A view of National Investigation Agency (NIA). | Photo Credit: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday offered 10-lakh each for the arrest of “designated terrorist” Satwinderjit Singh aka Goldy Brar and another alleged gangster. They are wanted for extortion and firing at the home of a businessman in Chandigarh on March 8.
A case has been registered under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), and the Arms Act against Goldy Brar and Gurpreet Singh aka Goldy Dhillon.
Although Goldy Brar is reportedly based in Canada’s Brampton, it is learnt that he was recently spotted in the United States. He was declared a terrorist under the UAPA by the Ministry of Home Affairs in January.
Moosewala murder
Goldy Brar is accused of masterminding the killing of singer and rapper Sidhu Moosewala on May 29, 2022. Born in 1994 in Punjab’s Muktsar Sahib, Goldy Brar went to Canada on a student visa in 2017. He came in contact with gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who is currently lodged in an Indian jail, and started working with him.
His cousin and a close associate of Bishnoi, Gurlal Brar, who was a former Student Organisation of Panjab University leader, was killed in Chandigarh in October 2020. In retaliation, the Bishnoi gang allegedly murdered Youth Congress leader Gurlal Singh Pehalwan in February 2021. Subsequently, Brar shifted base to Canada and started operating from there.
Following a request from the Punjab police via the Central Bureau of Investigation, Interpol issued a Red Corner Notice against Goldy Brar in June 2022. Recently the NIA had alleged that he had direct links with Lakhbir Singh Landa, an alleged Babbar Khalsa International operative, who is an accused in two Rocket-Propelled Grenade attacks in Mohali and an attack on the Sirhali police station in Tarn Taran in December 2022.
Gang strife
In Canada, the gang strife has persisted. In September 2023, the Bishnoi gang claimed responsibility for the killing of Sukhdool Singh alias Sukha Duneke in Winnipeg. He was wanted by the NIA for purported links with pro-Khalistan terrorists.
The development came after the murder of Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey on June 18, 2023, which triggered a massive a diplomatic row between India and Canada.
The Bishnoi gang claimed that Sukha Duneke was linked to the killings of Gurlal Brar; Vicky Middukhera (August 7, 2021); and British-Indian “kabaddi” player Sandeep Nangal Ambian (March 14, 2022). It also accused him of being a drug addict. Besides, he was said to be close to Canada-based Arshdeep Singh alias Arsh Dalla, who was declared a “designated individual terrorist” in January 2023.
