Toronto: At least one of the three Indian suspects in the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar arrived in Canada as an international student and, in fact, obtaining that study visa was celebrated by the immigration company that represented him.
The agency Canadian Press reported on Wednesday that Karanpreet Singh Brar, 22, better known as Karan, resident of Kotkapura in Punjab’s Bhatinda district, got the visa through EthicWorks Immigration Services.
HT had reported on Monday that another accused Kamalpreet Singh, from the Nakodar area of Jalandhar, moved to Canada in 2019 on a study visa.
A video was posted showing Brar thanking the firm and saying he received the visa within days of starting the process, the agency reported. The promotional video from 2019 on Facebook, stated, “Congratulations Karan Brar for Canada study visa.”
However, by Wednesday evening that video appeared to have deleted from EthicWorks’ Facebook page and its website was inaccessible.
The agency also cited a spokesperson for Bow Valley College in Calgary as confirming that Brar was enrolled at the institution Hospital Unit Clerk programme in 2020. That programme spans eight months.
Brar’s Facebook page indicated he opposed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and had promoted a “challenge” against the Indian leader, while supporting the agitation by farmers against three agriculture laws that were later rescinded by New Delhi.
Brar, along with Kamalpreet Singh, 22 and Karanpreet Singh, 28, all residents of Edmonton, was arrested on Friday and they are facing charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Nijjar was killed on June 18 last year in Surrey, British Columbia.
On Sunday, Indian external affairs minister S Jaishankar said in the eastern city of Bhubaneshwar that “a number of gangland people, a number of people with organised crime links from Punjab” have been “made welcome in Canada”. “We have been telling Canada saying look these are wanted criminals from India, you have given them visas,” he added.
Responding to Jaishankar’s remarks on Tuesday, Canada’s Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Marc Millar said in Ottawa his country was “not lax” when it came to the process. “The Indian foreign minister is entitled to his opinion. I’m going to let him speak his mind. It’s just not accurate,” he added.
The immigration status of the third accused has yet not been confirmed.
