A senior Home Ministry official told NDTV, “We have repeatedly shared data with Canadian officials about the terrorist activities going on there, but they never heeded it.”
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India issued an RCN against Niger in November 2014
According to him, India has been chasing Hardeep Singh Nijjar for the past decade. India also issued an Interpol Red Corner Notice (RCN) against him in November 2014. He informed, “Nijjar has more than a dozen criminal cases in India for murder and other terrorist activities. Details of these cases were shared with Canadian authorities but no action was taken. Despite RCN, Canadian authorities arrested him. No. was taken apart from being placed on the no-fly list.
NDTV has obtained a dossier related to Niger that was handed over to Canada by Indian authorities. According to the dossier, Nijjar came to Canada in 1997 using a fake passport in the name of Ravi Sharma. He applied for asylum in Canada, claiming he feared persecution in India because he belonged to a “special social group, i.e. persons associated with Sikh extremism”.
A Nijjar contracted a ‘marriage’ with a woman.
However, his asylum claim was rejected based on this fabricated story. “Just 11 days after his claim was rejected, he entered into a ‘marriage’ agreement with a woman who had sponsored him on immigration,” revealed a senior official. The application was rejected by immigration officials in Canada. Because that woman also came. 1997 in Canada on sponsorship of separated husband.
According to the official, Nijjar appealed the rejection in Canadian courts, although he continued to claim to be a Canadian citizen. “Nijjar was later granted Canadian citizenship, the circumstances of which are unclear,” he said.
Entered Gurdwara politics and acquired Canadian citizenship
However, intelligence agencies claim that to protect himself from the RCN and prevent his extradition, Nijjar entered gurdwara politics in Canada and acquired Canadian citizenship.
“Nijjar became the gurdwara president by force in 2021 after fighting and threatening his cousin, former gurdwara president Raghbir Singh Nijjar. Nijjar assumed the role of ‘operations chief’ of the Khalistan Tiger Force,” an official said.
Nijjar was the chief of the Canadian chapter of the terrorist organization.
The NIA had registered several cases against Nijjar, including RCN, for setting up a module in Canada linked to Mandeep Singh Dhaliwal. Nijjar was also associated with the Canada chapter of the banned terrorist organization Sikhs for Justice as its head.
“He organized several violent anti-India protests in Canada and openly threatened Indian diplomats,” revealed an official. It also sought to ban Indian embassy officials from participating in various events organized by local gurdwaras in Canada.