OTTAWA − Canadian police on Friday made arrests linked to the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in the province of British Columbia in June 2023, a source directly familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The source, who requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the case, said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police would brief media later on Friday.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in September that Canadian authorities were pursuing allegations linking Indian government agents to the fatal shooting of Nijjar, a Canadian citizen. New Delhi rejected Trudeau’s claim as “absurd.”
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Friday’s arrests came amid claims the Indian government is targeting Sikh separatists living in the West. Last November, the U.S. Justice Department charged an unnamed Indian government employee and an Indian drug trafficker in a foiled plot to assassinate a prominent Sikh activist in New York.
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Earlier this week, the Washington Post, citing Indian and Western intelligence officials, tied that plot to India’s foreign intelligence agency.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation earlier said the RCMP had arrested members of an alleged hit squad. It cited a source saying investigators had identified the suspects in Canada some months ago and had been keeping them under tight surveillance.
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Nijjar, 45, was shot dead outside a Sikh temple on June 18 in Surrey, a Vancouver suburb with a large Sikh population.
Canada had been pressing India to cooperate in its investigation.
The presence of Sikh separatist groups in Canada has long frustrated New Delhi. Nijjar was labeled a “terrorist” by India.
Neither the RCMP nor the Indian mission in Ottawa were immediately available for comment.
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