Secret British Dossier Claimed Indian Hand in Nijjar and Pannun Murder Plots: Report

A documentary claims UK intercepted conversations suggesting India's involvement in plots to kill Khalistan separatists. The secret file, shared with Canada, mentioned Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Avtar Singh Khanda, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun as targets.

A new Bloomberg documentary has revealed that the British intelligence agency GCHQ gave Canada a top-secret dossier containing intercepted conversations suggesting India’s involvement in plots to kill Khalistan separatists in Western countries. The video documentary, 'Inside the Deaths That Rocked India's Relations With the West', says GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters), which specialises in signals intelligence, intercepted communications between individuals allegedly working on behalf of the Indian government. 

These conversations reportedly discussed three potential ‘targets’, Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, Avtar Singh Khanda in Britain and Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in the United States.

Intercepted conversations pointed to 3 targets

According to the documentary, GCHQ analysts picked up conversations where unidentified individuals talked about plans to 'eliminate' the three men. Later, another communication reportedly mentioned that Nijjar had been 'successfully eliminated'.

The feature, titled 'Finish Him, Brother,' claims that the intercepted communications did not directly name any assassins or Indian officials, but the implications were clear to analysts. The document, as per Bloomberg, suggested 'a strong chance' that Nijjar was killed in an operation directed by the Indian state.

Canada received sensitive file from UK

The report says that in late July 2023, while Canada was re-examining Nijjar's killing, the UK, a fellow member of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, told Ottawa it had 'some relevant information' that was 'extremely sensitive'.

British officials insisted the material be hand-delivered, kept off electronic systems, and viewed only by a few Canadian officials pre-approved by London. The file contained a summary of GCHQ's intercepted conversations about Nijjar, Khanda and Pannun.

How Trudeau's team handled the warning

According to Bloomberg, Jody Thomas, then Canada’s national security and intelligence adviser, briefed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a select group of officials in a secure conference room designed to prevent any eavesdropping.

A few days later, Canadian intelligence received another wiretap from GCHQ, capturing a conversation again referring to how Nijjar had been 'successfully eliminated', the report claims.

India's dismissal of allegations as absurd

India has strongly rejected these claims, calling them 'absurd and politically motivated.' New Delhi maintains that it had no role in any such incidents and has accused Canada and other Western nations of allowing Khalistan extremists to operate freely and threaten Indian diplomats.

The issue remains one of the most serious diplomatic challenges between India and several Western nations, including Canada, the UK, and the US. It has also put pressure on ongoing intelligence-sharing arrangements between these allies.