Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a supporter of Khalistan whose death has caused a political dispute between India and Canada, went to Pakistan to get “expertise” in guns and ammo, according to new information from the Indian Intelligence agencies, which was confirmed by a person in the know.
Based on what intelligence found, he went to Pakistan in April 2012, even though he had been involved in crime since 1980. It has been said that a bomber taught him how to use IEDs in Pakistan.
In 2014, Nijjar planned to attack Dera Sacha Sauda Chief Sant Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh at his home in Haryana’s Sirsa.
He also told his aides in India to go after Baba Mann Singh Pehowa Wale, Nishant Sharma, a leader of the Shiv Sena in Punjab, and Mohammad Izhar Alam, the DGP at the time.
It was also found out that Nijjar had been involved in crime activities since 1980 and was always in touch with thieves since then.
“Hardeep Singh Nijjar worked as a plumber, and it is thought that he gave money to Jagtar Singh Tara, who was caught as the leader of the KTF. Neka, a terrorist who lives in the US and goes by the name Gurnek Singh, met Nijjar and Tara in 2011. In April 2012, Nijjar went to Pakistan for 15 days, where he learned from Tara how to handle weapons and make IEDs.
“In September 2012, he sent Rs 5 lakh to Tara for her personal use. In 2013, he sent another Rs 5 lakh to Spain to buy a paraglider. Tara taught Nijjar how to use a hand-held GPS device in December 2013 in Vancouver. He did this through his US friend Harjot Singh Birring. According to the plan, Nijjar was to go to India and use GPS data to find the guns and bombs that had been dumped. After Tara was arrested in Thailand, Nijjar went to Thailand to meet Tara so that he could take Tara’s word to Pakistan for the ISI. Nijjar went to Lahore in the first week of November 2014,” said the report seen by IANS.
Nijjar was fascinated by robber Gurnek Singh (Neka), so he went into crime while working as a truck driver.
The report said that between 1980 and 1990, he had touch with the Khalistan Commando Force (KCF). After working with the KCF for a long time, he became a close friend of Jagtar Singh Tara, who was the leader of the KCF in 2012.
In April 2012, Nijjar went to Pakistan with a Baisakhi Jatha. He spent two weeks in Pakistan, where a terrorist gave him lessons on how to use weapons.
Later, he ran to Canada. Nijjar was involved in the recruiting of young people and the formation of terrorist groups. These groups were used for theft to raise money for the KTF and for the planned killings of businesspeople and leaders of certain communities in Punjab.
In 2020, he was called a marked terrorist.
On a few times, he held a Khalistani vote. Last time, he had it on September 10.
Also, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Special Cell of the Delhi Police have named him in a few chargesheets that they recently filed in different courts.
In a chargesheet, the NIA said that he was trying to set up terrorist groups in Punjab that would do specific killings, and the Special Cell chargesheet said that Nijjar was in touch with members of the Neeraj Bawana gang.
The document also says that Nijjar sold drugs to India and did other terrorism and target killing operations.
In Canada, he was friends with Mandeep Singh Dhaliwal, Sarbjit Singh, Anupbeer Singh, and Darshan Singh, aka Fauji. Nijjar wanted to grow his network through them.
This group of three learned how to use weapons in a strange place.
The new report says that Nijjar worked with Punjab-based gangster Arshdeep Singh Gill, also known as Arsh Dala from Moga, to carry out terrorism actions in the state.
Their claimed plan included a plot to kill Manohar Lal Arora and Jatinderbir Singh Arora, a father and son accused of “anti-Pathic activities,” in 2020.
On November 20, 2020, Manohar Lal was shot and killed at his home in Bathinda, but his son managed to get away. The report says that Nijjar sent money from Canada to help with this murder.
In 2021, Nijjar supposedly told Arshdeep to go after a priest in Nijjar’s home town, Bhar Singh Pura. Luckily, the priest survived the attack.
The report says that Nijjar played a big part in setting up terrorist acts in Punjab while he was in Canada.
Within a week of each other in June, two Khalistani agents were reported dead. Avtar Singh Khanda died in the UK, and then Hardeep Singh Nijjar was murdered in Canada.
These two deaths “shook” the entire network of Khalistani terrorist groups.
The NIA charged Nijjar and others in several cases, including a plot to kill Hindu priest Kamaldeep Sharma at Bhar Singh Pura village in Punjab’s Jalandhar district.
The NIA had also put a prize of Rs 10 lakh on Nijjar in this case. In March, the NIA said it had taken Nijjar’s belongings.
In December of last year, the NIA charged four Khalistan Tiger Force members, including Nijjar, with the murder of Dera Sacha Sauda supporter Manohar Lal.
Nijjar moved to Canada in 1997. He had then had a fake visa.
His claim to be a refugee was at first denied. Later, he married a Canadian woman and became a permanent citizen of Canada.
In 2018, the Punjab Chief Minister gave the Canadian government a list of wanted people that included Nijjar’s name. Later, in 2022, the Punjab Police tried to get Nijjar sent back to India.
Both the Special Cell and the NIA said in their chargesheets that Nijjar was backing Indian gangs, like the Neeraj Bawana gang.
