Express News Service
NEW DELHI: India continues to crack the whip on Khalistani extremists by confiscating their properties in India.
According to reports, National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday released a list of 19 fugitive Khalistani extremists who are residents of the UK, US, Canada, Dubai and Pakistan, amongst other countries whose properties are likely to be confiscated.
These 19 include: -Pamma, Kulwant Singh Muthra, Sukhpal Singh, Sarabjeet Singh Bennur, Kulwant Singh alias Kanta, Gurpreet Singh alias Baaghi and Dupinder Jeet in the UK -Wadhwa Singh Babbar alias Chacha, Ranjit Singh Neeta in Pakistan. Jay Dhaliwal, Harpreet Singh alias Rana Singh, Harjap Singh alias Jappy Singh, Amardeep Singh Poorewal and S Himmat Singh in the US. Jasmeet Singh Hakimzada in Dubai, Gurjant Singh Dhillon in Australia, Lakhbir Singh Rode in Europe and Canada and Jatinder Singh Grewal in Canada.
ALSO READ | US provided Canada intelligence on Sikh separatist Nijjar’s killing: NYT
This announcement has come a day after properties of a designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a member of the banned pro-Khalistani group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) were attached. Pannun’s house in Chandigarh and land in Amritsar were confiscated.
The properties of the 19 will be taken under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA. These 19 have been accused of running anti-India propaganda from abroad.
Meanwhile, the Khalistan movement is outlawed in India and considered a grave national security threat by the government – a number of groups associated with the movement are listed as “terrorist organizations” under UAPA.
However, some Sikh extremists particularly in Canada, Britain and Australia have kept the movement alive by resorting to terrorising diplomats and vandalising temples.
Indian consulates in the United Kingdom and the United States have been vandalized by Khalistani supporters who tore down the Indian flag, replacing it with the Khalistan emblem.
Meanwhile, on Saturday United States Ambassador to Canada, David Cohen, in a televised interview in Canada said that there was shared intelligence among Five Eyes partners that informed Trudeau about the allegations on India.
“There was shared intelligence among Five Eyes partners that helped lead Canada to making the statements that the Prime Minister made,’’ said Cohen in a televised interview with CTV News.
While Cohen would not comment on whether the intelligence informing the Canadian government’s investigation was both human and surveillance-based, or whether it included signals intelligence of Indian diplomats.
ALSO READ | US envoy to Canada says intelligence shared among ‘Five Eyes’ led Trudeau to make allegation against India
The US envoy also said that there was a lot of communication between Ottawa and Washington DC.
“Look, I will say this was a matter of shared intelligence information,” he added. “There was a lot of communication between Canada and the United States about this, and I think that’s as far as I’m comfortable going,’’ Cohen said.
Cohen also said that the US took these allegations very seriously.
“And, you know, if they prove to be true, it is a potentially very serious breach of the rules-based international order in which we like to function,” he said.
Officials in Washington have said that Biden’s concern over the allegations has been expressed to India, and the U.S. has asked India to cooperate in Canada’s investigation, according to the ambassador.
“We think it’s very important to get to the bottom of it,” Cohen said.
NEW DELHI: India continues to crack the whip on Khalistani extremists by confiscating their properties in India.
According to reports, National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday released a list of 19 fugitive Khalistani extremists who are residents of the UK, US, Canada, Dubai and Pakistan, amongst other countries whose properties are likely to be confiscated.
These 19 include: -Pamma, Kulwant Singh Muthra, Sukhpal Singh, Sarabjeet Singh Bennur, Kulwant Singh alias Kanta, Gurpreet Singh alias Baaghi and Dupinder Jeet in the UK -Wadhwa Singh Babbar alias Chacha, Ranjit Singh Neeta in Pakistan. Jay Dhaliwal, Harpreet Singh alias Rana Singh, Harjap Singh alias Jappy Singh, Amardeep Singh Poorewal and S Himmat Singh in the US. Jasmeet Singh Hakimzada in Dubai, Gurjant Singh Dhillon in Australia, Lakhbir Singh Rode in Europe and Canada and Jatinder Singh Grewal in Canada.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
ALSO READ | US provided Canada intelligence on Sikh separatist Nijjar’s killing: NYT
This announcement has come a day after properties of a designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a member of the banned pro-Khalistani group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) were attached. Pannun’s house in Chandigarh and land in Amritsar were confiscated.
The properties of the 19 will be taken under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA. These 19 have been accused of running anti-India propaganda from abroad.
Meanwhile, the Khalistan movement is outlawed in India and considered a grave national security threat by the government – a number of groups associated with the movement are listed as “terrorist organizations” under UAPA.
However, some Sikh extremists particularly in Canada, Britain and Australia have kept the movement alive by resorting to terrorising diplomats and vandalising temples.
Indian consulates in the United Kingdom and the United States have been vandalized by Khalistani supporters who tore down the Indian flag, replacing it with the Khalistan emblem.
Meanwhile, on Saturday United States Ambassador to Canada, David Cohen, in a televised interview in Canada said that there was shared intelligence among Five Eyes partners that informed Trudeau about the allegations on India.
“There was shared intelligence among Five Eyes partners that helped lead Canada to making the statements that the Prime Minister made,’’ said Cohen in a televised interview with CTV News.
While Cohen would not comment on whether the intelligence informing the Canadian government’s investigation was both human and surveillance-based, or whether it included signals intelligence of Indian diplomats.
ALSO READ | US envoy to Canada says intelligence shared among ‘Five Eyes’ led Trudeau to make allegation against India
The US envoy also said that there was a lot of communication between Ottawa and Washington DC.
“Look, I will say this was a matter of shared intelligence information,” he added. “There was a lot of communication between Canada and the United States about this, and I think that’s as far as I’m comfortable going,’’ Cohen said.
Cohen also said that the US took these allegations very seriously.
“And, you know, if they prove to be true, it is a potentially very serious breach of the rules-based international order in which we like to function,” he said.
Officials in Washington have said that Biden’s concern over the allegations has been expressed to India, and the U.S. has asked India to cooperate in Canada’s investigation, according to the ambassador.
“We think it’s very important to get to the bottom of it,” Cohen said.
