Canadian police are close to arresting two men believed to be responsible for the fatal shooting of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia province and still in the country, according to a media report.
According to The Globe and Mail, the suspects are currently under police surveillance and are expected to be apprehended “within a few weeks.”
According to three anonymous sources cited by the newspaper, the two suspected killers did not leave Canada after Nijjar’s murder and had been under police surveillance for months.
India-Canada ties came under serious strain following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations in September of the “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the June 18 killing of Khalistani separatist Nijjar outside a Gurdwara in Surrey.
India designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020. India dismissed Trudeau’s allegations as “absurd” and “motivated”.
The report said on Wednesday that police would reveal details regarding the alleged involvement of the bombers and their links to the Indian government when formal charges are laid.
“There is a sense of closure within the community that may come with the arrest of two people, as they say,” Moninder Singh, spokesperson for the BC Gurdwaras Council, was quoted as saying by Global News.
According to the report, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said it was aware of reports of an imminent arrest in Nijjar’s murder, but would not comment because it was an active investigation.
The Canadian charges were followed in November by a US indictment outlining a foiled plot to kill a Canadian-American Sikh activist, the report said.
In November, US federal prosecutors charged that one Nikhil Gupta collaborated with an Indian government employee in a foiled plot to kill a Sikh separatist who holds dual US-Canadian citizenship. Although the Sikh separatist leader was not named, media reports identified him as Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, leader of Sikhs for Justice, an organization banned in India.
India has already set up a commission of inquiry to look into the allegations by US prosecutors.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told the Rajya Sabha earlier this month that Canada had not shared any concrete evidence or inputs with India.
Days after Trudeau’s accusations in September, India temporarily suspended visas to Canadian citizens and asked Ottawa to reduce its diplomatic presence in the country to ensure parity.
Last month, India resumed some visa application services in Canada, more than a month after it was suspended.
