Terrorists based in US & Canada behind killing of Shaurya Chakra winner in Punjab, NIA tells SC

NEW DLEHI: At a time when Canada and the US are upping the ante against India for the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the murder attempt on Gurpatwant Singh Pannun , both pro-Khalistan leaders, the National Investigation Agency told Supreme Court that operatives of banned terror outfit Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) based in the US and Canada masterminded the murder of a Shaurya Chakra awardee teacher in Punjab's Tarn Taran in 2020.

In an affidavit opposing the bail pleas of two co-accused in the 2020 murder, investigation into which was shifted to NIA in 2021, the agency said the masterminds behind the killing of teacher Balwinder Singh Sandhu were Canada-based KLF operative Sunny Toronto and Pakistan-sheltered terrorist Lakhbir Singh alias Rode, nephew of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, both of whom are named as accused in the NIA chargesheet and shown as absconders.

Sunny Toronto and Rode, the self-styled chief of KLF, conspired to eliminate anti-Khalistan entities in India as they believed they could revive the movement by targeting those opposed to Khalistan, NIA stated.

"Khalistan Liberation Force leadership believes they can revive the separatist movement by targeting members of specific communities to polarise society in Punjab on communal lines. Organisations and persons, who according to the KLF leadership are opposed to the ideology of Bhindranwale, are their prime targets for elimination," NIA stated.

"Comrade Balwinder Singh Sandhu became one of the targets of the conspiracy, as he had been awarded Shaurya Chakra on April 14, 1993, for his brave struggle against terrorist elements during the peak of terrorism in Punjab," NIA said and described how Sunny Toronto and Rode got in touch with radicalised youth in Punjab to murder Sandhu. Other absconding accused in the Sandhu murder case are Gurjot Kaur, a US-based operative of KLF, and Gaganpreet Singh Kaila aka Gagan, a KLF member settled in Surrey, British Columbia.

After hearing additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati on behalf of National Investigation Agency, a bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Arvind Kumar Tuesday rejected the bail pleas of co-accused Navpreet Singh aka Nav and Harbinder Singh aka Pinder aka Dhillon.

While the alleged murder attempt on Pannun received traction in media, the murder of a bravery award winner teacher in Punjab planned by Canada and US-based terror operatives remains file-bound in court record room.