BHOPAL: In a major breakthrough, the Jaswant Singh Gill murder case of Gwalior district of Madhya Pradesh has been linked to the designated Pro-Khalistan extremist – Arshdeep Singh Gill alias Arsh Dalla, who was designated a terrorist by India in 2023.
Intelligence officers say Arsh Dalla who is allegedly associated with the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and ran terror modules on behalf of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, also a designated terrorist who was killed in June last year – likely to have been arrested in Canada’s Ontario province in connection with a shooting incident, sources claimed here on Sunday. Recently, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had named Arsh Dalla as among the ‘Khalistani terrorists’ for whom extradition requests have been made to Canada.
Dalla’s two henchmen – Navjot Singh and Amalpreet Singh, both residents of Barnala, Punjab – who were held in Punjab on Sunday for the killing of Sikh activist Gurpreet Singh Hari Nau in Faridkot last month have been found to be the key shooters behind Jaswant Singh Gill’s murder in Gwalior on November 7. Their credentials have matched with the evidences collected by Gwalior police from various places after Gill’s murder. Searches are on for the key conspirator identified as Satpal, alleged to be a close aide of Arsh Dalla.
Both shooters were arrested by the Punjab Police in connection with the murder of Sikh activist in a joint operation by the State Special Operation Cell of Mohali, the Anti-Gangster Task Force, and Faridkot Police. Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab, Gaurav Yadav, confirmed the arrests and said on X that, “State Special Operation Cell of Mohali in a joint operation with the Anti-Gangster Task Force and Faridkot Police apprehended two key operatives of Canada-based designated terrorist Arsh Dalla involved in the murder of Gurpreet Singh Hari Nau in Faridkot.”
During their interrogations it was found that the two arrested operatives were also involved in the killing of Jaswant Singh Gill, on the directions of Arsh Dalla. DGP Yadav added, “Investigations reveal that the accused also killed Jaswant Singh Gill on November 7, 2024, in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh under directions from Arsh Dalla.” The operatives returned to Punjab after the Gwalior murder and were arrested near Kharar, Mohali. Punjab police recovered two sophisticated weapons from the suspects.
“The two are on remand with the Punjab police. We will get them on transit remand once their remand period is over. The gill murder case is solved. As suspected it was a case of revenge and the conspiracy was hatched from Canada” Yadav told TOI. Navjot Singh and Amalpreet Singh, had arrived in Gwalior on the morning of the murder.
The Gwalior police had constituted six special teams and announced a reward of Rs 10,000 for any information leading to the identification and arrest of the shooters responsible for the murder of Jaswant Singh Gill as they firmly believed it as a case of revengeful killing for a crime he had committed eight years ago. The entire incident, which was captured on nearby CCTV cameras, shows the shooters killing Jaswant Singh in just 40 seconds.
“We had received an audio enabled CCTV footage which confirm that the shooters were not local. Later on, we got more evidences like Aadhar cards and other documents from a hotel they had checked in at Tekanpur area,” said the SP. He described the shooters as having a different appearance, with their tone and accents suggesting they may be from Punjab. After killing Gill, the assailants had fled the scene immediately.
In 2016, Jaswant Singh Gill was involved in the murder of his maternal uncle, Sukhwinder Singh, in a family dispute that resulted in the death of Sukhwinder and serious injuries to his parents. Jaswant, who was living with his uncle’s family, shot Sukhwinder dead in his sleep and later attacked his aunt and uncle. The attack was so sudden that the only survivor, 13-year-old Harman Kaur, narrowly escaped by hiding in the kitchen. Jaswant fled the scene and was on the run for several years. He was eventually captured in 2018 and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his uncle. The family of Sukhwinder, now living in Canada, were under scanner.
Investigations soon revealed Sukhwinder Singh’s brother, Satpal Singh, a resident of Canada, planned the murder by offering a contract worth Rs 2.5 lakh through Arsh Dalla. Satpal’s in-laws live in Punjab, and he arranged for the shooters from there. To carry out the plan, he enlisted the help of his relative, Jite alias Jite Sardar, from Rai Mastura village, who assisted with reconnaissance and the arrangements in Gwalior. For the contract killing, Rs 1 lakh was transferred to Jite’s account before Jaswant’s release on parole, and the remaining Rs 1.5 lakh was sent immediately after the murder.
At present, Jite Sardar has not been apprehended, although the money for the contract killing was deposited into his account. Around 7:00 PM, Jaswant Singh Gill 45, was walking outside his home in Gopal Bagh, Dabra, after dinner when he was murdered.
A taxi had also been hired from Canada to facilitate the shooters’ escape after the killing. The taxi driver who dropped the shooters to Mohali has been detained to ascertained if he was part of the whole conspiracy. It has been revealed that the shooters, Navjot Singh and Amalpreet Singh, both residents of Barnala, Punjab, had arrived in Gwalior on the morning of the murder. The shooters rented a room in a hotel in Tekanpur, just outside Dabra. Jite had provided them with a motorcycle and Rs 1 lakh to assist in their escape. After committing the murder, the shooters immediately drove to Mohali, Punjab, by road, hiring a luxury taxi arranged by Satpal Singh in Canada. The police traced the taxi through toll records, which led them to identify Satpal Singh as the person who had booked the vehicle.
The breakthrough in the case came from surveillance footage obtained from a resort hotel in Tekanpur, located on the Gwalior-Dabra Road. The shooters had checked into the hotel the morning of November 7 and did not return after the murder. When the police checked the hotel, they found bags and other items belonging to the shooters. The footage from the hotel matched the images from the crime scene in Dabra, and after identifying the shooters’ belongings, Gwalior SP Dharamvir Singh shared the findings with Punjab police and it matched with the suspects arrested in Faridkoot shooting.
Further investigation revealed that six months prior to the murder, Satpal Singh, his father Rajwinder Singh, mother Balwinder Singh, and other family members had visited Gwalior from Canada. During this visit, they learned that Jaswant, the man responsible for Sukhwinder’s death, was frequently granted parole for short periods—two to three times a year. It was at this point that the family decided the time had come to take revenge. They planned the murder while staying in Punjab, where Satpal’s in-laws reside, and arranged the contract killing.
When the shooters confronted Jaswant, they were instructed to empty an entire magazine into his chest. However, the pistol malfunctioned and failed to fire all six rounds, resulting in only three shots being fired. Despite this, Jaswant died on the spot.
The police are also looking into a possible local connection. The shooters, based on witness statements, appeared to be Gills, and the police suspect that they may have been aided by someone locally. Investigators are working to identify the motorcycle used in the crime, which they believe may have been provided by a local accomplice. Jaswant, who was granted parole due to his good behaviour in jail, was living in Dabra with his wife and three children. He was involved in land dealings, having sold his village land and bought property in Siyawari, Datia. On the day of his murder, Jaswant spoke to his sharecropper about visiting the farm the following day, but he was shot dead shortly after.
Noteworthy that Arsh Dalla, has been accused of involvement in targeted killings, terror financing and extortion in Punjab. He is an accused in various cases under the National Investigation Agency. Aged around 27 years, he is originally from the Dalla village in the Moga district of Punjab. Arshdeep lives in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada with his wife and a minor daughter. He holds a passport issued by the Regional Passport Office in Jalandhar on September 1, 2017, and valid until August 31, 2027, say officers.