New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said that India has issued a mutual legal assistance request to the USA for investigation in the matter of Sikhs for Justice/Referendum 2020.

"We have issued a mutual legal assistance request to the USA for investigation in the matter of Sikhs for Justice/Referendum 2020. As per procedure, the request has been sent directly by the concerned authorities to the US Department of Justice (DoJ)," MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said during the weekly virtual press conference on Khalistan linked terror groups from outside India trying to incite violence in New Delhi.

The secessionist outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), formed in 2007, is a US-based group seeking a separate homeland for Sikhs -- a "Khalistan" in Punjab.

On January 28, Delhi Police has registered a case against the banned organisation Sikhs for Justice under relevant sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and other sections of IPC for provoking people for Referendum-2020, demanding a separate Sikh state.

Earlier in December 2020, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a charge sheet against 10 accused, including designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, at a special NIA court in Mohali in connection with a case related to violence by SFJ.

The case pertains to a series of acts of violence, including arson in Punjab during 2017-18, carrying out propaganda activities, both online and on-ground, in support of the SFJ and Referendum-2020.