MHA Designates Canada-based Arshdeep Singh Gill as Terrorist

Canada-based Punjabi man, Arshdeep Singh Gill, has been designated a ‘terrorist’ by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). Gill has been accused of being involved in targeted killings, extortion, and terrorist acts in Punjab. He is the fifth such individual to be designated as an individual terrorist in the past week.

Arshdeep Singh Gill alias Arsh Dala was born in Ludhiana, Punjab, and has been associated with the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and is also close to Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the leader of the group and a designated terrorist. Gill, who is residing in Canada, has now been designated a terrorist by the MHA over accusations of being involved in the cross-border smuggling of weapons and drugs on a large scale.

He has been designated under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967. This act was amended in 2019 to allow the designation of individuals as terrorists. Prior to that, only groups could be designated as terrorist organizations.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is reportedly working on various cases involving Gill. These include attempts to murder, disturbing communal harmony, extorting money for terror funding, targeted killings, and unleashing terror in the minds of the people in Punjab.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who is the Canada-based chief of the terror group KTF, was designated a terrorist in 2020 and carries a reward of Rs. 10 lahks issued by the MHA. At the time, the MHA said, “These individuals are involved in various acts of terrorism from across the border and from foreign soil. They have been relentless in their nefarious efforts of destabilizing the country, by trying to revive militancy in Punjab through their anti-national activities and through their support to and involvement in the Khalistan Movement.”

Arshdeep, on the other hand, was born in 1996 in Jagraon village in Punjab’s Ludhiana and moved to Canada later in his life. He is the fifth person to be designated a terrorist in the past week. All of these terrorists are based outside India in countries like Canada, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

Vineet Washington