New Delhi: Sikh separatist and head of the banned Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) outfit Gurpatwant Singh Pannun claims to have received alerts of threats from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). In a newly released video on social media, Pannun—designated as an individual terrorist by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs—said that the agencies in the United States and Canada alerted him about potential threats and asked him to avoid travelling until they are resolved.
The United States had, in 2024, announced the uncovering of a plot to kill Pannun hatched by a former Indian official and Indian businessman. The former Indian official, Vikas Yadav, was a former officer of India’s external agency, Research and Analysis Wing, and he had allegedly brought Nikhil Gupta into the plot. Lodged in a US prison, Gupta has pleaded guilty to the charges and is awaiting sentencing. Gupta, on the other hand, is facing an arrest warrant and an FBI reward.
Pannun’s fresh video comes days after an audio clip of a phone call between another designated terrorist, Satinderjeet Singh alias ‘Goldy Brar’, and UK-based Sikh separatist Paramjit Singh Pamma emerged, in which the former accepted he had killed the former head of the banned outfit Khalistan Tiger Force, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in June 2023.
Nijjar, a close aide of Pannun, was killed by gunmen outside his gurudwara in Canada’s British Columbia. The then government of Justin Trudeau had linked the killing to unnamed agents of the Indian government, plunging the two countries into a diplomatic tussle. India had called Trudeau’s allegations “absurd” and rebuffed them.
In the latest video, Pannun warned Brar and jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi that they can save themselves from the grasp of the US and Canadian courts and agencies. “You can save yourself from the FBI, but you can’t protect yourself from the justice of Khalsa,” Pannun said in the video. “The day cases in US and Canada courts will close, Khalsa justice and punishment will catch up with you,” Pannun further said.
A dual citizen of the United States and Canada, Pannun was declared an individual terrorist by the government of India under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, in 2020. The Punjab native has about 100 cases registered against him and his outfit, SFJ, over threats issued by him, ranging from blowing up the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad during the World Cup to a voice note received at the residence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh warning about bids to bomb Parliament and the Red Fort.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)
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