Nijjar, 45, was killed outside Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia on June 18, 2023.
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Washington: As investigation into the killing of Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar is underway, the Canadian authorities made a fourth arrest in the case on Saturday.
The arrested accused has been identified as Amardeep Singh (22), a resident of Brampton, Surrey, and Abbotsford areas of Canada. The 22-year-old has been charged with first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, news agency PTI reported.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) said that Singh was arrested on May 11 for his role in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. He was already in the custody of the Peel Regional Police for unrelated firearms charges out, an official release said.
“This arrest shows the nature of our ongoing investigation to hold responsible those that played a role in the homicide of Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” news agency PTI quoted Superintendent Mandeep Mooker, the Officer in Charge of IHIT, as saying.
Nijjar (45) was shot dead outside Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey in British Columbia on June 18, 2023.
IHIT investigators on May 3 arrested three Indian nationals — Karan Brar (22), Kamalpreet Singh (22) and 28-year-old Karanpreet Singh — for the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
All three individuals are Indian nationals living in Edmonton and have been charged with first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
The three accused held earlier were alleged members of a ‘hit squad’. The Canadian police had also released the pictures of the arrested trio.
Meanwhile, media reports have claimed that Karan Brar had entered Canada on a student visa.
As per a Canada-based news outlet, Brar had applied for a student visa through EthicWorks Immigration Services in Punjab‘s Bathinda. He received the visa within a few days whereas it normally takes about seven-nine weeks to complete the process.
Citing details on a Facebook page that appeared to belong to Brar, the news outlet reported that the Indian national enrolled in a program at Bow Valley College in Calgary on April 30, 2020, and moved to Edmonton on May 4, 2020.
EthicWorks Immigration Services had posted the promotional video on its Facebook page carrying a photo of Brar in which he was seen holding a passport with a Canadian study permit inside, it reported. However, the video has now been deleted.
Their arrests came months after a diplomatic wildfire ignited following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleging India’s link in the case.
In 2020, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) of India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist. Following Trudeau’s allegation, the Indian government had refuted the claims and called it baseless. This debate triggered a diplomatic row between the two countries. Tensions continue to prevail between the two nations but have somewhat eased since. Meanwhile, India has maintained that Canada never provided any concrete evidence on Nijjar’s killing. Even after months of bogus ‘India link’, Trudeau has failed to furnish any concrete evidence against India.
