NEW DELHI: Canada’s accusation without “evidentiary proof” that India got designated pro-Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar killed on its soil contrasts with its refusal to acknowledge what New Delhi calls irrefutable evidence about Canadian Border Security Agency harbouring the wanted mastermind of Shaurya Chakra awardee Balwinder Singh Sandhu’s October 2020 assassination in Punjab’s Tarn Taran.
In an emailed response, CBSA confirmed to TOI that Sandeep Singh Sidhu, aka Sunny Toronto, was an employee but denied he was involved in any crime in India.
“All CBSA employees are subject to background checks and reviews prior to their employment, periodically all throughout their career and in response to allegations that call into question their reliability. CBSA can confirm we have no evidence to support allegations made against him,” the agency wrote.
Intelligence sources said Sidhu, whose extradition India has officially demanded, operates in “close coordination” with Canadian Security Intelligence Service, while officially being part of CBSA.
He is a member of banned International Sikh Youth Federation, which is one of the reasons why India has put him on its list of fugitives charged with promoting terrorist activities from Canada.
How Sidhu masterminded killing of Sandhu, a teacher who was conferred Shaurya Chakra for his role in fighting militancy, is among the subplots in a larger antiIndia conspiracy involving Pakistan’s ISI, sources said.
Multiple agencies, including NIA, found out during the probe into Sandhu’s assassination how Sidhu and his ISI handlers baited Gurjit Singh, a ‘hitman’ obsessed with an underage girl & blackmailed him into agreeing to murder.
Gurjot Kaur, the USbased widow of former Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief Harmeet Singh, alias Happy PhD, was another piece on ISI’s chessboard.
ISI promised Gurjit and his arrested accomplices — Sukhdeep Singh and Inderjeet Singh — money and shelter in Canada in return for murdering Sandhu. The plot took shape in the spring of 2020. Those tasked with coordinating the hit were Dubai-based gangster Sukh Bhikhariwal and Sidhu.
The duo acted on the instructions of ISI henchman and pro-Khalistan terrorist Lakhbir Singh Rode, who died in Pakistan last December.
Sidhu had established links with ISI through Gurjot, wanted in India for coordinating terrorist activity from her base in the US.
The hired shooters received sophisticated weapons and training in Sept 2020, sources said. On October 16, Gurjit and his accomplices arrived at Sandhu’s residence-cum-school in Bhikhiwind dressed from head to toe in black. The target’s coordinates were given to them through the conduits of two gangsters – Ravinder Singh, alias Gyani, and Sukhraj Sukkha – in Ferozepur Jail.
That morning, Sandhu opened the door presuming it was the milkman. The shooters barged in and fired, killing him instantly. They threw their bike in the Sutlej and fled to Ludhiana, where they stayed in a house in Salem Tibri that Sidhu and Bhikhariwal had arranged for them.
Prior to Sandhu’s murder, the family had faced 16 attacks in a year. In one of these, Sandhu and his wife fought back a group of terrorists for five hours using weapons provided by the govt. By Dec 2020, Delhi Police’s special cell tracked down Gurjit and Sukhdeep. Bhikhariwal was extradited from Dubai and a manhunt started for Sidhu. The third shooter, Inderjeet, was arrested while trying to flee to Dubai. Inderjeet confessed that two Khalistani terrorists based abroad contacted him in March 2020 after noticing his Facebook posts.
He said one of them identified himself as Sidhu aka Sunny, a resident of Canada, and tasked him with doing a recce of Sandhu’s residence. Sidhu later helped him get in touch with Bhikhariwal. Sidhu also sent him a flight ticket and e-visa to Dubai.