Hardeep Singh Nijjar, designated terrorist and pro-Khalistan leader, shot dead in Canada

Pro-Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, designated a 'wanted terrorist' by the Indian government, was shot dead in Canada's British Columbia province on Sunday.

Nijjar, the president of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, was shot at by two unidentified gunmen in the parking lot of the very same Gurudwara.

A resident of Jalandhar, Nijjar was associated with the separatist organisation, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), which has been banned in India since 2019. He had played a key role in organising the Khalistan referendum in Brampton city. He was designated as an 'individual terrorist' by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in July 2020.


Nijjar has been wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with an alleged conspiracy to kill Hindu priest Kamaldeep Sharma in early 2021. The NIA named Nijjar in a chargesheet, with three others.

Kamaljeet Sharma, Ram Singh - who attacked the priest - and his associate Arshdeep Singh alias Prabh are the others accused of the attack, which was purportedly orchestrated by Nijjar.

According to the NIA, the conspiracy was hatched by accused Arshdeep and Nijjar, both based in Canada, to disturb the peace and disrupt communal harmony in Punjab by killing a Hindu priest.

Indian authorities had asked the Canadian officials to take action against Nijjar for his alleged involvement in terrorist acts in Punjab. Meanwhile,last year, the Punjab Police had sought the extradition of Nijjar as he was wanted in cases related to acts of reviving terrorism in the state.

The NIA said Nijjar had been proactively involved in recruiting, training, financing and operationalising pro-Khalistan terrorist modules for spreading terror in India. He was involved in giving inflammatory and hateful speeches through social media platforms.

Nijjar had been accused of killing Ripudaman Singh Malik, the man who was acquitted in the 1985 Air India terrorist bombing case, in Surrey last year.

With inputs from Agencies