In a significant development, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has officially declared Lakhbir Singh Landa, a Canada-based gangster, a terrorist, intensifying the ongoing diplomatic tension between New Delhi and Ottawa. The move follows Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s earlier assertion of Indian involvement in the killing of wanted Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil.
According to an official release from the MHA, 34-year-old Lakhbir Singh Landa, son of Niranjan Singh and Parminder Kaur, has been granted permanent residence at VP0 Harike in the Tarn Taran district of Punjab, bordering Pakistan. The decision to designate him as a terrorist was made under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967, empowering the central government to add individuals to the Fourth Schedule if believed to be involved in terrorism.
Currently residing in Edmonton, the capital of Alberta in Canada, Landa is identified as a member of Babbar Khalsa International, listed as a terrorist organization as per the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The MHA reveals that Landa, supported by cross-border agencies, was responsible for a terror attack using a shoulder-mounted rocket-propelled grenade on Punjab’s State Intelligence Headquarters in Mohali.
Landa’s involvement extends to the supply of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), arms, sophisticated weapons, and explosives from across the border for various terrorist activities in Punjab, India, according to the MHA release. He has a history of criminal cases related to the establishment of terror modules, extortion, planting IEDs, smuggling weapons and narcotics, and using funds for terrorist acts in different parts of the country.
The MHA statement emphasizes that Lakhbir Singh Landa and his associates have been actively conspiring to disrupt peace, law, and order in Punjab through targeted killings, extortions, and other anti-national activities. An open-ended warrant and a Look Out Circular No. 2144306 dated June 9, 2021 have been issued against him.
The gangster-turned-terrorist, residing in Canada since 2017, is considered the mastermind behind several terrorism cases, including the 2022 RPG attacks on Punjab Police Intelligence Headquarters and the Sarhali police station. In August of the current year, the Special Court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) ordered the confiscation of Landa’s property in his native village in Tarn Taran district under Section 33(5) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Previously declared a Proclaimed Offender on July 27, 2023, Lakhbir Singh Landa, initially involved in criminal and gangster-related activities, continues his anti-India activities from Canada, as per official sources. The MHA’s designation underscores the gravity of his involvement in various acts of terrorism and criminal activities, requiring heightened international cooperation to address cross-border threats.
