Sacramento-area Sikh leader, possibly targeted in assassination attempt, sits for FBI interview

On the same day that India’s defense minister was warmly welcomed in Washington, two FBI agents held an interview in Sacramento with the target of a possible assassination attempt that occurred earlier this month on Interstate 505, about 30 miles from California’s capital.

Many of the questions asked Thursday, the man who escaped a hail of gunfire said, explored whether the incident could have been an act of transnational repression, possibly linked to India.

U.S. and Canadian intelligence agencies have linked the Indian government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the 2023 assassination of Sikh independence leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Multiple arrests have followed, furthering suspicion of Indian involvement.

Former Canadian intelligence official Dan Stanton said that Defense Secretary Rajnath Singh’s visit, which includes the signing of a cooperation agreement, could explain the initial “radio silence” from Washington on the freeway shooting. The alleged target of the attack earlier his month, Woodland’s Satinder Pal Singh Raju, was a close ally of the slain leader Nijjar.

When first asked about the freeway shooting, which law enforcement officials said happened late at night Aug. 11 on I-505 in rural Yolo County, an FBI spokesperson said, “we cannot confirm or deny any particular contact or the potential existence of an investigation.”

But as news reports began to spread about the near-midnight barrage of bullets, the FBI reached out with an update. An email from spokesperson Gina Swankie said, “The FBI Sacramento Field Office continues to collaborate with the California Highway Patrol in support of the investigation.”

The FBI has made no statements to suggest that the freeway shooting was an assassination attempt connected to a foreign government, saying only that they are aiding the CHP in an investigation.

However, Stanton said the collaboration “suggests that they have an intelligence dividend, some intelligence that corroborates the attempted hit. CHP can handle the criminal investigation. The FBI has the big picture, they can tap into the intel community.”

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a U.S. leader of Sikhs for Justice who, according to a federal indictment last year, was targeted in an assassination plot orchestrated by Indian intelligence, said he was grateful the FBI is involved in the investigation.

“We are not jumping to conclusions in terms of who may have targeted Raju and the other Sikhs,” he said. “All we want is for this to be thoroughly and professionally investigated and we are grateful the FBI is taking this seriously.”

Pannun said he believes substantial circumstantial evidence points to the involvement of India.

Pannun said that Raju had served as “backbone” of logistics work in Khalistan referendums in San Francisco, Sacramento and several cities in Canada including, most recently, Calgary last month.

“I can say for certain that Raju is the kind of person on an Indian hit list,” Pannun said. “They have made that clear, they consider us terrorists even though we are committed to peace and non-violence.”

Raju said the interview took place at the office of a friend in Sacramento who runs a trucking company. The agents spent some time examining the truck, which had been released from impound by CHP.

Raju said he found the FBI agents to be professional and exploring every possibility.

“They asked me if we stopped anywhere and if someone could have followed us and targeted us in a hate crime. I said ‘no.’ We left my house in Woodland to get a bite in Vacaville and did not stop before we were attacked.

“They asked if we encountered any angry drivers. They asked if I had any business disputes, anyone so angry they might seek to harm me. I said ‘no’ to both.

“Then they asked me if I had any idea who might have done this.”

Raju did not hesitate.

“India,” he said. “I told them, Modi’s government assassinated my friend and colleague Hardeep Singh Nijjar. I’ve kept up Hardeep’s work with the Sikh referendum, and I am certain that India had something to do with this.”

Raju said the agents asked him about his association with Nijjar. When did he meet the slain leader? In 2016, he said. How often did they meet and correspond? They asked for a list of the most active Sikh activists in Sacramento and the region.

“And they asked me a lot about the Khalistan referendum, what exactly I had done in each city,” he recalled.

Raju said he told the agents that he, of course, will take care and follow the FBI’s advice. But he isn’t going to curtail his activity. A Sikh referendum is scheduled for New Zealand on Nov. 17.

“Of course I am going,” he said.

Pro-Khalistan leaders in Sacramento and across California welcomed word of the FBI participation.

“What happened on I-505, that really ratcheted things up,” Sacramento activist Bobby Singh said. “There have been a lot of threats, a lot of mischief, this is different. The FBI needs to really get to the bottom of this.”

Dr. Pritpal Singh, the founder of the American Sikh Caucus Committee, said he was certain that proxies from India were behind the shooting.

“It’s ironic because Sikhs are very involved in the transport business, we cherish freeways as a great part of the American system,” Pritpal Singh said. “There are a lot of Sikh truckers out there. And to have one of the referendum organizers attacked on the freeway, that’s obviously very concerning. It messages: ‘We can get you anywhere.’”