sent Dhaliwal to Punjab to kill Shiv Sena leaders and create communal situation in the state but the terrorist was picked up by Punjab Police in June the same year.

• Nijjar along with gangster-turned-terrorist Arshdeep Singh Dala trained a module of four KTF members, the dossier said, and this carried out the targeted killings and abductions in 2020 and 2021. Three of the module members were arrested and they revealed the names of both Nijjar and Dala, the dossier said.

• In September 2021, on directions from Nijjar and Dala, three KTF members—Kanwarpal Singh, Kulwinder Singh and Kamalpreet Singh — from Moga were part of a plot to assassinate SSP Moga Harmanbir Singh Gill and two inspectors of the criminal investigating agency in Moga district.

• On February 19, 2022, the dossier said, Haryana Police arrested three members of a gang involved in contract killings in Punjab on directions of KTF and International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF)

The dossier points out that Nijjar was designated as a terrorist by the Home Ministry on July 1, 2020 and the National Investigation Agency announced a cash award of ₹10 lakh on him on July 22, 2022, the KTF chief operated with impunity in Canada.

India’s effort was to get Ottawa to act against him, people familiar with the matter said. Nijjar had 10 FIRs against him in India, and New Delhi wanted to proceed against him on those cases.