Bullets shattered the window of a truck driving down a Northern California highway near Sacramento as Satinder Pal Singh Raju sat in the passenger seat.
The Guardian describes Raju as a Sikh separatist leader who wants his community to have its own independent state from India.
He is part of Sikhs for Justice, the same group his friend Hardeep Singh Nijjar, belonged. Canadian officials believe Nijjar was assassinated in June 2023 by gunman connected to India.
Raju alleges the shooting at him on the freeway was not random.
“I realize it’s the same way they assassinated my friend, the same way they’re attacking me,” Raju said to CBS Sacramento.
The FBI would not confirm it is investigating the case. The CHP says it has no suspects but does not believe the general public is in danger.
The driver of the truck swerved of the road into a ditch before the men hid behind hay bales until the Highway Patrol could arrive.
Raju vowed to continue to fight for Sikh independence and said he would not be scared away from the movement.
Raju has been part of three referendum votes by Sikh leaders in California calling for independence.
“(Indian prime minister Narendra) Modi 3.0 Regime is continuing with its policy of transnational repression to violently suppress the global Khalistan Referendum campaign seeking liberation of Punjab from Indian occupation,” Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, spokesperson for Sikhs for Justice said in a statement.
Pannun says he too has been a target of assassination. U.S. officials also blamed the Indian government for that shooting. India, however, strongly denies being part of the shooting in both the U.S. and Canada.
It has not responded to the latest allegations.
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