SOURCE: UNI
The National Investigation Agency has told the Supreme Court that Canada-based operatives of banned terror outfit Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) masterminded the murder of a teacher, a Shaurya Chakra awardee, in Punjab in 2020. The development comes at a time when ties between Canada and India have hit rock bottom over the murder investigation of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
The agency told the Supreme Court that Sukhmeet Pal Singh alias Sukh Bhikariwal, Sunny Toronto (a Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) operative based in Canada) and Lakhveer Singh alias Rode (nephew of Jarnail Singh Bhindrawala and head of terror outfit International Sikh Youth Federation and Khalistan Liberation Force) instructed and tasked the accused to commit the crime.
The NIA said Sunny Toronto and Lakhveer Singh contacted Sukhmeet Pal Singh to execute the murder with the aim of reviving terrorism in India, especially in Punjab. Sunny Toronto also got in contact with radicalised youth in Punjab, like Inderjit Singh, alias Inder, to murder Sandhu.
The NIA in its affidavit said Balwinder Singh Sandhu murder conspiracy was hatched by Sunny Toronto in order to eliminate anti-Khalistani entities in India. The KLF believes that by targeting anti-Khalistan figures in India they can revive the demand for the separate homeland through violent means in India.
“Organisations and persons who oppose the ideology of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale are the prime targets of the group,” the affidavit said. Balwinder Singh Sandhu became one of the targets of this conspiracy.