The brother of Jagtar Singh johal, a British Sikh jailed in India, has written to the Home Office to ask why he is being repeatedly stopped at the airport by British border police.
Gurpreet Singh Johal, a Labour councillor in Dumbarton, asked if it was linked to his legal efforts to discover weather British intelligence played a role in his brother’s arrest eight years ago.
He told the Guardian: “I have been repeatedly stopped at the British border, and no explanation is being given. I don’t know if this is an attempt by someone to intimidate me, but I am not going to stop seeking redress for my brother who has been in jail since 2017 without full trial.”
A UK court hearing is due in a few weeks’ time in which Jagtar’s lawyers, including from the legal organisation Reprieve, will seek to discover if he was arrested in India in 2017 after a tipoff by British intelligence. Much of the UK hearing is likely to be held in closed session.
Jagtar has not been found guilty in any indian court, and a series of delays caused by the Indian prosecutor’s inability to assemble credible witnesses mean he has been detained without full trial.
Charges against him at state level in Punjab where dismissed by the court in March 2025 as no evidence or witnesses were produced. The largely identical federal-level charges being brought by India’s National Investigation Agency remain.
Gurpreet says he has been stopped four times in the last two years when he has returned to the UK from holiday. Neither the Home Office nor Police scotland have given him explanations that justify him being taken aside in front of his family. He has been stopped at Heathrow in November 2023 and twice at Glasgow airport in April and July 2024 and once in July 2025. Each time he has been told at the e-gates to “seek assistance” that then leads to a set of inquiries.
After years of delay, Gurpreet’s rare legal tort claim against the british intelligence services is due to reach the court on 6 october. The closed proceedings,made necessary by the involvement of the British intelligence services,mean Jagtar’s own lawyers cannot be present,but parts of the first hearing will be open to media and the public.
Jagtar Singh Johal. Photograph: PA Media
Jagtar’s legal team is arguing that a member of the