Canada arrests three over killing of Sikh activist

VANCOUVER, (AFP) - Canadian police on Friday arrested three men over the killing last year in Vancouver of a Sikh separatist, whose death has been linked to the Indian government.

The murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar plunged Canada and India into a serious diplomatic crisis last fall after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested Indian government involvement in the homicide.

India dismissed the allegations as "absurd" and responded furiously, briefly curbing visas for Canadians and forcing Ottawa to withdraw diplomats.

Three Indian nationals, two aged 22 and one aged 28, were arrested Friday and charged with first degree murder and conspiracy charges. They are accused of being the shooter, driver and lookout on the day Nijjar was killed. They were arrested by police in Edmonton, in the neighboring province of Alberta, where they reside, and are being held pending further proceedings. All had been in Canada for between three and five years, police said at a news conference.

"This investigation does not end here. We are aware that others may have played a role in this homicide," said Mandeep Mooker of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's homicide investigations team.

Nijjar -- who immigrated to Canada in 1997 and became a citizen in 2015 -advocated for a separate Sikh state, known as Khalistan, carved out of India. He was wanted by Indian authorities for alleged terrorism and conspiracy to commit murder. On June 18, 2023, he was shot dead by masked assailants in the parking lot of the Sikh temple he led in suburban Vancouver.

Trudeau announced later that Canada had "credible allegations" linking Indian intelligence to the killing and expelled an Indian official, spurring a diplomatic tit-for-tat.