The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) released photos of three individuals, naming them as accused, in the case involving the murder of Khalistani separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023.
The RCMP also issued a statement on Friday after naming Kamalpreet Singh, Karanpreet Singh and Goldy Brar as accused in gunning down of the Khalistani leader Nijjar, who was also a Canadian citizen, at a parking lot of a gurdwara in Surrey, a city in the Canadian province of British Columbia.
“Today the Integrated Homicide Investigative Team (IHIT) and the Federal Policing Program Pacific Region announced the arrests of three individuals for their alleged involvement in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18, 2023,” Duheme said in a statement.
“Arrests like these do not happen without countless hours of investigative work and strategic coordination,” he further added. A separate report by Canadian broadcaster CBC had said that the three arrested were part of a ‘hit squad’ who were on the radar of Canadian authorities for the last few months and were being closely monitored.
Indian officials familiar with the developments said that the three who were named as accused were living in Canada and were involved in the drug trade and were connected to Pakistan spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). “Gangsters are running operations in India sitting in Canada and many named accused by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) are living there. They were regularly getting money from ISI for anti-India and pro-Khalistani activities. From time to time we have given evidence but no support is given by Canadian government or their police,” the aforementioned officials told CNN-News18. “This is a case for the Canadian police and bringing the name of the Indian government is (making) allegations without proof,” they further added.
Duheme further added the probe into the death of the separatist is ongoing and there are other probes running alongside with this investigation. “The work doesn’t end here and, as the investigation continues, I will underscore that there are separate and distinct investigations ongoing,” he further added.
Nijjar’s death and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations that India played a role have soured relations between Ottawa and New Delhi. India has said that the claims are ‘baseless’ and has sought proof from the Canadian authorities.
The three individuals have now been charged with first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the Nijjar case, the Canadian authorities said.
The officer-in-charge of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) that probed the case, Mandeep Mooker, said that Surrey RCMP and his team worked for the past 10 months to find out who 45-year-old Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara at 7050 120 Street in Surrey in British Columbia.
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