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Police make arrests in killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar | CBC
News Loaded
Politics
POLICE MAKE ARRESTS IN KILLING OF B.C. SIKH ACTIVIST HARDEEP SINGH NIJJAR
Canadian police have arrested members of an alleged hit squad investigators
believe was tasked by the government of India with killing prominent Sikh
separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in B.C. last June, CBC News has learned.
MONTHS-LONG INVESTIGATION INTO POLITICALLY CHARGED KILLING ALSO PROBES LINKS TO
OTHER CASES: SOURCES
Evan Dyer · CBC News · Posted: May 03, 2024 12:23 PM EDT | Last Updated: May 4
WHAT WE LEARNED FROM POLICE ABOUT ARRESTS IN B.C. SIKH ACTIVIST'S KILLING
12 days ago
Duration 8:01
CBC's Evan Dyer breaks down what investigators revealed on Friday about the
arrests of three men in connection with the killing of prominent Sikh separatist
Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C., last June.
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Canadian police have arrested members of an alleged hit squad investigators
believe was tasked by the government of India with killing prominent Sikh
separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C., last June, CBC News has
learned.
Sources close to the investigation also told CBC News that police are actively
investigating possible links to three additional murders in Canada, including
the shooting death of an 11-year-old boy in Edmonton.
Members of the hit squad are alleged to have played different roles as shooters,
drivers and spotters on the day Nijjar was killed at the Guru Nanak Sikh
Gurdwara in Surrey, according to the sources.
Sources said investigators identified the alleged hit squad members in Canada
some months ago and have been keeping them under tight surveillance.
Kamalpreet Singh, Karanpreet Singh and Karan Brar face first-degree murder and
conspiracy charges in the Nijjar case, according to documents filed in a Surrey
court Friday. The charges have not been tested in court, but they all appeared
before a judge virtually on Friday.
WATCH | Police believe Indian government directed alleged hit squad, say
sources:
ALLEGED HIT SQUAD ARRESTED IN KILLING OF B.C. SIKH SEPARATIST
12 days ago
Duration 7:09
Three Indian nationals have been arrested and charged with first-degree murder
in the killing of prominent Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey,
B.C., last June. Police believe they are part of an alleged hit squad directed
by the Indian government.
Although sources initially told CBC News that raids were expected in at least
two provinces, RCMP confirmed Friday that all three men were arrested separately
in Edmonton without incident — two of them in their homes and another elsewhere.
'THIS INVESTIGATION DOES NOT END HERE,' SAYS RCMP OFFICER
All of the accused are Indian citizens and have been non-permanent residents of
Canada for three to five years, RCMP officers told reporters at their Friday
press conference announcing the charges.
Sources told CBC News the men arrived in Canada on temporary visas after 2021,
some of them student visas. None are believed to have pursued education while in
Canada. None have obtained permanent residency.
Others tied to this crime could be arrested in the coming days, police said.
"This investigation does not end here. We are aware that others may have played
a role in this homicide and we remain dedicated to finding and arresting each
one of these individuals," said Supt. Mandeep Mooker, the officer in charge of
the B.C. RCMP's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT).
RCMP superintendent Mandeep Mooker speaks during a news conference on Friday.
(Ben Nelms/CBC)
Assistant Commissioner David Teboul, the RCMP commander for the Pacific region,
said he wouldn't comment on the alleged links between these men and Indian
officials.
He did say the force is "investigating connections to the government of India."
But Teboul said the force's relationship with Indian police has been "rather
challenging and difficult."
* What we know about the arrests and investigation into Hardeep Singh Nijjar's
killing
* A timeline of Canada-India tensions — from 2018 to today's arrests
* 3 Indian nationals arrested for murder of Sikh activist
Asked if there are any Indian "sleeper agents" in Canada, Teboul said it's a
"great question" but he can't say more about it because it's "very much at the
centre of evidence and ongoing investigations."
Federal Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc congratulated the RCMP on the
arrests and called Friday's developments "significant progress" in trying to get
to the bottom of the circumstances around Nijjar's killing.
"The work doesn't end here. In fact, the work continues," LeBlanc told reporters
on Parliament Hill.
