Chandigarh: In the past five years, names of almost three dozen suspected militants, gangsters and narcotraffickers wanted by the Punjab Police have been shared by the Government of India with Canada, requesting their extradition. However, extradition proceedings have not succeeded in even one case.
Cases against these suspects have been pending in Punjab for years. The oldest one — against alleged militant Gurwant Singh alias Gurpartap alias Bath, who created the Dashmesh Regiment of Khalistan — has been pending since 1997, when an Interpol Red Corner Notice (RCN) was issued against him. He is wanted in two separate cases of murder from 1990, both registered in Batala.
Of these 36-odd men, over a dozen are awaiting investigation for their purported involvement in acts of terrorism in Punjab, around 10 are wanted in cases of targeted killings, kidnappings and extortion, and another dozen are wanted for their alleged role in aiding drug lords in Punjab.
The extradition proceedings, said top Punjab Police sources, have been long drawn out, mainly because of the marked difference between what Punjab Police and Canadian agencies consider as “evidence”.
In 2018, when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Punjab, the then chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh handed him a list of nine most-wanted Sikh militants who, according to state intelligence agencies, were living in various Canadian cities.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, chief of the Khalistan Tiger Force who was killed in June this year and is at the centre of the current India-Canada row, was on that list.
In 2021, a list of nine persons wanted in connection with a high-profile drug haul case was also shared with Canada. Last year, names of seven gangsters were reportedly added to that list, after which many other individual cases have been forwarded to the Canadian government.
ThePrint gives a low-down on the prominent alleged militants and criminals from Punjab believed to be living in Canada.
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Gangsters-turned-militants
In December 2022, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said at a press conference in Gujarat — ahead of the state’s assembly elections — that gangster-turned-militant Satinderjeet Singh alias Goldy Brar, who is believed to be in Canada, had been detained by the US authorities and will soon be brought back to India to be tried for his crimes here. But as it turned out, Mann’s information was incorrect.
Goldy Brar, said to be part of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, operated mainly in Punjab and Haryana till 2017, when he reportedly left Punjab, travelling to Canada on a student visa.
According to sources in the Punjab intelligence, Brar has allegedly gone from being a mere gangster to a full-fledged operative of the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), a Sikh militant group. He is wanted both by the Punjab Police and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in various cases.
In May this year, Brar was reportedly added to the list of 25 most-wanted criminals in Canada as well.
Last year, he claimed responsibility for the killing of Punjabi singer-turned-politician Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu alias Sidhu Moose Wala. He also claimed to have been involved in the murder of Pradeep Singh, a follower of Dera Sacha Sauda and an accused in the Bargari sacrilege case from November last year.
On Thursday, a Facebook post attributed to the gang led by Lawrence Bishnoi (currently jailed in India) reportedly hailed the killing of rival gangster Sukhdul Singh alias Sukha Duneke Wednesday in Winnipeg, Canada.
Duneke himself was wanted by the Punjab Police and his name had figured in the list of the seven Punjab gangsters believed to be living in Canada.
In July this year, the NIA filed a chargesheet against another Canada-based gangster-turned-militant Arshdeep Singh Gill alias Arsh Dalla. According to intelligence agencies, Dalla belongs to Moga and, after shifting to Canada, came in touch with Nijjar.
The NIA chargesheet states that Dalla, along with others, was involved in recruiting, handling and funding India-based terror operatives. Dalla was declared an individual terrorist earlier this year. Last week, he reportedly claimed responsibility for the murder of Congress leader Baljinder Singh Balli in Moga. A Facebook post attributed to Dalla reportedly said that Balli was “responsible for ruining his future and forcing him to become a gangster”.
Intelligence sources told ThePrint that Punjab Police are having a tough time dealing with the emerging cases of gangsters transitioning to militant activities, along with the use of drug money to procure weapons and ammunition.
“This is a dangerous trend that began four to five years ago. Khalistani militants, who are settled abroad for several years, have joined hands with gangsters who have a readymade and active network of sharpshooters, weapon smugglers and drug trafficking for funds,” a senior Punjab Police officer told ThePrint, requesting anonymity.
In July this year, the NIA charged another gangster-turned-militant Lakhbir Singh Sandhu alias Landa, who is said to have fled to Canada in 2017. Landa is one of the main accused in the rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attack on Punjab Police intelligence headquarters in May last year. Landa was also found to be allegedly involved in another RPG attack on the Sarhali police station in Tarn Taran.
Three others allegedly involved in these two RPG attacks — Satbir Singh alias Satnam Singh alias Satta Naushera, Jaswinder Singh Khattu and Parminder Singh Pattukhera — are also wanted by the Punjab Police and were reportedly detained at the Canada airport in June this year.
