By Jai Bharadwaj and Amit Sarwal
Terror organisation Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar was gunned down by two unknown assailants in his car in the parking lot of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia.
He was wanted in India with National Investigation Agency (NIA) having announced a cash reward of 1 million Indian rupees on him.
Hailing from Bharsinghpur village in Punjab’s Jalandhar, Nijjar was based in Surrey and had been declared “absconder” by the NIA.
Surrey Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) S. Sgt. Tyner Gillies told the media that a murder victim was found inside his grey truck in the parking lot.
“Upon attendance, police found an adult male inside a vehicle suffering from apparent gunshot wounds and provided medical assistance until Emergency Health Services arrived on the scene. The man died of his injuries at the scene,” Gillies said.
He said the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team had been called in.
“At this early stage of the investigation, any possible motives for the shooting are not yet known. Police are still working to determine possible suspect descriptions from multiple witnesses who were in the area,”
Gillies said.
Who was Hardeep Singh Nijjar
Najjar was the head of terror outfit Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and was involved in the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) group. He also took over the Presidentship of Surrey-based Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara by intimidating other members.
Since January 2023, Nijjar has visited Australia twice to oversee Khalistan Referendum propaganda events.
The Australia Today understands, Nijjar with the help of his local Khalistan supporters in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane orchestrated the attacks on five Hindu Temples in Australia.
The Australia Today is also given to understand that Hardeep Singh Nijjar organised a support fund of 3.8 million Australian dollars for different groups to establish a Gurudwara in Adelaide, a charity organisation to open its office in multiple Australian capital cities.
Indian National Investigation Agency (NIA) had in July 2022 announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on Nijjar in the case of the killing of a Hindu priest in Jalandhar.
Indian state Punjab’s Police have been on the lookout for him for almost a decade. He was allegedly involved in an explosion near Satya Narayan temple in Patiala in the year 2010 and for plotting to kill religious leaders in the state.
Nijjar had ties with Pakistan and visited the country in 2013 to meet Jagtar Singh Tara, who assassinated former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, and officials of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Tara was arrested in Thailand in 2015 and was awarded life imprisonment by a district court in Chandigarh, India.
“Hardeep Singh Nijjar is wanted by the National Investigation Agency in NIA case in the conspiracy hatched by Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) operating under Nijjar, to kill a Hindu priest at Jalandhar,” NIA had said in a release.
