Anti-India Operatives Abroad Meeting Their End: A List

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday (18 September) alleged Indian involvement in killing of a Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June this year.

However, India has strongly rejected Trudeau's allegations, calling them "absurd and motivated".

Following Trudeau's claim, Canada expelled an Indian diplomat, which got a prompt response from India as the Ministry of External Affairs expelled a senior Canadian diplomat.

The 45-year-old Nijjar, a wanted terrorist in India, was shot dead in Surrey, Canada on 18 June.

It should be noted that Nijjar was not the only anti-India operative that met a fatal end abroad.

Several anti-India operatives have killed across Canada, UK, and Pakistan in the recent past.

Paramjit Singh Panjwar

Nijjar's killing came after the death of Khalistan Commando Force chief Paramjit Singh Panjwar, also known as Malik Sardar Singh, in Pakistan on 6 May.

Panjwar, who was also on India's terror list, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen while out on a morning walk near his home in Pakistan's Lahore.

India had designated Panjwar, aged 63, as a terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in July 2020.

Panjwar was a key leader of the Khalistan Commando Force (KCF), a listed terrorist organisation, and had been operating from Lahore. He was born in 1960 in Tarn Taran's Panjwar village.

Avtar Singh Khanda

Avtar Singh Khanda, a UK-based Khalistan terrorist, died in a Birmingham hospital in June this year.

He led an attempt to vandalise the Indian High Commission in London in March and had assisted Amritpal Singh, the leader of Waris Punjab De, while he was on the run from Punjab Police.

Harmeet Singh

Earlier in January 2020, Harmeet Singh, also known as Happy PhD, was shot dead near Lahore. He had played a crucial role in training Khalistan Liberation Force modules in India and some Gulf countries.

He was one of the accused in targeted killings in Punjab between 2016 and 2017. RSS leader Brigadier Jagdish Gagneja (retired) and Ludhiana pastor Sultan Masih were among the six victims of the attacks.

Ripudaman Singh Malik

In July 2022, 75-year-old Ripudaman Singh Malik was shot dead in Surrey, Canada.

Malik was associated with the Babbar Khalsa, a Khalistani terrorist organisation.

Riyaz Ahmad alias Abu Qasim

Riyaz Ahmad alias Abu Qasim, affiliated with the proscribed Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taibaa, was shot dead earlier this month on 8 September by unidentified gunmen inside a mosque in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.

Qasim was one of the main conspirators behind the Dhangri terror attack on 1 January 2023.

Seven people were killed and thirteen injured in a terrorist attack on families of Hindu community in Dhangri village of Rajouri. The terrorists also left behind an improvised explosive device that went off the following morning.

Originally hailing from the Jammu region, Qasim exfiltrated across the border in 1999. He was considered as the brains behind the revival of terrorism in the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri.

He operated mainly from the Lashkar-e-Taiba base camp in Muridke but had recently relocated to Rawalakot.

Qasim was the close associate of Sajjad Jaat, the Lashkar-e-Taiba's chief commander, and managed the outfit's finances.

Bashir Ahmad Peer

In February this year, Bashir Ahmad Peer alias Imtiyaz Alam, a top commander of the banned terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen, was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Pakistan's Rawalpindi.

Bashir Ahmad Peer alias Imtiyaz Alam, who hailed from Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district, had been living in Pakistan for more than 15 years.

Peer was the "launching chief" of the Hizbul in Pakistan, and was reportedly playing a key role in recruiting and sending infiltrators and arms and ammunition into Kashmir valley.

Syed Khalid Raza

In February, unidentified gunmen shot dead former Al-Badr Mujahideen commander Syed Khalid Raza in the port city of Karachi in what police described as a targeted attack.

Alam, believed to have been close to Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, was responsible for dispatching fresh recruits into Kashmir by identifying infiltration routes and providing the logistics.

Designating Alam as a terrorist in October 2022 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Narendra Modi government described him as a "launching commander" of Hizbul Mujahideen, "especially for infiltrating into Kupwara, and coordinating with other terrorist groups for terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir".

Aijaz Ahmad Ahangar

Aijaz Ahmad Ahangar, a Kashmiri terrorist functioning as a top commander of the global terror group Islamic State, was found dead -- reportedly killed by the Taliban -- in Afghanistan's Kunar Province earlier this year.