Last February, Inderjeet Singh Gosal’s home was hit by gunfire. It was under construction at the time,Christopher Katsarov/The Globe and Mail
Inderjeet Singh Gosal was awakened at 12:30 a.m. last Friday to news that his life was at risk.
Police were in his Brampton, Ont., home. Mr. Gosal was in Windsor, but his wife – who is 34 weeks pregnant with their first child – had reached him by phone. He’d grabbed the call in the first couple of rings, thinking it was news of the baby.
Officers with the Ontario Provincial Police couldn’t tell Mr. Gosal, 35, who was behind the threat. They didn’t have that information, they told him; they were there on behalf of the RCMP.
But in an interview, Mr. Gosal said he believes agents of the Indian government are after him. The only question he recalls officers asking him that night was when he last travelled to India.
The duty to warn received by Mr. Gosal brings the number of such warnings received by Sikh activists in Canada over the last two years to at least five. They include Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was killed on the grounds of a B.C. Sikh gurdwara in June, 2023. All five have actively campaigned for the creation of an independent Sikh homeland, carved out of India’s Punjab region, that would be called Khalistan.
Last fall, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada has credible intelligence to believe that Indian government agents carried out the killing of Mr. Nijjar. India has denied any involvement.
In November, U.S. authorities foiled an assassination plot targeting lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, another leader in the referendum campaign. An indictment in the case alleges an Indian government official had paid hitmen to carry out the killing of multiple prominent Sikhs in North America.
Mr. Gosal stepped into the role vacated by Mr. Nijjar a couple of months after his death. “That made me a target. I know what I signed up for. Mr. Nijjar was a lion. I’m learning from his example. He wasn’t afraid. Why should I be?” he said.
Mr. Gosal, who is sometimes referred to as “Pannun’s bodyguard” because he is often seen with the lawyer when he’s travelling in Canada, is well-known among Brampton’s large and politically active Sikh community. His father Harpal owned a successful trucking company, Khalistan Transport. In the mid-1990s, Harpal was jailed in India for two years under the country’s anti-terrorist laws, where his family says he was tortured.
Last February, Mr. Gosal’s home was hit by gunfire. It was under construction at the time, and neither Mr. Gosal nor his wife were home. Peel Regional Police say they are continuing to investigate.
“I’m trying to stay positive,” Mr. Gosal said. “I have full faith in the RCMP. I feel proud to stand up and do what Mr. Nijjar did. I’m a big believer in God. I genuinely don’t feel afraid.”
The Indian High Commission in Ottawa declined to comment.
In another incident this month, Woodland, Calif. resident Satinder Pal Singh Raju’s truck was hit by gunfire as it travelled down Interstate 505 in rural Yolo County. At least four bullets struck the vehicle, police said.
Mr. Raju and his two friends – Nitin Mehta and Manpreet Singh, who are also involved in the separatist movement – were not injured, although the Dodge Ram veered off the road as they attempted to escape the gunfire. They fled to a nearby field and hid behind a haystack, where they dialled 911.
Mr. Mehta, who was driving Mr. Raju’s truck at the time, didn’t see the person who fired the gun.
“I don’t have any enemies,” he said. “No one in California or the United States is threatening me. The only thing I can think is that I’m an active member of the referendum movement. And India wants to silence me.”
A spokesman for the California Highway Patrol confirmed that a call came at 11:37 that night and that the shooting had occurred but declined to provide details. The FBI’s Sacramento office confirmed it is collaborating with the investigation.