Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 10: Amidst the heightened tensions between India and Canada over the murder of alleged Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June, last year, his close associate and another Khalistani terrorist Arshdeep Dalla, against whom the Punjab police has issued a lookout circular, is learnt to have been detained by the Canadian police, reliable sources said.
The sources, however, could not confirm if he was released later or is still in jail. All diplomatic channels with Canada are currently closed and no information is being shared between the two countries. There is no official confirmation about his detention. Top government sources indicated that, given the current state of relations between Ottawa and New Delhi, Indian agencies are unable to gather information or pursue further action regarding Dalla.
Dalla was detained apparently after a shootout in Canada on 27-28 October. Security agencies have now received information about the shootout, in which Dalla was present. According to Canadian agencies, the Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) is investigating the shooting that took place in Milton.
According to media reports, the Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) had on October 29 said it had arrested two men on charges of “discharging firearm with intent” following an investigation after the duo had come to a hospital and one of them was treated for a non-life-threatening gunshot and later discharged.
The HRPS was contacted by Guelph Police on the morning of October 28 after two people had to be hospitalised. One was released after receiving treatment.
Sources in Indian security agencies said Dalla, 28, lives in Canada’s Surrey with his wife and a minor daughter. He is allegedly involved in multiple cases of extortion, murder and other terror-linked activities and has cases registered against him under UAPA. A Lookout Circular has been issued against him by the Punjab Police.
Born in Ludhiana, Arshdeep Singh Gill alias Arsh Dala was designated as a terrorist by the Government of India in 2023. According to a gazette notification by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Dala is associated with banned terrorist outfit Khalistan Tiger Force.
Dala is accused of being involved in heinous crimes like murder, extortion and targeted killings. He is also accused of terror financing, cross-border smuggling of drugs and weapons at a large scale.
In a Facebook post, Dalla had taken responsibility for the murder of an electrician, Paramjeet Singh, from Punjab’s Jagraon. His associates had, shot dead Manohar Lal, a Dera Sacha Sauda follower in November, 2020. He was also involved in hatching a conspiracy to kidnap and kill Shakti Singh, another Dera Sacha Sauda follower.
Questioned after their arrest, his associates have revealed that he was an expert in radicalization and motivating youth for committing terror-related activities in India. He also uses Facebook for recruiting and instigating young men to participate in his criminal activities.
According to the MHA notification, Arsh Dalla is accused in various cases registered and investigated by the National Investigation Agency including targeted killing, extorting money for terror funding, attempt to murder, disturbing communal harmony and creating terror among the people in the state of Punjab.
In a latest development, the Punjab Police on Sunday apprehended two key operatives of Arsh Dala for their alleged involvement in the murder case of Sikh activist Gurpreet Singh Hari Nau in the state’s Faridkot district last month.
A man identified as Jaswant Singh Gill (45) was also shot dead in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior district by the two arrested on the direction of the Canada-based gangster. They were arrested during a joint operation of the state special operation cell, the anti-gangster task force and Faridkot Police, the Punjab director-general of police Gaurav Yadav had said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s claims of the Indian government’s involvement in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar has soured ties between India and Canada. “Extradition is a tough job and in today’s scenario (it is) next to impossible. (Also) they have not arrested him so far, only detained,” the source said.
The Delhi Police last year had said Dalla has links with international terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).He is a key member of the extremist groups Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF).
Dalla became active in 2020, primarily focused on funding, organising terror cells, facilitating weapons smuggling across the border and orchestrating targeted killings in Punjab.
He, along with Nijjar, is said to have formed a three-member KTF module responsible for the 2021 killing of Tejinder, aka Pinka, the owner of Sunshine Clothes Store in Moga. In 2022, they teamed up again to create a four-person KTF module to execute grenade attacks. Nijjar was murdered outside a gurdwara in British Columbia in June 18 last year.
Dalla also intended to carry out killings of RSS and religious leaders in Punjab at the behest of the ISI and the LeT, a Delhi Police charge-sheet filed last year said. He left India in July 2020 and holds a passport issued by the Jalandhar Regional Passport Office, valid until August 31, 2027.
