On 5th September, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) submitted its initial charge sheet regarding the two violent assaults that occurred at the Indian High Commission in London in March of last year. The agency has charged United Kingdom national Inderpal Singh Gaba in the conspiracy. He lives in Hounslow and was held by immigration officials at the Attari border in Amritsar approximately five months after arriving from London via Pakistan. He was captured on 25th April after he entered India to visit the Golden Temple. The chargesheet was filed in a special NIA court.
A NIA spokesperson informed, “Inderpal Singh Gaba, a UK national residing in Hounslow and originally hailing from New Delhi, has been charge-sheeted as one of the agitators who had participated actively in the anti-India protest, which took place on March 22 last year in front of Indian High Commission, London, as part of the Khalistani secessionist agenda. He was arrested by the NIA on April 25 this year after exhaustive investigations that established his role in the secessionist activity.”
He further stated, “In December 2023, he was earlier detained by the Immigration Authorities at the Attari border on arrival from London via Pakistan, based on the Look Out Circular opened against him. Investigations were then initiated against Inderpal and he was asked not to leave the country while the probe continued. During the investigation, the NIA seized his mobile phone and scrutinised the data, including several incriminating videos/photos of the incident, and eventually established his involvement in the incident.”
The spokesperson added, “Investigations have revealed that the attacks in London were conspired and perpetrated in retaliation to the action taken by Punjab police against Amritpal Singh, Chief of Waris Punjab De, with the objective of influencing the crackdown on the outfit and its leader. The violent attack on the High Commission was aimed at furthering and achieving the cause of Khalistan by secession in Punjab.”
On 22nd March 2023 around 2,000 pro-Khalistan elements broke into the Indian High Commission building in the capital city of Britain and tossed objects, including ink, to deface the building. Three days before the incident, a smaller mob had attacked the high commission, pulled down the Indian flag disrespectfully and injured some embassy officials in the process. The agency had travelled to London last year to probe the attacks with the assistance of the Metropolitan Police. Following the visit, the organisation unveiled a CCTV clip from the attack on 19th March and named at least 45 suspects.
Avtar Singh Khanda, a radical Sikh from Britain who passed away in a United Kingdom hospital in June 2023, was the mastermind behind the demonstrators. He was a close associate of Khalistani terrorist Jagtar Singh Tara. The assault was in retaliation for the police action against “Waris Punjab De” supremo Amritpal Singh on 18th March who was eventually arrested on 23rd April and later became a Lok Sabha MP from Khadoor Sahib. He is being held in a high-security facility in Dibrugarh, Assam, after being charged under the strict National Security Act (NSA).
