Confirming that he is alive and in New York, India's designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on Thursday issued a fresh threat to Indian diplomats in Canada, the US, Australia and the UK.

Pannun, who founded Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), released a video message from UN Headquarters saying, "Yes, we will hold Sandhu-Verma-Doraiswami-Malhotra-Vohra, the Indian diplomats in US, Canada, UK, Italy and Australia responsible for assassination of Nijjar."

Declaring the third phase of Khalistan referendum in Canada, Pannun said Toronto will vote on July 16 and September 10 voting in Vancouver will be dedicated to Nijjar.

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun
Gurpatwant Singh PannunIANS

Canada-based pro-Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was declared a 'wanted terrorist' by the Indian government, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen on the premises of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, of which he was the head, in the Punjabi-dominated Surrey city of British Columbia in Canada last month.

Pannu went underground after killing of some Khalistan supporters. Khalistan radicals set fire to the Indian Consulate in San Francisco on July 2. The US has condemned the attack.

(With inputs from IANS)