FBI warned US Sikhs of threat to their lives after murder of activist Nijjar

The FBI warned at least three Americans active in the Sikh community that their lives were in danger in the immediate aftermath of the murder of a Sikh activist in Canada in June.

- Stephanie Kirchgaessner

The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has blamed the apparent assassination on the Indian government, an assessment that has reportedly been backed by Canadian and US intelligence sources and has created a rupture in Ottawa's relationship with Narendra Modi's government.

The shocking accusation that India had carried out an extrajudicial murder on Canadian soil - an allegation that has been denied by India - has prompted a re-examination of threats against Sikh separatists around the world, as well as Sikh activists' claims of suspicious deaths in the UK and Pakistan in the weeks before the murder.

Pritpal Singh, a 69-year-old US citizen who serves as a coordinator for the American Sikh Caucus Committee, confirmed to the Guardian that he and two other associates were called by the FBI just days after the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Canadian citizen who was ambushed on 18 June just outside his place of worship in Surrey, British Columbia.

The FBI, which must warn citizens if they learn that their lives are in danger under a legal protection known as a "duty to warn", initially told Singh that it believed his life was under threat because of unspecified intelligence. A few days later, the FBI offered Singh more specific safety instructions. The Intercept first reported the case.