Canadian police on Saturday said they will continue investigations to find the Indian government’s alleged link to the murder of Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada after arresting three people.
It may be recalled that the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar (who favoured the creation of Khalistan, an independent Sikh homeland) last year sparked a diplomatic row between India and Canada when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government of being involved in the murder of a Canadian citizen. New Delhi dismissed Trudeau’s statement as absurd.
The police released the statement hours after police arrested and charged three Indian nationals – Karanpreet Singh, 28, Kamalpreet Singh, 22 and Karan Brar, 22 – for their involvement in Nijjar’s murder last June.
“There are separate and distinct investigations ongoing into these matters, certainly not limited to the involvement of the people arrested today, and these efforts include investigating links to the Government of India,” according to Assistant Commissioner David Teboul.
However, he declined to comment on the nature of the evidence collected by the police or to talk about the motives behind Nijjar’s murder. Although, police said all of the men were living in Edmonton, Alberta, at the time of their arrests. Trinity has been charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. It is still unclear if the three people arrested are the same people who shot Nijjar, as he was killed by masked gunmen.
“Those who have been arrested are part of a hit squad but it’s clear that they were directed,” said Balpreet Singh, legal counsel and spokesman for the Canada-based World Sikh Organisation advocacy group.
The White House expressed concerns over reports of Indian intelligence’s role in assassination plots in Canada and the US. Canadian police said they were actively working with US law enforcement without providing further details and suggested there could be more arrests.
“This investigation does not end here. We are aware that others may have played a role in this homicide and we remain dedicated to finding and arresting each one of these individuals,” according to Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Superintendent Mandeep Mooker.
Canada has been pressuring India to co-operate in the investigation. In November, US authorities said an Indian government official masterminded a plot to attempt the assassination on US soil of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh separatist and dual citizen of the US and Canada.
In the 1970s and 1980s, North India was shaken by a bloody decade-long Sikh insurgency until it was crushed by a government crackdown that killed thousands of people, including prominent Sikh leaders. The Khalistan movement has lost its influence but still has supporters in the Indian state of Punjab as well as in the significant overseas Sikh diaspora.
