The RCMP has quietly arrested and deported an alleged Sikh terrorist who has been living in Vancouver for the last seven years.

Jasbir Singh Syan alias Seera was arrested in Vancouver on November 26 and sent to Delhi under the India-Canada Extradition Treaty.  Seera is alleged to be a member of the outlawed Khalistan Liberation Force.

The Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) was one of the leading Sikh freedom fighting organizations that was especially active in the Indian state of Punjab throughout the 1980s and early 1990s.

Its aim was the formation of Khalistan (Land of the Pure), encompassing the state of Punjab, and adjoining districts in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan.

The KLF, along with the Babbar Khalsa, the Khalistan Commando Force and the Bhindranwale Tiger Force of Khalistan, made up the four largest and most prominent armed opposition groups throughout the period of militancy in Punjab. All the groups and their affiliates are listed as terror organizations in Canada. According to Indian media reports, Seera had sneaked into Canada after completing a five-year sentence in connection with the seizure of 5 kilos of explosives. He had married Canadian citizen Inder Kaur. However, they got divorced after five years.

Ranjit Singh, Seera’s brother, told Indian media from Vancouver that Seera was summoned by the police in Vancouver on the pretext of some query.  He said there was nobody to look after Seera’s only son, Randip Singh, who was only four years old.

Ranjit Singh said the family would approach the International Human Rights Commission and Amnesty International to campaign for his brother’s release. Seera was picked up at the international airport in New Delhi, taken to a court where he has been remanded. A fresh case charging him with sedition was made against Seera, after he chanted pro-Khalistan slogans while being brought to court under heavy police escort.

Seera, police in India said, was involved in a number of attacks on All-India Anti-Terrorist Front chief Manjinder Singh Bitta and other VIPs.Terrorist hunter gets death threat from Canada.

The Asian Pacific Post reported in April 2002 that Bitta, India’s top anti-terror crusader, was getting threatening phone calls from Canada. He was maimed in an assassination attempt in 1993 that left 12 dead. “I had a phone call about a month back from Canada threatening me that another attack would be planned against me if I continue pursuing cases against terrorists,” he said at that time.

Devender Pal Singh, one of those who staged the attack on Manjinder Singh, was sentenced to death. Pal Singh was a member of the Khalistan Liberation Force, which has strong money raising ties in B.C. The arrest and deportation of Seera comes in the wake of growing fears that Sikh militancy is on the rise again. ‘’We have to be very alive to it. We just can’t shut our eyes and say it’s not there.

This has to be monitored and has to be kept under surveillance and the action has to reach in fact to dig out these operative cells,’’ said Dinesh Bhatt, a police official in, Chandigarh. The Dixie Gurudwara in Toronto has been a hub of pro-Khalistan elements for over a decade.

 
‘’The whole world knew that terrorists get shelter in that gurdwara and it’s being run by terrorists. When Amarinder (former chief minister of Punjab) was delivering his speech there, the slogan Khalistan zindabad was visible in the backdrop. The slogan essentially meant Punjab should be separated from India,’’ said Bitta.