New Delhi: Canadian police on Friday, May 3, arrested three Indian nationals as members of an alleged hit squad linked to the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia last year. This shooting was linked to the Indian government by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
As per court documents, Karanpreet Singh (28), Kamalpreet Singh (22) and Karan Brar (22) were charged under provisions pertinent to first-degree murder. Nijjar was killed in June 2023. They were also charged with conspiracy to murder, with the date of offence listed as May 2022.
According to Canadian news reports, all three are Indian nationals, with at least two having arrived in Canada as international students.
Praising the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for the arrests, Canada’s Federal Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc hailed it as “significant progress” in trying to get to the bottom of the circumstances around Nijjar’s killing. “The work doesn’t end here. In fact, the work continues,” LeBlanc told reporters on Parliament Hill.
At a press conference on Friday, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Assistant Commissioner David Teboul said that the investigations included exploring “connections to the government of India.” He added there are numerous cases still open and they are “certainly not limited to the involvement of the people arrested today.”
He described the RCMP’s interaction with the Indian police in last several years as “challenging and difficult”.
Citing sources, the news outlet CBC News said police are actively investigating the possible role of the same squad in three additional murders in Canada, including the shooting death of an 11-year-old boy in Edmonton.
The CBS News report also said, according to sources, members of the squad allegedly played different roles as shooters, drivers and spotters on the day Nijjar was killed at the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey. Sources in the investigation team revealed that the alleged killers were identified some months ago and have since been under tight surveillance.
Nijjar, a 45-year-old Canadian citizen, was shot dead on June 18 last year, shortly after evening prayers at his Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, B.C.
One source close to the investigation told CBC News that Canada is seeing foreign governments, including India, make use of criminal elements to carry out international operations. “Why risk sending Indian government people when you can get so much mileage using people from organised crime?” the investigator said.
The ties between India and Canada have nosedived after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations in September last year of a “potential” involvement of Indian agents in Nijjar’s killing in Surrey. India, which had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020, has strongly rejected Trudeau’s allegations as “absurd” and “motivated.” Nijjar was the chief of the separatist organisation Khalistan Tiger Force.
The Canadian allegations against India significantly impacted relations between Canada and India, leading to the suspension of free-trade discussions and a business trade mission by Ottawa. On the other hand, the Indian government revoked diplomatic protections for 41 Canadian diplomats in India.
Later in 2023, US prosecutors had charged an Indian national, Nikhil Gupta of hiring a hitman on behalf of an unnamed Indian government official to allegedly kill a Sikh-American lawyer, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun of the proscribed pro-Khalistani group, Sikhs For Justice. The unsealed indictment had also implied that Gupta and the Indian government official had prior knowledge about Nijjar’s killing.
The arrests coincided with the release of an initial report from a public inquiry into foreign interference, which highlighted that the Indian government utilises Canada-based proxies to exert influence on Canadian politics.
In her report, Canadian judge Justice Marie-Josée Hogue noted that Indian officials depend on networks of proxies to “liaise and work with Indian intelligence officials in India and Canada, talking both explicit and implicit directions from them”.
This report, first published at 11.38 pm on May 3, was republished with additional details at 10 am on May 4.