Trudeau says India could be behind Khalistani terrorist’s killing in Canada

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday said the country’s security agencies were investigating a link between.

The Indian government and the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar earlier this year. “Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” Trudeau said while speaking at the House of Commons in Ottawa.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar, wanted by the Indian government, was killed in a targeted shooting on June 18 this year. Nijjar was shot dead outside a gurdwara in Surrey. Trudeau said he had brought up the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 Summit as well.

“Canada has declared its deep concerns to the top intelligence security officials of the Indian government. Last week, at the G20, I brought them personally and directly to Prime Minister Modi in no uncertain terms,” the Canadian Prime Minister said.

Trudeau urged the Indian government to “cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter” and reiterate its position on “extra-judicial operations” in another country.

In a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, PM Modi had expressed his deep concerns to Justin Trudeau about the ongoing “anti-India activities” being carried out by “extremist elements” in Canada.

“He (Prime Minister Modi) conveyed our strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada. They are promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats, damaging diplomatic premises, and threatening the Indian community in Canada and their places of worship,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said.

The PMO said that the association of these extremist forces with organised crime, drug syndicates, and human trafficking should also be a matter of concern for Canada.

Meanwhile, Canada has also expelled an Indian diplomat following Trudeau’s speech in the House of Commons. Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said the head of Indian intelligence in the country has been expelled.

“If proven true, this would be a great violation of our sovereignty and of the most basic rule of how countries deal with each other,” Joly said. “As a consequence we have expelled a top Indian diplomat,” Joly said, as quoted by AP.

In 2022, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) announced a Rs 10 lakh reward on Nijjar after he was accused of conspiring to kill a Hindu priest in Jalandhar.

Nijjar, who was based in Canada, was the chief of the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), the organisation accused of killing the priest.

Earlier, the NIA had also filed a chargesheet against Nijjar in a case of conspiracy to commit terrorist acts against India.