'No link': Canadian police rules out India's involvement in Nijjar's killing

The Canadian Police have ruled out the Indian government's link with the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, after the US charged Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar over the murder case.

Talking to CBC, Deputy Commissioner of Police Lisa Moreland said, "In relation to this matter today, as stated in the press conference, through this organised crime investigation, Indian Officials were charged or involved in this investigation. Investigation is ongoing. Nothing has come out to link the Indian government."

India-Canada row over Nijjar death

The Nijjar case led diplomatic relations between India and Canada to take a hit after then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Canadian authorities were “actively pursuing credible allegations” linking Indian government agents to the murder. India strongly rejected the claim.

Nijjar, ​a Canadian citizen, had campaigned for the creation of Khalistan, an independent Sikh homeland carved out of ​India, and had been designated a terrorist by New Delhi.

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The statement came hours after the US charged Bishnoi and Satinderjeet Singh, aka Goldy Brar, with the alleged murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep ​Singh Nijjar in Canada.

A federal indictment in Los Angeles accuses Bishnoi, who is currently imprisoned, and Brar of ordering the shooting of Nijjar outside a Sikh temple in the Vancouver suburb of Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18, 2023.

It further says that Bishnoi ran orders on the operation while being in jail using smuggled cellphones and provided a co-conspirator ​with a photograph and multiple addresses of Nijjar to facilitate the killing.

Neither First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli nor any other ‌official ⁠at a press conference in Los Angeles alleged that the Indian government was involved in or aware of the killing.

FBI chief Kash Patel calls Nijjar 'Indian' politician

In a social media post, FBI director Kash Patel, who is of Indian descent, described Nijjar as "a prominent Indian politician and religious figure".

He wrote on X, "We arrested 24 subjects and charged 37 individuals connected to three India-based transnational organized crime groups, with charges including racketeering, extortion, narcotics trafficking, and multiple targeted killings - including even the 2023 assassination in Canada of a prominent Indian political and religious figure."

Nijjar was, in fact, a Canadian citizen, who openly supported Khalistan separatism, drawing repeated chiding from the Indian authorities.