() – There are “credible allegations” linking the Indian government to the murder of a Canadian citizen and prominent Sikh leader, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday.
“Over the past several weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a possible link between Indian government agents and the murder of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” Trudeau said, adding that his government would take all necessary steps “to hold the perpetrators of this murder accountable.”
Nijjar was a prominent Sikh leader in British Columbia. Police say he was shot dead in June by two masked men in his pickup truck outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia.
His death shocked and outraged Canada’s large Sikh community, which now numbers hundreds of thousands of members.
India designated Niijar a terrorist threat several years ago, labelling him part of a Sikh separatist movement.
“Canada has expressed its deep concerns to the top intelligence and security officials in the Government of India. Last week at the G20, I raised these concerns personally and directly with Prime Minister Modi in no uncertain terms. Any involvement by a foreign government in the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty,” Trudeau said during his speech in Parliament, calling it an “extremely serious matter.”
Police in Canada have not arrested anyone in connection with Niijar’s murder, but in an August update, authorities issued a statement saying they were now investigating three possible suspects and released a description of a possible getaway vehicle, asking for the public’s help.
has reached out to the Indian High Commission in Ottawa for comment but has not received a response.
Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly confirmed on Monday that her government had expelled a senior Indian diplomat from Canada as a “consequence” of credible allegations regarding Nijjar’s murder.
“Today we are acting by expelling a key diplomat, but we will get to the bottom of this,” Minister Joly said at a briefing with reporters in Ottawa on Monday.
Joly confirmed that the expelled diplomat was the head of India’s intelligence agency in Canada.
He also revealed that Trudeau raised this issue with both US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Canadian ministers have asked their Indian counterparts to cooperate with the investigation.
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