Court paperwork present Karanpreet Singh, Kamalpreet Singh, and Karan Brar are every going through one rely first-degree homicide and one rely of conspiracy to commit homicide in Nijjar’s dying.
Canadian police on Friday arrested three Indian nationals believed by investigators to be members of an alleged hit squad tasked by the federal government of India with the killing of Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey final 12 months, in accordance with media stories.
The ties between India and Canada got here underneath extreme pressure following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations in September final 12 months of the ”potential” involvement of Indian brokers in the killing of Nijjar.
India has dismissed Trudeau’s prices as ”absurd” and ”motivated.”
Three individuals have been arrested and charged in the killing of Sikh activist Nijjar, CTV News quoted a senior authorities supply as saying.
Court paperwork present Karanpreet Singh, Kamalpreet Singh, and Karan Brar are every going through one rely first-degree homicide and one rely of conspiracy to commit homicide in Nijjar’s dying.
Nijjar, 45, was gunned down exterior his gurdwara in Surrey, BC, on June 18, 2023. He was a Canadian citizen.
A report in Global News recognized the suspects as Indians nationals.
”The RCMP took the Indian nationals into custody on Friday morning,” virtually a 12 months after Nijjar was gunned down, the report mentioned.
Citing sources, it mentioned that the suspects had entered Canada on “student visas but may have been working at the direction of Indian intelligence when they shot Nijjar.” According to courtroom data, Brar has been charged with a homicide that occurred in Surrey on June 18, 2023. He additionally faces a cost of conspiracy to commit homicide on May 1, 2023 in Edmonton and Surrey, the report mentioned.
Talking to reporters on Parliament Hill, Canada’s public security minister declined to verify the Indian authorities connection on Friday, saying such questions are finest addressed by the RCMP.
”I’ve full confidence in the safety equipment of the federal government of Canada and the work of the RCMP, and the work that the (Canadian) Security Intelligence Service does,” Public Safety Minister Dominic Leblanc mentioned.
”I believe the police operation that you simply see ongoing right this moment confirms that the RCMP take these issues extraordinarily significantly. But questions with respect to explicit hyperlinks or non-links are correctly put to the RCMP,” he added.
The indictments Friday allege the conspiracy unfolded in each Surrey and Edmonton between May 1, 2023 and the date of Nijjar’s killing.
Quoting sources near the investigation, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported that the police are actively investigating attainable hyperlinks to 3 extra murders in Canada, together with the capturing dying of an 11-year-old boy in Edmonton.
Members of the hit squad are alleged to have performed completely different roles as shooters, drivers and spotters on the day Nijjar was killed on the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey in British Columbia, in accordance with the sources.
The males have been arrested Friday throughout police operations in not less than two provinces, the report mentioned.
Sources mentioned investigators recognized the alleged hit squad members in Canada some months in the past and have been holding them underneath tight surveillance.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are anticipated to announce the arrests and share some particulars of their investigation later Friday, CTV News reported, quoting a senior authorities supply.
India had on Thursday rejected contemporary feedback by Prime Minister Trudeau on the killing of Nijjar and mentioned the remarks as soon as once more illustrated the political area given in Canada to separatism, extremism, and violence.
Trudeau addressed a Khalsa Day occasion in Toronto on Sunday that was attended by some pro-Khalistan supporters.
On the sidelines of the occasion, he informed the media that the killing of Nijjar in British Columbia in June final 12 months created a ”drawback” and that he can’t ignore it, in an obvious reference to his earlier allegations of involvement of Indian brokers in the assassination.
”PM Trudeau has made such remarks earlier as properly. His remarks illustrate as soon as once more the political area that has been given in Canada to separatism, extremism, and violence,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal mentioned in New Delhi at his weekly media briefing.
”This not solely impacts India-Canada relations but additionally encourages a local weather of violence and criminality in Canada to the detriment of its personal residents,” he mentioned when requested about Trudeau’s remarks.
India on Monday additionally summoned the Canadian deputy excessive commissioner and lodged a powerful protest with him over the elevating of pro-‘Khalistan’ slogans on the occasion in the presence of Trudeau and a number of other different leaders. Nijjar was a Khalistani separatist and he was wished in India on varied terror prices.
”It is an issue in our relationships with India as a result of we can’t ignore that,” Trudeau mentioned on the killing of Nijjar.
Days after Trudeau’s allegations, India requested Ottawa to downsize its diplomatic presence in the nation to make sure parity. Subsequently, Canada withdrew 41 diplomats and their members of the family from India.
India has been asserting that its ”core difficulty” with Canada remained that of the area given to separatists, terrorists and anti-India components in that nation.
Following Trudeau’s allegations final 12 months, India quickly suspended issuance of visas to Canadian residents. The visa providers have been resumed a number of weeks later.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA employees and is printed from PTI)
