Chandigarh: Amid diplomatic wrangling between India and Canada over the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the ancestral house of the killed Khalistani terrorist in Punjab has been put under lock by authorities. Nijjar was a resident of Bhar Singh Pura village in Jalandhar and a long time ago, he had left India and started living in Canada where he used to allegedly propagate separatist ideology and recruit agents to fan anti-India sentiment in foreign soil as well as in India especially among youths in Punjab.
On June 18, Nijjar, the head of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and one of India's most-wanted terrorists, who carried a cash bounty of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was gunned down by two unidentified gunmen outside a gurdwara in Surrey in the western Canadian province of British Columbia.
Canada on Monday brought a wild allegation on India over its alleged link in Nijjar killing which India strongly refuted. Both countries expelled their diplomats over the issue. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canadian intelligence agencies were seeking to gather clues on New Delhi's agents hand in the shooting of Nijjar in a rare such attack on the world's largest democracy.
Nijjar, who was found accused in a case of conspiracy to kill a priest in Jalandhar, was declared a terrorist by India which has also issued a travel advisory urging all Indian nationals in Canada and those contemplating travel to exercise utmost caution. The advisory from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) comes as a response to mounting security concerns, with threats increasingly targeting Indian diplomats and members of the Indian community, who oppose the anti-India agenda.
The Ministry released a statement highlighting the need for vigilance among Indian nationals in Canada. It stated, "In view of growing anti-India activities and politically-condoned hate crimes and criminal violence in Canada, all Indian nationals there and those contemplating travel are urged to exercise utmost caution." This advisory aims to safeguard the well-being of Indian citizens residing or travelling to Canada in the face of rising tensions.
