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SFJ’s Canadian coordinator for Khalistan Referendum taken into custody
Inderjeet Singh Gosal, SFJ's Canadian coordinator, was arrested on firearms charges, amid claims of threats from the Indian government and ongoing tensions.
The secessionist group Sikhs for Justice or SFJ has confirmed that its Canadian coordinator for the so-called Khalistan Referendum Inderjeet Singh Gosal has been taken into custody by Canadian police.
Earlier, in a statement issued on Monday, SFJ said that “the arrest of Inderjeet Singh Gosal on firearms charges is in fact a case about the Canadian Government’s duty to protect the life of a Canadian citizen who is facing imminent and grave threat to his life from Indian Government.”
There is no official confirmation from law enforcement agencies on Gosal’s arrest or the charges he is facing or whether he was taken into protective custody.
Gosal, considered a close confidant of SFJ general counsel Gurpatwant Pannun, replaced pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar as the Canadian coordinator of the so-called referendum.
Nijjar was killed on June 18, 2023, and three months later then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated in the House of Commons there were “credible allegations” of a potential link between Indian agents and the murder. India described those accusations as “absurd” and “motivated” and the relationship cratered subsequently though a reset is in progress since Mark Carney became PM earlier this year.
SFJ has claimed that a threat continues against campaigners for the so-called Khalistan Referendum, which Nijjar led. It claimed that Gosal has been offered witness protection by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or RCMP and issued multiple duty-to-warn notices within the past six to eight weeks.
Gosal was among those charged by Canadian police last year after the violent attack on the Hindu Sabha Mandir in Brampton in November 3, 2024.
The arrest, still to be official confirmed, came soon after National Security Advisor Ajit Goval met with Canada’s National Security and Intelligence Advisor Nathalie G Drouin in New Delhi on September 18.
“We discussed our respective security concerns and committed to non-interference including refraining from transnational repression. We also agreed on the importance of reciprocal exchange of information and mutual responsiveness,” Drouin said in a statement after the meeting.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that the NSAs had “productive discussions on advancing the bilateral relationship including in areas such as counter terrorism, combating transnational organised crime and intelligence exchanges” and “agreed to strengthen security cooperation and further reinforce existing mechanisms of engagement.”
