WASHINGTON: Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), a US-based group, has released an audio recording of an Indian diplomat issuing a warning to Khalistan Referendum activists before a series of violent acts involving Sikh figures in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
According to the SFJ, the audio features an Indian diplomat based in Milan, Italy, warning activists that “one or two people might suffer a loss of life” in connection with the Khalistan movement. The group claims the recording forms part of wider allegations of intimidation and targeting of pro-Khalistan activists abroad.
The warning is said to have been followed by a series of high-profile incidents involving Sikh separatist figures. On June 18, 2023, Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead in Surrey, Canada.
BREAKING — AUDIO LEAK:
CHILLING “DEATH WARNING” BY AN INDIAN DIPLOMAT TO KHALISTAN REFERENDUM ACTIVISTS AHEAD OF THE ASSASSINATION OF SHAHEED NIJJAR & THE DEATH OF SHAHEED KHANDA:
“One or two people… might suffer a loss of life.” — Indian Diplomat
KILLINGS OF PRO-KHALISTAN… pic.twitter.com/ZuzZVtI7S0
— Gurpatwant Singh Pannun (@SFJGenCounsel) April 22, 2026
A few days earlier, on June 15, 2023, Avtar Singh Khanda died in Birmingham, United Kingdom, in circumstances that sparked speculation among some supporters and activists.
BREAKING
“WE WILL KILL YOU” — DEATH THREAT TO KHALISTAN REFERENDUM ACTIVISTS —INDIA’S TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION EXPOSED IN ITALY AFTER DOUBLE KILLINGS
Within hours of Sikhs For Justice’s X account sharing a post showing Indian Consulate officials being honored at Gurdwara Mata… pic.twitter.com/cV4cjZFoi1
— Sikhs For Justice (@SFJ_US_Official) April 21, 2026
In the United States, Sikh activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun was reportedly targeted in an alleged murder-for-hire plot that U.S. authorities said they uncovered in 2023.
SFJ has stated that it is willing to share details of the recording, including the identity of the diplomat allegedly heard in the audio, with security and intelligence agencies in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as part of ongoing investigations into alleged cases of transnational repression.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, in a statement, said that the recorded remarks, combined with subsequent incidents involving pro-Khalistan activists, point to a coordinated campaign targeting supporters of the Khalistan Referendum movement globally.
Indian authorities have consistently denied allegations suggesting any involvement by the Indian government or its diplomats in overseas assassination plots.
In September 2023, the then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Canada was probing the possibility that India’s government was involved in Nijjar’s assassination.
This issue of transnational repression involving India’s security agencies extends beyond Canada.
The Czech Republic also extradited an Indian national Nikhil Gupta to the United States accused of participating in a failed murder-for-hire plot against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
Gupta, arrested in Prague in June 2023, allegedly worked under the direction of an Indian government operative to assassinate Pannun.
The US Justice Department indicted Gupta in November 2023, accusing him of coordinating the plot with the intent of silencing pro-Khalistan voices abroad.
