VANCOUVER — A lawyer for a Sikh temple leader shot to death in Surrey on Sunday night said his client told him that Canada’s spy agency warned him days ago that there were threats against him.
New York lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun told Postmedia that he talked to Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Guru Nanak Gurdwara president, on Saturday.
He said Nijjar, who was gunned down at 8:27 p.m. outside the temple, was in “good spirits” despite getting the disturbing news from someone with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
“They told him that there were threats to his life,” the lawyer said.
Pannun’s name was also mentioned by CSIS, according to Nijjar, who was supposed to meet the agent Tuesday to get more information.
“He said that he’s going to update me once he speaks to them.”
Nijjar also said he had heard from community members that “there are people in Vancouver who are trying to procure arms or weapons to kill.”
Nijjar and his lawyer have been leaders of a campaign for Khalistan — the separate Sikh nation some want created in India’s Punjab state. They have been organizing a referendum on the issue.
Pannun said both have faced hostility and threats on social media from pro-India accounts.
Still, he said he was shocked to learn of the murder Sunday of his close friend.
“He is more than a client. He’s like my younger brother,” Pannun said. “I lost a part of me.”
Nijjar never had security with him despite the threats.
“He wasn’t worried about his safety. He was worried about how we would accomplish Khalistan and how we would accomplish the referendum,” Pannun said.
Surrey RCMP Staff Sgt. Tyner Gillies was not confirming the identity of the murder victim, who was found inside his grey truck in the temple parking lot.
“Police found an adult male inside a vehicle suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. … The man died of his injuries at the scene,” Gillies said.
He said the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team had been called in.
“At this early stage of the investigation, any possible motives for the shooting are not yet known. Police are still working to determine possible suspect descriptions from several witnesses who were in the area,” he said.
“Surrey RCMP is aware of social media posts that are speculating on the identity of the victim, but are not in a position to confirm the victim’s identity at this very early time.”
A large crowd gathered outside the temple after the murder, shouting “Long live Khalistan” and blaming the murder on the India government.
Nijjar was married with two sons and worked as a plumber.
In 2016, the India government alleged Nijjar was involved in a 2007 bombing in Punjab. But last summer, the Surrey man told Postmedia that India had never sought his extradition and that the accusations were false.
Several Indian news reports also alleged last summer that Nijjar may have been linked to the July murder in Surrey of former Air India suspect Ripudaman Singh Malik, which both he and Pannun strongly denied.
“I am living here since ’97. I did not go back to India,” Nijjar said. “I’m working hard as a plumber and at the temple. … I’m a community servant, right.”
