In an interview with Reuters, Satinder Pal Singh RajuA passenger in Woodland, Calif., stated FBI brokers got here to speak to him and a buddy who was driving the truck Thursday as they and one other passenger have been getting back from dinner in Vacaville. Interstate 505 South was attacked in Los Angeles County.
Nijjar was killed in June 2023 exterior the Masjid, a Sikh place of worship in Surrey, British Columbia. That killing, and Trudeau’s suggestion that the Indian authorities is perhaps concerned, sparked a diplomatic disaster between the 2 nations.
Raju stated via an interpreter {that a} white automotive pulled as much as the left of their truck, then behind them, then subsequent to them. Simply then, the primary bullet was fired.
“After the primary shot was fired, I crouched down,” he stated. “However then I heard extra gunshots.” He stated he instantly considered Nijjar, saying “That is how Hardeep Singh Nijjar was assassinated and the entire scene got here to thoughts. “
As they tried to flee the hail of bullets, their truck skidded off the street and right into a ditch, Raju stated. He and his two mates fled to a close-by area and hid behind a haystack whereas they referred to as 911. The FBI’s Sacramento workplace confirmed it’s working with the California Freeway Patrol “to help the investigation into the capturing.” A spokesman for the California Freeway Patrol confirmed a capturing however declined to supply particulars and stated the investigation was ongoing.
The identical month Nijar was killed, the FBI foiled a plot towards Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, one other Sikh separatist who held twin Canadian and American citizenship. Assassination try.
The U.S. Division of Justice has charged Indian nationwide Nikhil Gupta with attempting to homicide Pannon on the request of Indian intelligence officers.
Gupta has pleaded not responsible and is awaiting trial in New York.
4 Indian residents in Canada face prices of homicide and conspiracy to kill Nijar.
India has denied involvement in each incidents and it’s unclear whether or not there’s a connection between the drive-by capturing involving Raju and the sooner incidents.
The Indian Embassy in Washington didn’t reply to a request for remark Friday on the current shootings in California.
Police difficulty warning to Sikh activists
Within the days and months after Nijar’s killing, the FBI and RCMP privately warned not less than seven Sikh activists that their lives is perhaps in critical hazard, with out specifying the threats supply.
Raju advised Reuters he was not amongst those that acquired such calls.
Earlier this month, Reuters reported that threats and harassment towards Sikh group leaders, together with elected officers, have continued in the US and Canada since Nijar’s loss of life.
Raju is concerned with Sikhs for Justice, an advocacy group co-founded by Pannu that organizes non-binding referendums around the globe urging the Indian state of Punjab to secede from India and create a brand new state referred to as Sikhism. unbiased nation. khalistani.
The motion led to violent rebellions within the Indian state of Punjab within the Eighties and Nineteen Nineties, which have been subsequently suppressed by Delhi.
Based on Pannon, the Aug. 11 capturing occurred two weeks after Raju returned from Calgary, Canada, the place he helped arrange a referendum that attracted roughly 55,000 members of the Sikh group.
In 2019, India declared the Sikhs for Justice unlawful affiliation on the grounds that it was concerned in extremist actions. Pannun and its members deny the accusations.
Raju just isn’t as well-known internationally as Pannu, however he says he was energetic in organizing the referendum.
He stated he had no enemies and suspected the capturing was motivated by an try and stoke worry amongst those that help the Khalistan motion.
“They wish to stop the Khalistan referendum,” he stated. “However the assaults and loss of life threats towards me won’t cease me from persevering with to run.”
