"I have proof of the links the terrorists have in Canada.. I had a phone call about a month back from Canada threatening me that another attack would be planned against me if I continue pursuing cases against terrorists." said India's top terrorist hunter.

India's top anti-terror crusader, who was maimed in an assassination attempt that left 12 dead, says the militants he is hunting down are trying to kill him.

Maninderjit Singh Bitta, chairman of the All-India Anti-Terrorists Front (AIATF), who is tracking dozens of terrorists around the world, including 12 in Canada, said the threat was made to him in a phone call last month.

"I had a phone call about a month back from Canada threatening me that another attack would be planned against me if I continue pursuing cases against terrorists," he said.

Bitta is seeking a meeting with the Canadian High Commissioner in New Delhi to talk about the threat and seek Ottawa's help in getting the terrorists, who are believed to be in B.C. and Ontario, back to India to face trial.

Bitta said he has proof of the links the terrorists have in US, UK, Canada and Germany.

"If the governments of the US, UK Canada and Germany are uniting against the terrorists, let them show it by handing over to India the terrorists who are hiding in these countries."

"I am meeting all the ambassadors of these countries requesting them on behalf of the AIATF to hand over the terrorists hiding in their country to the government of India," he said in Chandigarh, Punjab.

"We will believe what they said about the 'war against terror' only when they support it with action. Otherwise this international exercise against terrorists will remain only an akhbari dikhawa (mere words)," Bitta said.

Bitta suffered extensive injuries in a bomb attack in New Delhi in 1993 and has since become an active campaigner against militancy. Twelve people were killed and dozens injured in the incident.

Last week, the Indian Supreme Court upheld the death penalty for Devender Pal Singh, one of those who staged the attack on Bitta.

Pal Singh was a member of the Khalistan Liberation Force, which has strong money raising ties in B.C.

Bitta's anti-terrorist group is currently helping the Punjab government seek the repatriation of about two dozen militants believed to be hiding in the USA.

In a recent message to the Interpol, Punjab state police are reported to have identified about 25 Punjab militants who have been hiding in the US for the past six years.

About 10 of them are said to be hardcore militants owing allegiance to the Khalistan Commando Force and Babbar Khalsa International, two of the most dreaded militant organisations responsible for largescale violence in Punjab during the eighties.

Besides those hiding in the US, Punjab police have also sought to nab more than 20 militants residing in the UK, 25-odd in Germany and about a dozen in Canada, Indian media reported.

Many of the militants, who escaped Punjab in the wake of mounting police pressure on them, are believed to have been living in other countries under assumed identities.

Some of the militants in Canada are said to have sought refugee status on the grounds that there were the victims of human rights violations.