OTTAWA - Canadian police arrested three Indian nationals on Friday linked to the murder of a Sikh activist that sparked a major diplomatic clash between Canada and India.
Authorities detained the suspects accused of roles in killing Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia. Police said the men were Indian citizens living in Edmonton: Karan Brar and Kamalpreet Singh, both 22, and Karanpreet Singh, 28. They have each been charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
The men — all non-permanent residents of Canada who have been in the country for three to five years — were taken into custody in Edmonton. Authorities are probing a connection between the killing of Nijjar and the government of India, but police did not provide many details on the alleged link on Friday.
Karan Brar, Kamalpreet Singh and Karanpreet Singh, the three individuals charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in relation to the murder in Canada of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in 2023, are seen in a combination of undated photographs released by the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT).
In September, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly described "credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India" and the killing, sparking a row between the two countries. India has denied having a role and expelled Canadian diplomats.
Trudeau and other Canadian officials have largely gone silent about the killing since then, saying they would wait for Canada’s police and justice system to investigate the matter.
A few months after Trudeau's accusation, United States court documents revealed American authorities had thwarted an alleged assassination attempt against a Sikh activist in New York and were seeking to extradite the suspect from the Czech Republic.
Prosecutors in that case allege the hitman was recruited by an agent who was "employed at all times relevant to this Indictment by the Indian government, resides in India, and directed the assassination plot from India." Last week the Washington Post reported American officials believe the operation was approved by senior-level members of India's intelligence agency, including its chief at the time.
Nijjar was a prominent voice in a movement to carve out a separate state in India for Sikhs called Khalistan, which the Indian government deems a terrorist threat.
Danish Singh, president of the World Sikh Organization of Canada, said in a statement that he welcomes the reported arrests but believes they "raise disturbing questions about the nexus between the Government of India and criminal gangs."
Bhupinder Singh speaks at a press conference held at Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, site of the 2023 murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, on Friday. (Photo: Reuters)