The two who have been arrested, whose names have not been made public include a 25-year-old male and a 28-year-old male. It is likely that the 28-year-old is Arshdeep Singh Gill @ Arsh Dalla.
New Delhi: A 28 October early morning shootout around 6 AM at Milton, a town located within the Halton region, Greater Toronto area in Ontario, Canada, led to the two shooters in the case seeking medical attention at the Guelph general hospital in Guelph city, about 40 kilometers away from the crime scene.
After being informed by the hospital staff about the gunshot related injuries suffered by one of them, the Guelph police informed the Halton police, following which the two individuals were arrested.
The two of those who have been arrested, whose names have not been made public included a 25-year-old male who was staying at Halton Hills and a 28-year-old male, who was residing in Surrey of Canada.
It is likely that the 28-year-old is the 21 May 1996 born Arshdeep Singh Gill @ Arsh Dalla, son of Charanjit Singh Gill, born in Jagraon, Ludhiana, Punjab, who on 9 January 2023 was proscribed as under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 for his links with Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), which at that time was headed by Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
He is on the National Investigation’s Agency (NIA) most wanted list which had registered an FIR against him on 10 June 2021 and five others for forming a gang, carrying out murder, extortion and contract killing.
The Sunday Guardian reached out to the Halton police and the Guelph hospital for a confirmation about the identity of the two individuals but no response was received till the time the report went to press.
It is pertinent to mention that in the beginning of this year, Delhi had shared the latest details—car, address and photographs—of Dalla with the Canadian officials requesting for the provisional arrest of the chief of Khalistan Tiger Force but was met with an indifferent response. Under provisional arrest, on receipt of an urgent request from a foreign state for the immediate arrest of a fugitive criminal, the host country can issue a provisional warrant through the local judge for the arrest of the fugitive criminal so that the country where the criminal is wanted can in the meantime arrange and share all the details needed.
In January 2023, it had emerged that Baldeep Singh, the brother of Arsh Dalla, had fled abroad, possibly Canada, after obtaining a passport using forged documents. He was out on bail in an attempted murder case when he managed to secure the passport.
Sources said that Dalla was among the 26 criminals and terrorists whose extradition India has been demanding from Canada.
While Indian agencies and their Canadian counterparts were aware of Arsh Dalla’s presence in Canada, his public exposure in this manner is likely to embarrass the Canadian government. Canada has in the past dismissed India’s extradition requests by either claiming that the case documents were insufficient or by stating that the wanted man was not in Canada.
The fact that Canadian officials have still not publicly announced the arrest of Dalla, one of India’s most wanted, is also likely to raise questions as to why Ottawa was silent on the arrest. Is it merely because it does not want to accept that Dalla was, as the Indian government had been claiming, moving freely in Canada or is there something else that will be revealed in the coming days?
Given the fast-paced developments over the past year and a half, and the complex games of deception between Delhi and Ottawa, it could be argued that Dalla, now in the custody of Canadian authorities, is safer than he was outside—both from gang conflicts and the Indian authorities.