The home of a Canadian Sikh separatist named Inderjit Singh Gosal, in Brampton, Ontario, was hit by gunfire on Monday, reported CNN.
This comes amid strained diplomatic ties between Ottawa and New Delhi on account of the Indian government’s alleged involvement in the assassination of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June on Canadian soil, in a suburb of Vancouver.
Construction workers found a single bullet hole in the window of Gosal’s home on Monday, CNN reported citing inputs from the local police and the United States-based group Sikhs for Justice, with which Gosal is associated.
Sikhs for Justice advocates for Khalistan – an independent state for Sikhs – and has been proscribed by India as a terrorist outfit. The group has alleged that Gosal may have been targeted for his activism, as the bullet hole in his window was found “days after Gosal announced the Khalistan Freedom Rally at the Indian Consulate Toronto on February 17.”
“It appears that only one bullet hole was found but that is subject to change,” the Peel Regional Police said, adding that it is “unknown at this time if there is any relation to the group Sikhs for Justice”. An investigation is underway.
Months after Nijjar’s killing, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in September told his country’s parliament that intelligence agencies were actively pursuing “credible allegations” tying agents of the Indian government to the death of Nijjar.India has described this claim as “absurd and motivated”.
On November 29, the United States Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, announced that it had filed “murder-for-hire charges” against an Indian national in connection with his alleged participation in a thwarted plot to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the founder of Sikhs for Justice, in the US.
While the statement did not name the separatist leader, a report in the Financial Times on November 23 identified him as Pannun.
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