Canada police have made the fifth arrest in connection with the Brampton temple attack that took place on November 3.
The arrested individual has been identified as 35-year-old Indrajeet Gosal, a resident of Brampton, Canada’s Peel Regional Police said in a release.
According to reports, Gosal is the coordinator of the Sikh For Justice in Canada, a group which India has declared as a terrorist organisation.
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The Peel Police said Gosal was arrested on November 8 and charged with ‘assault with a weapon’. He, however, was released on conditions and is to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Brampton at a later date, they said.
Police said a Strategic Investigative Team has been formed to probe the violent incidents. “Investigators continue to analyze hundreds of videos of the incidents and are working to identify additional suspects involved in criminality and anticipate further arrests,” they added.
Footage shared by the Toronto-based Hindu Canadian Foundation showed men holding Khalistani flags and banners clashing with devotees at the Hindu Sabha temple in Brampton, some of whom were holding Indian flags.
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The incident, that came amid a long-standing diplomatic tension between India and Canada, drew strong reaction from New Delhi, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserting that such acts of violence will never weaken India’s resolve.
Reports said Gosal is a lieutenant of SFJ general counsel Gurpatwant Pannun. He was made the organiser of the referendum after Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed in June last year.
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Canada has alleged the potential involvement of Indian agents in Nijjar’s killing, though New Delhi has dismissed the charges as “absurd”.
India, meanwhile, has been maintaining that Ottawa is giving space to pro-Khalistan elements operating from Canadian soil with impunity.
