A banner that reveals the late Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar is displayed outdoors the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib in Surrey, British Columbia, on Sept. 18, 2023.
Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press by way of AP
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Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press by way of AP
A banner that reveals the late Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar is displayed outdoors the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib in Surrey, British Columbia, on Sept. 18, 2023.
Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press by way of AP
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Canadian police mentioned they arrested three suspects Friday in the slaying of a Sikh separatist leader final June that grew to become the middle of a diplomatic spat with India, and are investigating potential ties between the detainees and the Indian authorities.
Three Indian nationals in their 20s recognized as Kamalpreet Singh, Karan Brar and Karampreet Singh had been arrested in Edmonton, Alberta on Friday morning in the slaying of 45-year-old Hardeep Singh Nijjar by masked gunmen outdoors Vancouver, police mentioned.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sparked a diplomatic feud with India in September when he mentioned that there have been “credible allegations” of Indian involvement in the slaying of Nijjar.
India had accused Nijjar of hyperlinks to terrorism, however angrily denied involvement in the slaying. In response to the allegations, India informed Canada final 12 months to take away 41 of its 62 diplomats in the nation. Tensions stay however have considerably eased since.
The three suspects had been dwelling in Canada as non-permanent residents, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superintendent Mandeep Mooker mentioned Friday at a information convention in Toronto.
“We are investigating whether there are any ties to the government of India,” Mooker mentioned, including that it was an “ongoing investigation.”
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Assistant Commissioner David Teboul mentioned Canadian authorities are chatting with counterparts in India. “I would characterize that collaboration as rather challenging,” he mentioned. “It’s been very difficult.”
The three males had been anticipated to be transported to British Columbia by Monday to face prices of first-degree homicide and conspiracy to commit homicide.
Nijjar, an Indian-born citizen of Canada, was a plumber and in addition a leader in what stays of a once-strong motion to create an unbiased Sikh homeland, referred to as Khalistan. But he had denied allegations of ties to terrorism.
A bloody decadelong Sikh insurgency shook north India in the Seventies and Eighties, till it was crushed in a authorities crackdown in which 1000’s of folks had been killed, together with distinguished Sikh leaders.
The Khalistan movement has misplaced a lot of its political energy however nonetheless has supporters in the Indian state of Punjab, in addition to in the sizable abroad Sikh diaspora. While the lively insurgency ended years in the past, the Indian authorities has warned repeatedly that Sikh separatists had been making an attempt to make a comeback.