WATCH | RCMP calls collaboration with partner agencies in India 'rather
challenging':
RCMP CALLS COLLABORATION WITH PARTNER AGENCIES IN INDIA ‘RATHER CHALLENGING’
12 days ago
Duration 1:06
RCMP Assistant Commissioner David Teboul says police have been collaborating and
communicating with partner agencies in India but it has been ‘difficult for the
last several years.’
CBC News learned of the arrests — as well as other information that was not
announced by police on Friday — through extensive discussions with senior
investigative and government sources, as well as members of the Sikh community.
The investigative and government sources spoke with CBC News on the condition
that they not be named due to the sensitivity of the matter. The sources in the
Sikh community expressed concerns about their personal security, so CBC News is
not disclosing their identities.
SHIFTING RESPONSES FROM INDIA
Nijjar, a 45-year-old Canadian citizen, was shot dead on June 18, shortly after
evening prayers at his Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, B.C., in what
appeared to be a highly coordinated attack, according to video of the incident
obtained by CBC's The Fifth Estate.
WATCH | The Fifth Estate shows how the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar was
carried out:
EXCLUSIVE SURVEILLANCE VIDEO OF THE TARGETED KILLING OF CANADIAN SIKH ACTIVIST
HARDEEP SINGH NIJJAR ON JUNE 18, 2023.
2 months ago
Duration 1:22
The Fifth Estate shows how the killing of a Sikh Canadian activist was carried
out, allegedly by agents of the government of India.
Last August, Canadian officials told representatives of Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's government in person that Canada had intelligence linking it to
Nijjar's killing.
A month later — on Sept. 18, 2023, not long after returning from a fraught visit
to India for the G20 Summit — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rose in the House of
Commons to state that "Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing
credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of
India" and Nijjar's killing.
"Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on
Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty," he added.
Modi's government has denied it ordered extrajudicial killings in the U.S. and
Canada. Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar initially decried the Canadian allegation
as "absurd" and accused Canada of harbouring violent extremists.
WATCH | Trudeau links Indian government to fatal shooting in Canada:
TRUDEAU SAYS 'CREDIBLE ALLEGATIONS' LINK INDIA TO KILLING OF SIKH LEADER IN
CANADA
8 months ago
Duration 2:47
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says any foreign government involvement in the
killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is 'an unacceptable violation of
our sovereignty.'
The minister's tone at a Sept. 27, 2023 speaking event was somewhat less
confrontational. Jaishankar said at that time that "we told the Canadians that
this is not the government of India's policy."
In December, after a U.S. indictment accused an unnamed Indian government
employee of playing a role in a murder-for-hire plot in the U.S., Jaishankar
issued another statement.
"We have always maintained that if any country, not just Canada, has a concern
and gives us some input or some basis for that concern, we are always open to
look at it," he said.
* Trudeau accuses India's government of involvement in killing of Canadian Sikh
leader
* Canada has Indian diplomats' communications in bombshell murder probe:
sources
Bloomberg reported in March that the Indian government had given the U.S. a
report in which it acknowledged that Indian agents were involved in the U.S.
murder plot, but claimed they were rogue operatives.
At this stage of Canada's investigation, investigators are reluctant to expand
on any possible connections between Nijjar's alleged killers and Indian
government officials.
* Canada-India trade talks won't resume until India co-operates with Nijjar
investigation, minister suggests
* Canada 'working back toward a healthier relationship' with India, says top
Trudeau adviser
However, during a roundtable with Canadian Punjabi media on Sunday, Trudeau said
the work by intelligence and police agencies was ongoing.
"It is very good and rigorous work. And when the time comes for them to conclude
that investigation, there will be some very, very clear things that everyone
around the world, including in India, will see as to responsibilities and
involvement," he said.
Relatives and friends of Nijjar walk into an RCMP building in Surrey, on Friday.
(Ben Nelms/CBC)
SHOT DEAD A DAY AFTER BEING LISTED IN INDIA
Just two days after Trudeau's bombshell statement in the House — on Sept. 20,
2023 — Sukhdool Singh Gill, 39, of Winnipeg was found shot to death in a duplex
in the city's northwest. A neighbour told police he heard 11 shots.
