Canada Police Contradict Former PM, No Evidence to Link Indian Government in Nijjar Killing

NEW DELHI, July 8: Investigators probing the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada in 2023, have found no evidence linking Indian government officials to the murder, a senior Canadian police official said, directly contradicting previous allegations by the then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that severely strained bilateral ties.

The remarks by Lisa Moreland, the Deputy Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), came hours after the US authorities charged jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and his aide Satinderjeet Singh alias Goldy Brar of ordering Nijjar’s assassination.

Under a coordinated hunt named ‘Operation Hardball,’ the law enforcement agencies of the US, Canada and Europe arrested 24 people for their alleged links to three India-based organized crime groups, including the Bishnoi gang. The charges against them included orchestrating Nijjar’s murder as well as various other cross-border organized crime.

Sharing details of the probe, Ms Moreland said the investigators found no evidence that Indian officials were involved in Nijjar’s killing. “There’s no evidence to suggest through this organized crime investigation and the charges and the indictment laid forward that Indian officials were charged or involved,” she said, responding to a specific question on Trudeau’s charges. Ms Moreland said the Indian government extended cooperation to the investigation.

Weeks after Nijjar’s killing outside a Gurudwara in British Columbia, Mr Trudeau had made a sensational allegation linking the Indian government to the Sikh separatist’s murder. A furious New Delhi had categorically dismissed the charges as “absurd.”

As the relations hit rock bottom following Trudeau’s allegations, India accused Ottawa of allowing pro-Khalistani elements to operate from Canadian soil. In October 2024, India recalled its high commissioner and five other diplomats after Ottawa attempted to link them to the Nijjar case. India also expelled an equal number of Canadian diplomats.

However, Liberal Party leader Mark Carney’s victory in the parliamentary election in April last year helped rebuilding the relations. Subsequently, both sides posted their high commissioners in each other’s capitals. The two countries also agreed to revive several mechanisms to advance relations in a range of areas.

The relations witnessed a major upswing since PM Carney’s visit to India in March. In her remarks, Ms Moreland said the investigation has found that the Bishnoi gang has been involved in extortions, drug trafficking, kidnapping and violence in Canada and elsewhere.

While Bishnoi has been in jail in India since 2015, the FBI announced a reward of USD 50,000 for information leading to the arrest of ‘Brar’. The crackdown on the crime networks of Lawrence Bishnoi, Ravinder Dhanda and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria was part of a years-long federal investigation into Indian crime syndicates engaged in targeted killings, shootings, extortion, drugs trafficking and other crimes around the world, the US Justice Department said.

In total, 37 defendants — including two defendants who ran their global criminal syndicates while imprisoned in India — are charged across three indictments unsealed on Wednesday, it said. “The charges set forth in the indictment include allegations that Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar directed the 2023 assassination of a prominent Sikh leader in Canada identified by his initials HSN (Nijjar) in the indictment,” Bilal A. Essay, First Assistant US Attorney, said on Tuesday.

The RCMP commissioner Mike Duheme said the agencies disrupted the operations of “organized criminals who used murder, cruelty and fear to extort and control people in both Canada and the United States. “We won’t pause for long to reflect on the work it took to get this job done; we’ll keep doing what we do best to preserve public safety in Canada, in the United States, and around the world,” Mr Duheme said.

Nijjar was the chief of banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and was designated as terrorist by India.

(Rohit Kumar)