Charges in Sikh activist’s death
Three Indian nationals living in Edmonton
Police in British Columbia charged three Indian nationals on Friday with first-degree murder in the death of a prominent Sikh activist and said officers are actively investigating links to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
The murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C., last year sparked a major diplomatic clash between India and Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stood in the House of Commons and accused Modi’s administration of orchestrating the killing, prompting India to dismiss the allegation as “absurd” and expel dozens of Canadian diplomats.
On Friday, the RCMP revealed that three Indian citizens living in Edmonton had been arrested. Karan Brar and Kamalpreet Singh, both 22, and Karanpreet Singh, 28, have each been charged.
The men are expected to be transported to B.C. by Monday to face charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
“There are separate and distinct investigations ongoing
into these matters,” said David Teboul, assistant commissioner for the RCMP. “These efforts include investigating connections to the government of India.”
Police provided no details about the alleged link and did not give a clear indication of how fully India has been co-operating.
Teboul said he has been collaborating with his Indian counterparts on this and other investigations, but he described that work as “rather challenging and difficult for the last several years.”
The suspects — all temporary residents of Canada who have been in the country for three to five years — were taken into custody in Edmonton. They are accused of driving from Edmonton to Surrey — about 12 hours on the road — to commit the killing before returning to Alberta.
Nijjar was gunned down at the wheel of his grey truck outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara after evening prayers on June 18, 2023 in what police say was a highly co-ordinated attack.
Nijjar, 45, was an outspoken voice in a movement to carve out a separate state in India for Sikhs called Khalistan, which the Indian government deems a terrorist threat.
He was president of the temple in Surrey, and at the time of his death he was helping organize a non-binding referendum for local Sikhs on Khalistan. After his murder, his lawyer said Nijjar has been warned by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service of threats against him because of his political activism.
“We believe that there may be others involved and therefore there may be potential arrests or charges for others as well,” said Supt. Mandeep Mooker of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.
In September, Trudeau publicly described “credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India” and the killing, prompting a row between the two countries. The prime minister and other Canadian officials largely fell silent about the killing since then, saying they would wait for Canada’s police and justice system to investigate the matter.
A few months after Trudeau’s accusation, U.S. court documents revealed American authorities had thwarted an alleged assassination attempt against a Sikh activist in New York, and were seeking to extradite the suspect from the Czech Republic.
Prosecutors in that case allege the hitman was recruited by an agent who was “employed at all times relevant to this Indictment by the Indian government, resides in India, and directed the assassination plot from India.”
Last week the Washington Post reported American officials believe the operation was approved by senior-level members of India’s intelligence agency, including its chief at the time.
Modi is in the middle of a reelection bid and his Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, is campaigning on his popularity, the strength of India’s economy and a pro-hindu agenda that has resonated with the country’s majority.
Danish Singh, president of the World Sikh Organization of Canada, said in a statement that he welcomes the arrests but believes they “raise disturbing questions about the nexus between the government of India and criminal gangs.”
Federal Public Safety Minister Dominic Leblanc said he has been informed about the update by the RCMP.
He says the case “likely and very clearly will end up before criminal courts.”