Toronto Two pro-Khalistan separatists in Canada have received letters from law enforcement warning them of a potential threat to their lives.

While the secessionist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) has blamed India for being the source of the threat, the letters, or duty to warn notices, pointed to a possible criminal angle.

Citing the letters from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the agency Canadian Press said they stated, “You may be putting yourself at risk if you spend time in any residence, vehicle or location frequented by those who engage in a criminal lifestyle.”

According to the news outlet Globe and Mail, the recipients of the letters include SFJ’s coordinator in Canada for the so-called Khalistan Referendum Inderjeet Singh Gosal from Caledon in Ontario and Manjinder Singh from Abbotsford in British Columbia.

In interviews with Canadian media, Gosal linked the threat to the next phase of the “referendum” to be held in Edmonton, capital of the province of Alberta, on October 18.

RCMP has not provided any detail of the nature of the threat or where it is emerging from.

Gosal replaced Hardeep Singh Nijjar as SFJ’s Canadian coordinator after the latter was killed in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18, 2023. That murder led to the cratering of relations between India and Canada after then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated in the House of Commons three months later that there were “credible allegations” of a potential link between Indian agents and the killing.

Ties have renewed under Trudeau’s successor Mark Carney, who has met Prime Minister Narendra Modi thrice since assuming charge in March 2025. The two countries are currently negotiating an ambitious comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA), and negotiations are expected to conclude before the end of this year.

In July this year, Canadian law enforcement said there was no evidence to suggest Indian officials were linked in any manner to the slew of charges filed after “Operation Hard Ball”, led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The charges that were announced during a press conference in Los Angeles by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) included those related to Nijjar’s killing.

In an interview with the outlet CBC News following the DOJ action, RCMP Deputy Commissioner Lisa Moreland did not respond to questions related to the charges levelled by Trudeau. She said she would not respond to that particular matter as court proceedings in the case against four Indian nationals was ongoing. That trial is expected to begin in January 2027.

However, she said, “There is no evidence to suggest through this organised crime investigation and the charges and indictment laid forward, that Indian officials were charged or involved in this.”

She reiterated that point later stating “firmly” that “nothing has come out today to link the Indian government”.

The DOJ indictment directly includes the killing of Nijjar, and said that it was directed by Lawrence Bishnoi, leader of the eponymous gang and currently jailed in India, and Satinderjeet Singh, better known as Goldy Brar, then a close lieutenant and now running a competing faction. Brar, who is wanted in India in connection with the murder of Sidhu Moose Wala, is believed to be in North America at this time.

Moreland said that India had cooperated in the “Operation Hard Ball” investigation.