The NIA website, which has a list of the most-wanted criminals, states that Satta is now believed to be in Greece.
The other gangsters on the intelligence agencies’ list who are from Punjab and believed to be in Canada include Raman Deep Singh alias Raman Judge, Charanjit Singh alias Rinku, Gurpinder Singh alias Baba Dalla, Sanover Dhillon, and Satvir Singh alias Sam Waring.
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Sikh extremists
According to the information shared by the state intelligence agencies with ThePrint, several militants striving for secession from India — for the creation of a separate and independent Sikh state — are based in Canada, many of whom are allegedly involved in funding and facilitating terror crimes in Punjab.
Punjab’s intelligence agencies believe that these people, living in various cities of Canada, are operatives of banned militant organisations, including the Babbar Khalsa International, the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF), the Khalistan Liberation Force, the Sikh Liberation Front, and the Khalistan Tiger Force. Many of these operatives, the intelligence agencies add, are common to two or three organisations.
One among them is Tehal Singh Tut, who has had an Interpol RCN issued against him since 2001. Originally from Jalandhar, Tut is wanted in a murder case registered against him in the city in 1988. He is believed to be living in Ontario and is reportedly in contact with other Sikh extremists in Canada who are actively involved in instigating Punjab’s youth.
Other prominent militants on then CM Amarinder’s list included Gurpreet Singh of Moga, Gurjinder Singh Pannu of Tarn Taran and Gurjeet Singh Cheema of Gurdaspur. The three were reportedly booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in a weapon-recovery case registered in 2017 in Ramdas, Amritsar. Interpol RCNs were issued against them in 2018. In 2020, they were acquitted under the UAPA by a local court.
According to sources in Punjab Police, all three are International Sikh Youth Federation operatives. Gurpreet Singh, currently believed to be living in Ontario, had visited India in 2016 to allegedly raise a terrorist module, while Gurjeet Singh visited India in 2017 to operationalise the module. Both are said to have arranged weapons from Gwalior and transferred funds for terror activities.
Gurjinder Singh Pannu, a close associate of Gurpreet Singh, said police sources, is also involved in recruiting Sikh youths, raising terror modules and funding them.
Malkiat Singh Fauji, a BKI and ISYF joint operative, was also on Amarinder’s list. He was booked under the UAPA and Arms Act at Mukandpur in Nawanshahr in 2017, and an Interpol RCN was issued against him in 2020.
Fauji, who is from Amritsar, reportedly formed a three-member BKI/ISYF module in Punjab before leaving for Canada in 2014. He was allegedly sourcing weapons from Uttar Pradesh. He is believed to be living in Surrey, Canada.
Also on the list were Bhagat Singh Brar alias Bugga and Parvikar Singh alias Parry, both having close links with Pakistan-based Sikh militants, show reports. Both are Canadian nationals.
Bhagat Singh Brar is the son of Pakistan-based Lakhbir Singh Rode. He was in close touch with Nijjar, said police sources. Both were placed on the no-fly list in March 2018 in Canada on the basis of a Canadian security intelligence service brief. The no-fly list has names of people whom the Canadian government suspects can threaten transportation security or travel by air to contribute to terrorist activities.
Others on the list included Moninder Singh Bual, founder of the Sikh Liberation Front in Canada, Satinder Pal Singh Gill, who heads his own faction of the ISYF, Manvir Singh Dhura, and Sulinder Singh.
Accused in drug cases
Apart from the long list of alleged militants and gangsters Punjab has sought from Canada, the extradition of several people considered to be the associates of drug lord Jagdish Singh Bhola, arrested by the Punjab Police in 2013, has also been requested.
Bhola, a national-level wrestler and Arjuna Awardee and once an employee of the Punjab Police, was found to be involved in a huge cartel of synthetic drugs that were supplied via his network to Australia and the US.
In a report submitted to the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2021 in a case, Punjab Police said extradition requests were pending against several of Bhola’s alleged associates, including Ranjit Singh Aujla, Gursewak Singh Dhillon, Nirankar Singh Dhillon, Sarabjit Singh Sander, Lehmber Singh Daleh, Amarjit Singh Kooner, Pardeep Singh Dhaliwal, Amrinder Singh Chhina and Ranjit Kaur Kahlon.
Extradition proceedings are also pending for three other persons — Canadian residents Parminder Singh alias Pindi, Satpreet Singh alias Satta, and Amarinder Singh alias Laddi — allegedly involved in a related case registered in 2021 in Mohali.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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