Canada accuses CRPF of 'torture, murder'; denies entry to former officer

Vancouver: Canada immigration authorities on May 18 denied entry to a retired senior Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officer in Vancouver because the force he worked with had “committed widespread human rights abuses”.

Tejinder Singh Dhillon, who arrived at the Vancouver airport last week, was denied entry under a subsection of Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, according to a report in Hindustan Times.

Dhillon, who was the inspector general of police from CRPF, retired in 2010.

According to the report, the immigration officials had initially told Dhillon that he cannot be allowed to enter Canada because the government he worked for “engages or has engaged in terrorism, systematic or gross human rights violations, or genocide”.

However, the immigration authorities issued another document, in which they retracted the statement against the Indian government. They then accused the CRPF of “committing widespread and systemic human rights abuses, for example torture, arbitrary detention, murder and sexual assault” while still denying entry to him.

This has happened to Dhillon for the first time in the past 30 years, who has now returned to Ludhiana. He had frequently travelled to Canada even when he was serving as an officer in CRPF, he said according to the report.

He has a Canadian visa issued by India and is valid till 2024.