Pannum: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken possession of properties belonging to Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the leader of the banned Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) organization, in Chandigarh and Amritsar under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
A notice announcing the property confiscation was affixed outside Pannun’s residence in Sector 15, Chandigarh, stating, “1/4th share of house no. #2033 Sector 15-C, Chandigarh, owned by Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, a ‘proclaimed offender’ in NIA case RC- 19/2020/NIA/DLI, stands confiscated to the state under section 33(5) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 by orders of the NIA special court, SAS Nagar, Mohali, Punjab, Dated 14/09/2023. This is for information of the general public.”
A similar notice was posted on Pannun’s agricultural land in his ancestral village of Khankot in Amritsar. The NIA has confiscated 46 kanals of agricultural land owned by Pannun in connection with a terrorism case filed in 2020.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannu’s family originally hails from Nathu Chak village in the Patti sub-division of Tarn Taran. After the partition, they relocated to Khankot village in Amritsar. Pannun is one of the founders of the US-based separatist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) and has actively advocated for a separate Sikh state, known as Khalistan, in the US, Canada, and the UK.
In July 2020, Pannun was designated as a terrorist by the Union Home Ministry, and two months later, the government ordered the attachment of his properties under Section 51A of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Pannun has been involved in anti-India campaigns and has been encouraging Sikh youth in Punjab to join militancy.
He played a prominent role in organizing the so-called Khalistan Referendum, urging Sikhs worldwide to vote on whether Punjab should become an independent nation based on religion. Pannun also had close ties with Canada-based Hardeep Singh Nijjar, whose murder has been a focal point in the diplomatic dispute between Ottawa and New Delhi.