New Delhi: Hours after reports emerged that Sukhdool Singh alias Sukha Duneke was killed in an inter-rivalry gang war in Canada, the Winnipeg Police confirmed his death in the city. The police made public the status of the investigation and said that their homicide unit was investigating the case. No arrests were made in this case at the time, the Winnipeg Police said.
Update: The Homicide Unit has now identified the victim as 39-year-old Sukhdool Singh GILL, and notifications to family members have been made.
The investigation is ongoing.https://t.co/pynBa9tOzS https://t.co/KEhjHwIiXH
— Winnipeg Police (@wpgpolice) September 21, 2023
The killing of Sukhdool Singh, 39, comes at a time when India and Canada are engaged in a heightened diplomatic tension after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared in Parliament that his government is probing “credible allegations” linking Indian agents with killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
The Print looks back at the life of Sukhdool Singh and his association with the world of crime.
Beginning and crime syndicate
Hailing from Duneke village in Mogga district, Sukhdool Singh lost his father early in life to militancy in Punjab. His father, Naib Singh, was shot dead by militants and as per compensation under terrorism victims’ quota policy, he got a grade 4 job in the Punjab government. However, he did not last long there and he started getting involved in petty crimes.
The first case registered against him in 2005 involving a land dispute in Faridkot and then his network expanded to full-blown criminal activities ranging from land grabbing, extortion to using those funds for spreading terrorism in Punjab.
By 2017, there were 7 criminal cases registered against him for offences ranging from house trespassing, extortion to murder in Moga and Faridkot.
Sukhdool left India in 2017 on the sponsorship of a relative living in Canada. He applied for a passport and colluded with two officials of Punjab Police to get police verification done despite facing multiple serious cases.
In June last year, on the orders of the Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) of the Punjab Police, an FIR was filed against the police personnel who undertook verification that enabled Sukhdool to get the passport. It was alleged in the AGTF probe that the police personnel did not conduct a proper background check and also skipped the two major cases out of seven filed against him in which he was a “proclaimed offender”.
He had not returned to the country since his departure in 2017 and was charge-sheeted and put on the most wanted list prepared by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
There are 18 cases registered in his name, Moga Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) J. Elanchezhian told The Print.
Sukhdool was also a key operative of the Davinder Bambiha gang, currently run by fugitive gangster Lucky Patial, and his name also surfaced in the 2022 murder of kabaddi player Sandeep Singh Nangal in Jalandhar district.
Sukhdool was believed to be a key aide of Canada-based gangster Arshdeep Singh alias Dalla and he used to raise funds for the Khalistan Tiger Force, a proscribed organisation by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
In August, the NIA filed a charge sheet against Sukhdool and other members of the Davinder Bambiha gang in which he was accused of running extortion rackets with Indian aides lodged in several jails and that those funds are being used for fuelling terrorism.
On Thursday, Sukhdool’s name had featured in a series of tweets posted by the NIA seeking information from the public regarding assets either owned by gangsters or individuals related to them.
— NIA India (@NIA_India) September 21, 2023
The end
On 20 September, the homicide unit of the Winnipeg Police reached the 200 block of Hazelton Drive in the North Inkster Industrial area and found the body of Sukhdool Singh.
Reports surfaced that Sukhdool was killed in a gang rivalry, but the Winnipeg Police in its last statement issued Thursday stated that no arrests have been made in this case. They released a statement saying investigation in the case is still ongoing.
In a Facebook post, the Lawrence Bishnoi gang claimed responsibility for the killing of Khalistani terrorist Sukhdool Singh in Canada. Bishnoi, a dreaded gangster facing charges under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 by the NIA and the Delhi Police, is currently in an Ahmedabad jail in a drugs smuggling case.
Calling him “drug addict”, the post alleged Sukhdool Singh played a role in the murder of singer Vicky Middukhera, Gurlal Brar, who was a close relative of another fugitive gangster Goldy Brar; and kabbadi player Sandeep Singh Nangal. Sukhdool was “punished for his sins”, the post added.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: Amid row with Canada, Punjab Police raid 1,000 locations ‘linked’ to Goldy Brar