Blair Gable/Reuters
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to reporters in the foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada September 18, 2023. REUTERS/Blair Gable
CNN
—
There are “credible allegations” linking the government of India to the killing of a Canadian citizen and prominent Sikh leader, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed on Monday.
“Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” Trudeau said, adding that his government would take all steps. necessary “to bring the perpetrators of this murder to justice.”
Nijjar was a prominent Sikh leader in British Columbia, and local police say he was gunned down in his truck in June by two masked gunmen outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, BC.
His death both shocked and outraged the large Sikh community in Canada, now numbering in the hundreds of thousands.
India designated Niijar as a terrorist threat several years ago, labeling him part of a separatist movement for Sikhism.
“Canada has expressed its deep concern to the Indian government’s top intelligence and security officials. Last week, at the G20, I brought them up personally and directly to Prime Minister Modi in no uncertain terms. any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty,” Trudeau said during his speech in Parliament, saying this was an ‘extremely serious matter.’
Canadian police have not arrested anyone in connection with Niijar’s murder, but in an update in August, police released a statement saying they are now investigating three possible suspects and released a description of a possible getaway vehicle, asking for the public’s help.
CNN has reached out to India’s High Commission in Ottawa for comment, but has not received a response.
