Canada accuses India of collaborating with Lawrence Bishnoi gang to target pro-Khalistani elements
Ottawa: Canada has made fresh accusations against India, claiming that it is involved in "serious criminal activity" on Canadian soil and is working with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang to target pro-Khalistani individuals. These allegations come at a time when Bishnoi, a notorious gangster, is making headlines for his alleged involvement in the murder of Baba Siddique, a former Maharashtra minister, who was killed in Mumbai last week.
Brigitte Gauvin, Assistant Commissioner of Federal Policing, National Security, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), stated that India is specifically targeting the pro-Khalistani community in Canada through organised crime groups, with the Bishnoi gang playing a key role. Gauvin remarked, "From an RCMP perspective, we have observed India using organised crime elements, particularly the Bishnoi Group, which we believe is linked to agents of the Indian government."
Despite being incarcerated in Gujarat's Sabarmati jail on drug charges, Bishnoi has been accused of orchestrating high-profile murders, including Punjabi singer Siddhu Moosewala in 2022 and Karni Sena chief Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi in 2023. He is also allegedly connected to firing incidents outside the residences of Canadian singers A P Dhillon and Gippy Garewal.
On Monday, Canada expelled six Indian diplomats, citing their involvement in a targeted campaign against Canadian citizens. This came soon after India announced the expulsion of six Canadian High Commission members in Delhi. Tensions between the two countries have escalated since last year when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Indian agents of being involved in the assassination of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada.
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Gujarat: Mevani demands collector’s suspension over ‘anti-Dalit’ remark; IAS officer rejects charge
Mahnisagar, Oct 30: Gujarat Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani on Wednesday demanded the suspension of Mahisagar District Collector Neha Kumari, accusing her of making anti-Dalit comments, a charge the bureaucrat rejected.
Mevani’s demand comes a week after he sought similar action against senior IPS officer Rajkumar Pandian for allegedly misbehaving with him and one of his party colleagues.
Mevani targeted Kumari citing a purported video in which she was heard saying that 90 per cent of cases registered under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, or the Atrocities Act, are used for blackmailing.
The IAS officer termed the lawmaker’s claims “baseless” and an unsuccessful attempt to get political mileage.
Mevani visited Lunawada, the district headquarters, and demanded that an FIR be registered against the collector under the Atrocities Act and that she was suspended over her “insensitive” remarks and “unparliamentary” words.
When one Vijay Parmar went to meet the collector with his grievance at the SWAGAT programme on October 23, she used “unparliamentary” words against him and also insulted the lawyer community by saying they should be “slapped with slippers”, the Vadgam MLA told reporters.
SWAGAT is an initiative of the Gujarat government for the redressal of people’s grievances.
According to Mevani, the collector’s claim that 90 per cent of cases under the Atrocities Act are misused for blackmailing is an insult to the SC and ST communities and amounts to an offence under the Atrocities Act and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
“We demand Kumari's suspension and that a case be registered against her,” he said.
The district collector called the MLA’s allegations a “political stunt”.
“The man whom the MLA called poor, innocent young friend (Vijay Parmar) has a police case against him, and his brother has more than one case of rape, kidnapping and assault against him,” Kumari said, adding that they keep visiting the collector’s office with grievances.
At the SWAGAT programme on October 23, he pressured the collector to file a case against police officers. When the collector told him that she did not have the power to file a case and that he should approach the superintendent of police (SP) or the court, he continued to pester her over his issue, she said.
He even threatened the officers and told the collector that she was a Brahmin and he would let her know what “section 4 of the Atrocities Act entailed”, she said.
“You can understand the direction in which this MLA wants to take law and order by keeping a person with a criminal history along with him even when the state government is sensitive about children and women,” she said.
The collector said that the way Vijay Parmar is “blackmailing” government employees in the name of the Atrocities Act is not at all right. “The MLA's support to such people makes it difficult for the real complainants and the real victims to get justice,” she said.
Last week, Congress leaders and Dalit community members gathered outside the office of the Director General of Police in the state capital Gandhinagar demanding the suspension of senior IPS officer Rajkumar Pandian over his alleged misbehaviour with Mevani and his party colleague.
