Canada Police have made three arrests in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh leader who was gunned down last June and whose death Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has linked to Indian agents, Canada based The Globe and Mail reported on Friday.
Following the killing of Hardeep Singh, Canada publically named India behind the killings of Canadian nationals and termed it as the foreign interference in Canada’s affairs and downplayed the diplomatic ties with the New Delhi.
RCMP will be holding a news conference Friday afternoon in Surrey, B.C., where Mr. Nijjar was a leader at the Guru Nanak temple, the same temple where he was killed as he attempted to leave the parking lot. The shooting took place in full view of soccer players and the shooters fled on foot.
The arrests were first reported by CBC. The Globe and Mail citing sources close to the investigation reported the three were all apprehended in Edmonton.
Karanpreet Singh and Kamalpreet Singh were charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Karan Brar is charged with conspiracy to commit murder. According to online court documents, the three are not in custody.
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In September, Mr. Trudeau publicly blamed India for the killing.
On Friday, the commission into foreign interference in Canada released its report. Justice Marie-Josée Hogue found that “Indian officials in Canada have increasingly relied on Canadian and Canadian-based proxies and the contacts in their networks to conduct foreign interference.”
In Ottawa, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc told reporters that he couldn’t provide any details of the arrests but said the RCMP will hold a news conference later today in Vancouver.
“The developments with respect to the murder of a Canadian citizen, Mr. Nijjar, are part of an ongoing police operation. This operation began today and it is still an active police operation,” he said. “Those questions should properly be posed to the RCMP.”
