At No.33 in NIA’s list of wanted, Canadian gangster Sukhdool Duneke killed as tension escalates

| Updated: 21 September, 2023 10:41 am IST
Sukhdool Singh, shot dead by two unidentified men in Canada

NEW DELHI: In a sharp twist of fate, a Canada-based gangster Sukhdool Singh Gill alias Sukha Duneke, who was listed by India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) only a day ago, has been shot dead, further escalating tensions between Modi and Trudeau administrations over harboring pro-Khalistan Sikh ultras.

The killing took place barely 24 hours after NIA released a detailed list of 43 gangsters that featured Duneke at No. 33 position.

His killing coincides with India pinning blame on Justin Trudeau for doing little to contain radical elements, who have in the the past, trained guns at India, in collusion with Pakistan’s ISI.

Duneke was an associate of Devinder Bambiha gang of Punjab. He had fled to Canada in 2017 after procuring a fake passport. He was reportedly killed by the rival gangs in Winnipeg in Canada on Wednesday, said sources.

 

Duneke had organized a crime network in Punjab while sitting abroad through cross-border funding and extortion.

Along with Goldy Brar and Arsh Dala from Punjab’s south Malwa region, Duneke had become an intimidating force while running an organised crime network in Punjab.

On Wednesday, in its bid to intensify the crackdown on Khalistani Terrorists, the NIA had announced a cash reward for sharing the whereabouts and providing Whatsapp numbers to share their information with the agency. NIA had also released a Whatsapp number-72900009373 for the information.

The agency took to X and wrote “Persons shown in photos below are accused in the NIA Cases RC-38/2022/NIA/DLI or RC-39/2022/NIA/DLI. If you have any information about properties/assets/ business owned by them in their name or in the name of their associates, friends & relatives, please WhatsApp DM @ +91 7290009373.”

Duneke’s killing also comes at a time when Trudeau’s remarks in the House of Commons, accusing India of involvement in the killing of ‘most wanted’ Khalistani Terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, sparked a cold war in two countries that led to unceremonial exit of diplomats with no signs of immediate thaw.

READ MORE: EXC: More Canadian diplomats on Indian radar, may face action

Delhi had, in a response, called the allegations ‘absurd’ and asked Canada ‘to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil.’

NIA had also included names of other Indo-Canadians like Goldy Brar, Arshdeep Singh Gill and Lakhbir Singh Landa.  There are other terror-outfit linked men like Jasdeep Singh, Kala Jatheri alias Sandeep, Virender Pratap alias Kala Rana and Joginder Singh, with their roots based in Punjab.

The agency also announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh each for information leading to the arrest of Harwinder Singh Sandhu alias Rinda, Landa and three others for promoting terror activities of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) in India, a banned terror outfit.

READ MORE: India cautions citizens against hate crimes in Canada travel advisory

A cash reward of Rs 5 lakh each has also been declared by the NIA for information on three associates of these terrorists, namely Parminder Singh Kaira alias Pattu, Satnam Singh alias Satta Naushera and Yadvinder Singh alias Yadda.

All five are wanted in the NIA case relating to BKI’s terrorist activities aimed at disturbing India’s peace and communal harmony and spreading terror in the state of Punjab. The NIA had registered the case under sections 17, 18, 18B, 20, 38 & 39 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

The agency has said that any specific information leading to the arrest of the five wanted terrorists can be shared with the NIA headquarters in New Delhi or the NIA Branch Office in Chandigarh.

 

 

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