Canadian police have charged three members of an assassination team for their role in the assassination of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Authorities have made the first arrest in the high-profile murder case, believed to be an Indian mastermind.
The arrest, first reported by CBC News, comes nearly a year after the prominent activist was murdered in the parking lot of a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia.
Karanpreet Singh, Kamalpreet Singh and Karan Brar are charged with first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder in Nijjar’s death, according to court documents. All men lived in Edmonton, Alberta.
RCMP Deputy Commissioner Brian Edwards called the killing “outrageous” and “reprehensible,” adding that investigators were working closely with members of the Sikh community.
“Those scars will remain in our community for a long time,” he said.
In September, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Parliament that the government had a “credible allegation” that India was behind the killings and called the death of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil an “unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.” He said there is.
India has denied any direct involvement in Mr. Nijjar’s murder and suggested that “rogue” operatives were behind another assassination attempt on a prominent Sikh figure in the United States.
But relations between Canada and India have soured in the aftermath of Nijjar’s killing, which officials said exposed what officials said was a cross-border campaign of violence by India targeting dissidents abroad.
Supt Mandeep Mooker said the men arrested on Friday were Indian nationals who had lived in Canada for three to five years, but none of them had permanent resident status. He said more arrests were likely to be made in connection with the murder, adding that police were conducting an “active investigation” across the country in conjunction with other forces. CBC reported that police are investigating three other murders in Canada, including the “sick and twisted” killing of an 11-year-old boy in Edmonton.
Members of the group, the alleged perpetrators and drivers of the June 18 brazen Nijjar murder, have been arrested in police raids in at least two states.
Assistant Secretary David Teboul, commander of the federal law enforcement program for the Pacific region, told reporters that Nijjar’s shooting is “currently under intense investigation, including an investigation into possible links to the Indian government.” It’s included,” he said.