Gill also went by the alias Sukha Duneke and allegedly was part of the Davinder
Bambiha gang in India, according to police documents in that country. Indian
media have reported that he fled to Canada in 2017 using a false passport.
Gill was one of Punjab's most wanted men, accused of extortion and arranging
money for gang members to buy weapons. Police in India have publicly linked him
to murders and other serious crimes.
He was also on the radar of the government of India.
* Winnipeg homicide victim was wanted by authorities in India
* Man killed in northwest Winnipeg had long-running feud with rival gangs in
India, expert says
One day before his killing, Gill's name and photo appeared on a list of 43 names
of suspected terrorists drawn up by India's National Investigation Agency (NIA),
which linked him to the separatist Khalistan Tiger Force. India previously
accused Nijjar of being part of the same organization.
The day after Gill died, the NIA tweeted an image of him along with other wanted
men.
Sukhdool Singh Gill appeared on a wanted list released via the social media
platform X by India's National Investigation Agency — a specialized
counter-terrorism law enforcement agency — on Sept. 21, 2023. Gill, 39, was
found dead in a northwest Winnipeg home the same week. (NIA India/X)
FATHER AND SON SLAIN TOGETHER
Six weeks after Gill's death, another alleged Indian gangland figure in another
western province was shot dead in a brazen daylight attack that also claimed the
life of his 11-year-old son.
Harpreet Uppal, a 41-year-old with links to organized crime, was shot dead in
his vehicle in a busy suburban shopping area of Edmonton on Nov. 9, 2023. Two
boys were in the vehicle, Uppal's 11-year-old son, Gavin, and a friend.
* Video
Child deliberately killed during gang-related shooting in Edmonton, police
say
The Edmonton Police Service later said the killers shot both father and son,
while sparing the other boy. EPS Acting Superintendent Colin Derkson said Gavin
"was not caught in a crossfire or killed by mistake."
No one has been charged in the Gill or Uppal killings, and the sources told CBC
News charges in connection to these cases are not expected to come Friday.
THE BISHNOI GANG
All of the men arrested Friday are alleged associates of a criminal group in
Punjab and neighbouring Haryana state that is associated with notorious Punjabi
gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, currently held in India's high-security Sabarmati
prison in Ahmedabad, in Gujarat, according to sources close to the
investigation.
Bishnoi is accused by the Indian government of the shooting murder of Punjabi
singer-politician Sidhu Moose Wala, a former resident of Brampton, Ont., in
Punjab in May 2022, as well as drug smuggling and extortion.
* Killing of alleged gang member in Winnipeg 'a wake-up call': Sikh youth
organization leader
Bishnoi was one of two jailed Indian gangsters who claimed responsibility on
social media for Gill's killing last September, describing it as revenge for a
previous gangland killing in India, according to widespread Indian media
reports.
India has long alleged that Punjabi gangsters are able to use Canada as a base
to squeeze money from business owners and others in India, relying on an army of
low-paid gunmen to act as collectors and enforcers back home.
According to both an unsealed U.S. federal indictment and Canadian
investigators, the Indian government itself took advantage of those criminal
networks to go after its enemies in Canada and the U.S. — enemies such as Nijjar
and Khalistani activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, reportedly the target of an
unsuccessful assassination plot in the U.S.
WATCH | U.S. indictment reveals alleged murder-for-hire plot linked to India:
WHO WAS HARDEEP SINGH NIJJAR, THE MAN INDIA IS ACCUSED OF KILLING?
7 months ago
Duration 3:40
Hardeep Singh Nijjar was a pro-Khalistan activist and the president of a Sikh
temple in Surrey, B.C. His day job was working as a plumber. For years, the
Indian government called him a terrorist — a claim Nijjar repeatedly denied. So,
who was Nijjar, and why did India think he was such a danger?
Pannun was the key organizer behind a series of independence votes in the Sikh
diaspora. While the votes had no legal effect, they reportedly infuriated the
Modi government.
