Acting against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, Khalistani terrorist and head of the banned separatist organisation Sikhs for Justice, the National Investigation Agency today seized his house in Punjab’s Chandigarh and confiscated land owned by him in Amritsar. Pannun faces 22 criminal cases in Punjab, including three of sedition.
The confiscated properties include 46 Kanal of agricultural property in his ancestral village, Khankot, located on the outskirts of Amritsar district. Another property, house no 2033 in Sector 15-C, Chandigarh, has also been seized. Pannu, the self-styled General Counsel of the outlawed Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), has now lost rights to the property, and it now belongs to the government. In 2020, his properties were attached, which meant he could not sell the property.
“The action, which comes as a big boost to the country’s crackdown on the terror and secessionist network being operated from various countries, including Canada, followed confiscation orders passed by the NIA Special Court, SAS Nagar, Mohali,” NIA said in a statement.
He had recently threatened Indo-Canadian Hindus to leave the country and return to India.
In a viral video amid a massive diplomatic row between the two countries over the murder of another Khalistani terrorist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Pannun was heard saying, “Indo-Canadian Hindus, you have repudiated your allegiance to Canada and Canadian Constitution. Your destination is India. Leave Canada, go to India.”
“Pro-Khalistan Sikhs have always been loyal to Canada. They have always sided with Canada, and they have always upheld the laws and the Constitution,” he added.
Pannun also urged all Canadian Sikhs to gather in Vancouver on October 29 for a referendum to vote on whether the Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma was responsible for Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing.
The home ministry had in July 2020 declared Pannun a terrorist, and requested an Interpol red notice for him. However, Interpol has twice rejected India’s request to issue a Red Corner Notice on terror charges against him, citing insufficient information.
Pannu has been on NIA’s radar since 2019, when the anti-terror agency had registered its first case against the terrorist, who has been playing a major role in promoting and commissioning terror acts and activities, and spreading fear and terror in Punjab and elsewhere in the country through his threats and intimidation tactics, NIA said. Non-Bailable warrants of arrest were issued against Pannu by the NIA Special Court on February 3, 2021, and he was declared a ‘Proclaimed Offender (PO)’ on November 29 last year, it added.
“NIA investigations have revealed that Pannu’s organisation, Sikhs for Justice, was misusing the cyberspace to radicalise gullible youth and to instigate them to undertake terrorist crimes and activities. It further emerged during the NIA investigations that Pannu was the main handler and controller of the SFJ. Sikhs for Justice was declared as an ‘Unlawful Association’ by the Government of India, vide notification No.S.O.2469 (E) dated 10th July 2019,” NIA said.
He has been “actively exhorting” Punjab-based gangsters and youth over the social media to fight for the cause of independent state of Khalistan, challenging the sovereignty, integrity and security of the country, NIA investigations have shown, the agency said.
In recent days, Pannu has been in the news for issuing blatant threats to senior Indian diplomats and government functionaries in public forums.
Pannun’s outfit advocates for a religion-based separate state carved out from Punjab and many neighbouring areas in India, to be known as ‘Khalistan’. It has also conducted “Punjab Independence Referendum” in Canada and Australia. The Indian government has called the so-called referendums ‘unfortunate’ and asked the Canadian government to act against it.
