New Delhi: Satinderjit Singh, alias Goldy Brar—a wanted Indian fugitive gangster and designated terrorist—was removed from Canada’s top most-wanted list in April after nearly a year on it amid escalating India-Canada tensions, Canadian authorities confirmed to ThePrint. His name was removed after the list was updated to “make room for recent cases”.
Brar is accused in several cases in India—in the high-profile murder of singer Sidhu Moosewala, the murder of Dera Sacha Sauda follower Pardeep Singh, and for sending threats to Bollywood actor Salman Khan, among others. Brar is also an associate of Lawrence Bishnoi, a jailed Indian gangster accused by Canada of being used by Indian agents for carrying out hits on foreign soil.
The authorities indicated that Brar was in Canada, following which his name was included in the most wanted list as an “exception”, as the list mostly includes only Canadian fugitives.
It is unclear if Brar continues to be in Canada.
While Brar’s addition to the list was announced by the Canadian High Commission in Delhi on 2 May, 2023, the removal of his name was done silently.
In an email response to ThePrint, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), did not provide a clear answer on whether Brar was part of their “wanted” list, but stated that he appeared on the wanted list of the BOLO (be on the lookout) Program, run by a charitable organisation, which works closely with RCMP.
“Due to the public INTERPOL Red Notice against Satinderjit Singh Brar, he was featured on the BOLO Program. This is a Program supported by a charitable organization, not the RCMP. The RCMP works with BOLO on an ongoing basis and encourages anyone with information on the whereabouts of this or any other fugitive to contact appropriate authorities,” RCMP said in its response. “The RCMP does not determine which wanted parties feature on their website,” they added.
BOLO, however, said that Brar was included in the list only after RCMP submitted Brar’s case to them in 2023 as an “exception”, as their wanted list only includes Canadian fugitives. They also indicated that the Canadian law enforcement agency (RCMP) had “reasons to believe that a foreign fugitive (Brar in this case) is in Canada”.
“We’re a Canadian program exclusively focused on Canadian fugitives, so we don’t technically feature foreign fugitives. However, there may be an exception if a Canadian law enforcement agency has reasons to believe a foreign fugitive is in Canada. This was the exception used for the BRAR case when the RCMP submitted the case to us in 2023 (sic),” BOLO said in an email response. “As a result, BRAR was featured on our Top 25 for about 1 year. We don’t really know more. We’re not privy to investigations,” they said.
They further added that Brar was “removed from the BOLO Programs list earlier this year, just like several other most wanted individuals, as the list is updated periodically, at least once a year, to remain up-to-date”. They said that the list was last updated on 23 April, 2024.
The removal, Bolo said, was done, to ‘make room’ for more recent cases.
Brar’s name also doesn’t feature on Bolo’s “Still Wanted” list. The non-profit said that while most outstanding cases that no longer feature in the top 25, go to the Still Wanted section, they cited reasons, such as ‘suspect is arrested, changes to warrant status, status of investigation, and potential whereabouts of suspect’, for an individual not being moved to the Still Wanted.
Earlier last month, recalled senior Indian diplomat Sanjay Verma—who was termed as a “person of interest” by Canada in the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar—had stated that Canada had removed Brar from its wanted list. Nijjar was killed on 18 June last year in Surrey.
“Goldy Brar was living in Canada. On our request, he was put on the wanted list, and all of a sudden, he disappeared from the wanted list. What do I make out of it? Either he is arrested or he is no more wanted. Even that is not known to us,” Verma told PTI in an interview.
Brar’s addition to Canada’s ‘most-wanted’ list in 2023
The addition of Brar’s name to the list was officially stated by the Canadian High Commission in May last year. The Canadian High Commission had said, “Interpol-Ottawa’s Fugitive Apprehension Support Team (FAST) has added fugitive Satinderjit Singh ‘Goldy’ Brar as the latest addition to the top 25 list.”
On 1 May, 2023, a life size cut out of Brar, marked as No. 15, was displayed at Toronto’s Yonge-Dundas Square alongside cutouts of the other 24 individuals on the list. A press conference was also held with the Toronto Police.
At the time, a statement by the Canadian High Commission had called Brar a subject of the RCMP’s probe into allegations made by India.
“The RCMP is dedicated to supporting its international policing partners and is working closely with Indian law enforcement to ensure that justice is provided to the victims. The offences committed in India are very serious in nature and merit the interest of police in Canada. Brar is believed to be in Canada and represents a risk to public safety. He is currently under investigation but is not charged with any criminal offences in Canada,” said the high commission.
‘Interpol notices not legally binding’
When asked if Brar had been located and arrested following an Interpol Red Notice against him, the RCMP said that Interpol notices are not legally binding in any country and a Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant. It said that the “member countries apply their own laws in deciding whether to arrest a person”.
It said that once the RCMP is made aware of an individual through those channels, it will use a number of assessment tools “to determine whether there is any indication of criminality, whether the criminality is within our mandate, and what risk they may pose”.
“Canada considers every notice carefully before taking action. The RCMP’s assistance in international matters is always conducted with due diligence and in accordance with established policies and procedures in Canada,” it said.
RCMP said that the Interpol Ottawa office is the first point of contact in Canada for many countries pursuing an international investigation but it does not actively investigate crimes. It acts as a conduit for member countries to share information and seek assistance in criminal investigations in their respective jurisdictions.
When asked specifically about Brar’s case, and why he is no longer wanted in Canada, RCMP stated that it cannot comment on individual cases due to “privacy concerns”.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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