Nijjar was targeted by India because of his role in helping to organize the
votes in Canada's Sikh community, according to Canadian sources and the U.S.
indictment.
GOVERNMENTS AND GANGSTERS
One source close to the investigation told CBC News Canada is seeing foreign
governments, including India, make use of criminal elements to carry out
international operations.
"Why risk sending Indian government people when you can get so much mileage
using people from organized crime?" the investigator said.
* U.S. reportedly thwarted assassination of Sikh separatist on American soil
* U.S. indictment alleges multiple Indian assassination plots across North
America
But while the investigation is probing possible connections between Nijjar's
killing and the Gill and Uppal cases, investigators are not convinced the Indian
government was involved in the latter two.
Investigators say the Edmonton and Winnipeg killings may have had more to do
with gangland rivalries and vendettas.
THE FOILED HIT IN THE U.S.
The U.S. indictment alleges an Indian government employee contracted a criminal
to target enemies in North America.
On June 30, 2023, Czech authorities acting on a U.S. warrant arrested alleged
Indian drug trafficker Nikhil "Nick" Gupta. On Nov. 30 he was indicted in the
U.S. for allegedly helping an unnamed Indian government official hire a hitman
to kill an unnamed Sikh independence activist in New York, reported to be
Pannun, widely considered India's number one target.
It was the Drug Enforcement Administration, rather than the FBI, that stumbled
onto the U.S.-based conspiracy while investigating Gupta in a narcotics case.
* How a U.S. indictment connects to an alleged India-linked murder plot on
Canadian soil
Gupta didn't know that the contact he asked to help him find a hitman was in
fact a confidential informant of the DEA, the U.S. indictment alleges. Gupta has
denied the charges and is facing extradition to the United States. He has not
been tried.
The U.S. indictment also referred to Canadian cases. It alleged the unnamed
Indian government employee told Gupta the Nijjar killing had accelerated the
timetable for the assassination in New York — "It's [a] priority now," he
allegedly texted.
Gupta allegedly sent his supposed contract killer a video of Nijjar's body and
told him to "do it quickly."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, walks past Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi as they take part in a wreath-laying ceremony at Raj Ghat, Mahatma Gandhi's
cremation site, during the G20 Summit in New Delhi in September 2023. (Sean
Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
The U.S. indictment says Gupta told the police informant in an audio call that
they had "four jobs" to finish before June 29 — one in New York and "three in
Canada."
The publication of court documents in his case was one of a number of incidents
that concerned Canadian investigators, who watched closely to see what effect
the revelations might have on their own surveillance targets in Canada.
A UNIQUELY SENSITIVE TIME
While the prime minister and U.S. authorities have pointed the finger at the
Indian government, Canadian investigators have struggled with the question of
how high up the Indian chain of command they should pursue charges.
Investigators long ago dismissed the notion that India's overseas assassination
campaign is a rogue operation, as the Indian government has maintained.
They say they believe that Indian officials would not dare to proceed with
assassinations in Western countries without official sanction. As CBC News has
previously reported, Canadian government sources say Canada has evidence of
communications between Indian government officials in India and Canada collected
in the course of their investigation.
The arrests come as Indians go to the polls in a national election that takes
several weeks of voting to produce a result, expected on June 4. Modi is
expected to win a third term in office.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Evan Dyer
Senior Reporter
Evan Dyer has been a journalist with CBC for 25 years, after an early career as
a freelancer in Argentina. He works in the Parliamentary Bureau and can be
reached at evan.dyer@cbc.ca.
With files from the CBC's J.P. Tasker and Jason Proctor
CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices|About CBC News
Corrections and clarifications|Submit a news tip|Report error
RELATED STORIES
* A timeline of Canada-India tensions — from 2018 to the latest arrests
* THE FIFTH ESTATE
Video shows alleged contract killing of B.C. Sikh leader
* YouTube blocks access to Fifth Estate story on killing of B.C. Sikh activist
at India's demand
* CSIS chief says he learned new details of alleged plot to kill Sikh activist
from U.S. indictment
* Canada-India trade talks won't resume until India co-operates with Nijjar
investigation, minister suggests
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