Amid an escalation stand off between India and Canada, the Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said that Canada failed to act on India’s request seeking extradition of Lawrence Bishnoi gang members.

Addressing in a press briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that similar extradition requests of syndicates linked to the Bishnoi gang were made recently as well, but Canada has not responded yet.

The Ministry also furnished names of Gurjit Singh, Gurjinder Singh, Arshdeep Singh Gill, Lakhbir Singh Landa, Gurpreet Singh for extradition, stating that the members of the Bishnoi gang were among them.

Randhir Jaiswal said that the MEA had informed Canada about the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and its syndicates and requested their provisional arrest and extradition some years back, and also recently. Nonetheless, there has been no response from Canada so far, he continued.

The MEA spokesperson also reiterated that Canada did not share any evidence in connection with the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. He stated that India has made their position very clear on this particular matter. He added that since September 2023, the Canadian government has not shared any shred of information with the MEA.

He said that Canada always brought forth freedom of speech as their argument whenever India sought action against anti-India and separatist elements.

Notably, the government’s statement came a day after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau named gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who was earlier mentioned by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for being involved in the murder of Nijjar in September last year.

Justin Trudeau alleged that Indian diplomats were collecting information on Canadians and passing it to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. While testifying before the country’s foreign interference inquiry, Justin Trudeau claimed that the Canadian agencies tried to work behind the scenes with India before he came out with the allegation in NIjjar killings.

In the same testimony, Justin Trudeau also acknowledged that his government only provided intelligence and no proof to India over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil.

India-Canada diplomatic relations worsened earlier this week when Canada announced that top Indian diplomats in Ottawa were persons of interest, as far as its investigation into Nijjar’s killing was concerned. In retaliation, India dismissed Canada’s stand, and recalled six of its top diplomats from Canada, including High Commissioner Sanjay Verma.

The Uttar Pradesh asserted that two accused in the violence caused in Bahraich during a Durga Puja procession, were shot in an encounter on Thursday. The accused, identified as Sarfaraz and Taleem, were shot while they were fleeing to Nepal. The encounter occurred near the Handa Basehri area of Bahraich, close to Nepal. 

The accused were injured in their legs, and have been referred to the district hospital. Sarfaraz and Taleem are sons of Abdul Hameed, the main accused in the Bahraich violence case, where 22-year-old Ram Gopal Mishra was shot dead at the Durga Puja procession on October 13. Nearly five people were arrested after the encounter. 

After the encounter, Bahraich SP Vrinda Shukla said that five people have been arrested. She affirmed that two of the accused have been injured in police firing. She added that one of the injured is Mohammed Sarfaraz, the other one is Mohammed Taleem. 

After Abdul Hameed was accused of firing at Ram Gopal Mishra, his daughter Rukhsar, who is a landlord in Bahraich said that the UP Special Task Force (STF) detained her father, her two brothers and another young man at 4 pm on Wednesday. She added that her husband and her brother-in-law were also picked up by STF. Rukhsar further said that they have not received any information about them from any police station, and the family fears that they may be killed in an encounter.

Reacting to the encounter, the Congress has attacked the Uttar Pradesh government, claiming that it is just trying to cover up its failure. Congress chief Ajai Rai said that the government has been doing fake encounters ever since, and are trying to cover up their failure. 

Akhilesh Yadav, Samajwadi Party chief also slammed the Yogi Adityanath led government, raising questions over the law and order situation in the state. He said that if law and order was improving only through encounters, Uttar Pradesh would have progressed in many areas by now.

He added that this is the failure of the government, the police and the administration. He questioned that if the concerned authorities are not able to manage a village function then how will they manage the law and order of the state, adding that all they do is encounter and scare people.  

A few hours after the Bahraich violence took place, CM Yogi Adityanath in a X post vowed to provide justice to the victim’s family. The Chief Minister had said that the culprits of this extremely reprehensible and unforgivable incident will not be spared at any cost. 

Lauding the BJP double engine government after Nayab Singh Saini took oath as the Haryana Chief Minister, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asserted that his government will leave no stone unturned in serving the poor, farmers, soldiers, youth and women as well as every section of the society.

The Prime Minister congratulated Saini on taking oath as the Chief Minister of Haryana for the second term and a hat-trick for the party and all the colleagues who took oath as ministers along with him.

PM Modi, who also attended the sworn-in ceremony of the Chief Minister, said Saini’s team is a wonderful confluence of good governance and experience, which will take the development of the state to new heights along with realising the dreams of the people here.

Apart from PM Modi, senior party leaders including Union Home Minister Amit Shah and several Chief Ministers from the BJP-ruled states were present on the occasion.

In a post on X, Shah also congratulated Saini on the occasion and to all the ministers who took oath as ministers in the Haryana government.

Reiterating the Prime Minister’s pledge to the welfare of farmers, youth, women and poor, Shah expressed confidence that under the leadership of CM Saini, Haryana will continue to move forward in the direction that PM Modi has pledged.

“All of you will take the work done by the BJP government in the last decade for the prosperity and good governance of the people of Haryana to even greater heights,” he said.

Saini-led Council of Ministers includes thirteen legislators, including two women. Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya administered the oath of office and secrecy at the swearing-in-ceremony held in Haryana’s Panchkula.

Those who were administered oath of office and secrecy in the state cabinet include – Anil Vij, Arvind Kumar Sharma, Shyam Singh Rana, Ranbir Singh Gangwa, Krishan Bedi, Krishan Lal Panwar, Rao Narbir Singh, Mahipal Dhanda, Vipul Goel, Shruti Choudhry, Arti Singh Rao, Rajesh Nagar and Gaurav Gautam.