Avtar Singh Khanda, also known as Ranjodh Singh, who allegedly orchestrated the violent incident at the Indian High Commission in London on March 19, has passed away at Sandwell Hospital in Birmingham. The cause of his death is currently unknown, pending the awaited medical report. Khanda, the self-proclaimed chief of the designated terror group Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), was a political asylum seeker in the UK and reportedly played a significant role in radicalising Sikh youth in support of the separatist movement for Khalistan.
Khanda hailed from a family with connections to the KLF, as his father was a KLF terrorist killed by security forces in 1991. Additionally, his mother was related to another KLF member named Gurjant Singh Budhsingwala, who had strong ties to the Pakistani deep state. Khanda had been admitted to the Sandwell and West Birmingham hospital approximately two weeks before his demise, as he had been battling blood cancer.
Reports suggest that Khanda’s supporters hope the medical report will indicate poisoning, allowing them to declare him a martyr and accuse Indian security agencies of murder. However, it should be noted that Khanda’s pre-existing health condition raises questions about such claims.
Khanda, along with three other separatists, has been identified by the National Investigating Agency as one of the main individuals responsible for dishonouring the Indian flag during the protest at the London High Commission. Despite the Indian High Commission alerting the UK intelligence agency MI-5 about the potential for violence on March 19, there was a lack of action from the UK Police against the protestors.
Like other sympathisers of the Khalistan movement, Khanda entered the UK on a student visa and swiftly became associated with the separatist movement prevalent in certain gurudwaras in the UK. These gurudwaras, managed by Khalistani supporters, are allegedly fundraising for terrorism under the guise of addressing human rights violations against the Sikh community in India.