Wanted in India for terrorism, border agency officer gets clean chit in Canada

A Canadian border agency officer who was charged with terrorism in India has been given a clean chit by his employer, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), and reinstated. Sandeep 'Sunny' Singh Sidhu, who is wanted in India for promoting terrorism and the murder of a Shaurya Chakra awardee in Punjab, has been reinstated as a superintendent by the CBSA, reported the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). The CBSA cleared Sidhu after an investigation by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

The so-called investigation and the subsequent clean chit to the terror-accused comes as Canada's ties with India hit a new low. The two countries are engaged in a diplomatic tussle after the government of PM Justin Trudeau repeatedly accused 'agents' of the Indian government for involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar without providing any evidence.

Sidhu, according to India's Investigation Agency (NIA), is also a member of the banned Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF), and is associated with Khalistani terror networks and Pakistan's notorious spy agency, Inter Service Intelligence (ISI).

Sandeep Singh Sidhu, who is also known as 'Sunny Toronto', was added to the list of fugitives, seeking deportation by the Indian government in October.

Sidhu was then shunned from his frontline job after terror charges emerged.

In October, the Canadian government admitted that terror-accused fugitive Sandeep Singh Sidhu was on its payroll.

Sidhu told the CBC that the CBSA had brought in the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) to conduct two days of polygraph tests on him. In October, the CBSA said that it found nothing to back up the claims and reinstated Sidhu.

"I have been through a year-long investigation where they've talked to my family, they've talked to my coworkers, they've gone through my financial statements, they've gone through my bank statements, my telephone records," Sidhu told the CBC.

Though Sidhu was reinstated, CBC reports that his lawyers argue the Canadian government should have offered a stronger defence against the actions of a foreign government.

WHO IS TERROR-WANTED SANDEEP SINGH SIDHU?

The 43-year-old terror-accused Sandeep Singh Sidhu, aka Toronto Sunny, told the CBC that he was born and raised in Prince George, British Columbia. Last time he was in India was in 2018, for a wedding, he claimed.

In India, he was accused of assassinating Balwinder Singh Sandhu, a Shaurya Chakra awardee and a Canadian national, outside his home at Bhikhiwind in Punjab's Tarn Taran district in October 2020.

Balwinder Singh Sandhu, a teacher, was decorated with the Shaurya Chakra for his role in fighting Khalistani terrorism in Punjab in the 1990s. He was against Khalistan referendums led by Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) in foreign countries, according to a report in The Week.

Sandeep Sidhu, along with other ISI handlers, lured the assassin of Balwinder Singh Sandhu with promises of money and a home in Canada to carry out the murder, according to a Times of India report.

The case was later transferred to the Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2021.

The NIA informed the Supreme Court that operatives of the banned Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) orchestrated the plot and masterminded Sandhu's assassination.

According to an NIA dossier, Sidhu was involved in promoting terrorist activities in Punjab and is also alleged to have connections with Pakistan-based Lakhbir Singh Rode, the nephew of Khalistani leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who is designated a terrorist in India under the UAPA, as well as with the US-based Khalistani Gurjot Kaur.

Sandeep Singh Sidhu is also accused of association with global Khalistan terrorist networks and is said to have links with the ISI.

Toronto Sunny now joins the long list of those accused of terrorism by India who Canada has not acted against and provided shelter to.