Indo-Canadian mediaperson, attacked by two persons, blames ‘pro-Khalistan’ elements

Rishi Nagar, news director of the radio channel Red FM Calgary, was assaulted on Sunday in Calgary in the province of Alberta.

Nagar told the Hindustan Times, “The pro-Khalistan people attacked me.”

He said the attack followed a report about an incident at the Gurdwara Dashmesh Cultural Centre in Calgary, which led to two Indo-Canadians being arrested on firearms-related charges.

A spokesperson for Calgary Police told Red FM that the arrested pair had been identified as Gursewak Singh and Sukhpreet Singh. The former was charged pointing a firearm, unauthorised possession of a firearm, possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm, possession of a weapon dangerous to the public, contravention of the Firearms Act, threats to cause death or bodily harm, while the latter also face the same counts except pointing a firearm.

The attack on Nagar occurred on Sunday after he was leaving an election-related event in the North East quadrant of the city. “When I came out of the event and was moving towards my car, they attacked unprovoked. My left eye is damaged, right leg is injured,” he said.

He said that earlier an associate of the attackers contacted him for the appointment for a meeting on Thursday.

The outlet CBC News cited Calgary Police as stating it is investigating the attack and looking for two suspects. The attack was captured on CCTV camera.

Staff Sergeant John Guigon told the outlet police was “throwing resources at” the investigation while describing the assault as “particularly troubling to us when a member of the media gets attacked in a democracy”.

There have been unconfirmed allegations of an attempt by pro-Khalistan elements to extort funds from the Calgary gurdwara, though the Hindustan Times could not substantiate them.