CNN —India’s anti-terror agency has raided 53 sites across seven states and union territories in a crackdown on what it says are “terrorists” and “gangsters,” some of whom it alleges have links to Sikh separatist groups. “Khalistan” is a reference to a separatist movement that seeks to create a homeland for Sikhs in the Punjab region of India. The NIA said Wednesday the latest raids “relate to conspiracies of targeted killings, terror funding of pro-Khalistan outfits, extortion, etc. “These criminals have been engaged in planning and commissioning serious crimes, including contract and revenge killings, in association with criminals lodged in jails across India,” it added. Things escalated further when India suspended visa services for Canadian citizens over what it said were “security threats” against diplomats in Canada.

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Persons: ”, Justin Trudeau, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Trudeau’s, Modi Organizations: CNN, National Investigative Agency, Khalistan, Canadian, Sikh, NIA Locations: Punjab, India, Canada, British Columbia, Sikh Canadian, Pakistan, Malaysia, Portugal, Australia, Harayana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Chandigarh . New Delhi