Canadian police warn Sikh aide of threat to life, says leading separatist

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian police have warned an aide to a Sikh leader who was assassinated in British Columbia last year, of an increased threat to his life, a prominent Sikh separatist said on Tuesday.

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun said police in the province of Ontario, working with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, had issued a so-called "duty to warn" notice to Inderjeet Singh Gosal this week.

Gosal worked as an aide to Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was gunned down in June 2023.

In September that year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cited credible allegations of possible Indian government involvement in the murder and police have since charged four men with the killing. India denies any connection to the shooting.

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation last week said it was investigating an Aug. 11 drive-by shooting that targeted a California activist with close ties to Nijjar.

New Delhi accuses Canada of harboring Sikh separatists who seek to create a homeland known as Khalistan by carving it out of the Indian region of Punjab.

"I've been informed by Canadian officials about the threats to my life," a statement from Pannun cited Gosal as saying. "However, my commitment to the liberation of Punjab from Indian occupation remains unwavering."

Neither the RCMP or the Ontario police were immediately available for comment. The office of Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who has overall responsibility for law enforcement, declined to comment.

In June 2023, the FBI foiled an alleged assassination attempt against Pannun. Indian national Nikhil Gupta has been charged with trying to arrange the murder at the behest of an Indian intelligence official.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Sandra Maler)