Jaspal Atwal

In 1985, Atwal was charged in an attack on Ujjal Dosanjh, a strong opposer of the Khalistan movement, but was later acquitted.[1] Dosanjh stated that Atwal attacked him with an iron bar over his opposition to Sikh extremism.[5] The attack left Dosanjh severely injured with 80 stitches and a broken hand.[5] Senior Punjab journalist Baljit Balli, who met Atwal during a radio talk show at Surrey, said that Atwal had claimed that he was not involved in any attack and that he was being wrongly charged.[2] Dosanjh would go on to be the 33rd Premier of British Columbia.[2] On 25 May 1986, Atwal was among four men involved in attempting to assassinate Punjab minister Malkiat Singh Sidhu.[1] He was convicted for murder and was sentenced to 20 years in jail, where he served 5 years before being paroled.[4] At the time of the attempted assassination, Sidhu was visiting Vancouver for a wedding and was forced off an isolated road near Gold River when Atwal arrived.[6] Sidhu was struck twice and survived the shooting, however, he was assassinated in 1991 five years later at his home.[6] At the parole, Atwal admitted he was the shooter that day.[6]

Atwal sparked controversy when he was invited by Justin Trudeau to a reception during a visit to India.[1] He was seen photographed with Sophie Grégoire Trudeau and Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi at an event in Mumbai and was invited to the event by Randeep Sarai.[1] Ujjal Dosanjh criticized Trudeau for inviting Atwal by stating "Do you have no shame?" and stated that the relations between Canada and India were rock bottom.[7][4] Atwal's invitation was rescinded the next day and Trudeau stated that he should have never been invited.[8][9] He was removed from India's travel blacklist several months ago, while the Indian government stated that he wasn't a security threat.[10] Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer accused Trudeau of "wining and dining" with an attempted murderer in a Thursday tweet.[5] Atwal stated that he has a "friendly relationship" with Trudeau and that he "stayed away" from him to avoid embarrassment.[11] On 8 March 2018, he apologized for the "embarrassment" he caused when he attended the event and told reporters that he took full responsibility for his past actions.[12] A new committee of reporters and senators delivered its first classified report regarding the affair with 18 findings and 6 recommendations concerning allegations of foreign interference in Canadian political affairs.[13]

On 25 April 2018, Atwal was arrested at his home and charged for making threats to a local British Columbia host.[14] According to documents, he faces charges for "uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm".[14] His lawyer Marvin Stern stated that he made threats outside a Punjabi radio station in the Vancouver suburb of Surrey, British Columbia.[14] The day after his arrest, he made an appearance in provincial court, but was released without cash or surety.[14] He is expected to face trial on 7 June and appear at the Surrey Provincial Court to plead not guilty.[15][16]