Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attends a news conference after the closing session of the G20 summit in New Delhi on Sept. 10.MONEY SHARMA/AFP/Getty Images
Two men who investigators believe fatally shot a prominent Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia are under police surveillance and are expected to be arrested by the RCMP in a matter of weeks, sources say.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, was leaving a Sikh temple in Surrey on June 18 when he was shot multiple times in a gangland-style slaying. He had been reportedly warned by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service that his life was in danger.
In September, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the government of India of being behind the brazen shooting of Mr. Nijjar, a Canadian citizen – an allegation strongly denied by the Indian government that led to a deterioration in bilateral relations.
New Delhi had accused Mr. Nijjar of being a terrorist during his campaign for a Sikh homeland in the northern Indian state of Punjab that Sikh separatists refer to as Khalistan. A 2020 statement by the Indian government alleged he was “actively involved in operationalising, networking, training and financing” members of the militant group Khalistan Tiger Force.
Three sources told The Globe and Mail that the suspected killers never left Canada after Mr. Nijjar’s slaying and have been under police surveillance for months. Two of the sources said the RCMP are expected to make arrests and lay charges in the coming weeks.
The sources said police will explain the alleged assassins’ involvement and that of the Indian government when charges are laid against the two men. The Globe is not identifying the sources because they were not authorized to discuss national-security and police matters.
It is not known whether the RCMP are expected to arrest any suspected accomplices in the slaying. The Washington Post reported in September, citing video footage and witness accounts, that at least six men and two vehicles were involved in the killing of Mr. Nijjar.
The RCMP did not respond to questions from The Globe about the investigation and whether charges were imminent.
Mr. Trudeau has said that Canadian intelligence had identified “credible allegations” of a link between Mr. Nijjar’s death and agents of the Indian state. He made the announcement in the House of Commons on Sept. 18, after the Prime Minister’s Office learned that The Globe planned to publish the story based on national-security sources. The Globe story was published shortly before Mr. Trudeau rose in the Commons.
Mr. Trudeau had already raised the allegations with his Indian counterpart at the G20 summit in New Delhi in September. CSIS director David Vigneault and the Prime Minister’s national-security adviser Jody Thomas also travelled to India to present the findings, government officials have told The Globe.
However, New Delhi has denied any involvement in Mr. Nijjar’s death, insisting that Canada has not shared credible evidence to show Indian agents were behind the slaying.
The accusation had an immediate impact on Indo-Canadian relations. Ottawa shelved free-trade talks and a business trade mission to India, while New Delhi stripped 41 Canadian diplomats of their diplomatic protections in the South Asian country.
Canada’s allegations were buttressed after U.S. authorities announced in November that they had foiled a plan to kill a Canadian-American Sikh activist in New York and uncovered apparent links to the slaying of Mr. Nijar and threats to three other Canadian Sikhs.
A criminal indictment unsealed in New York said that Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national who was arrested in the Czech Republic in June, allegedly arranged the murder for hire of the U.S.-based Sikh activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, general counsel for the New York-based Sikhs for Justice.
Mr. Gupta allegedly told an undercover officer less than two weeks before Mr. Nijjar’s death that there was a “big target” in Canada. Mr. Gupta was allegedly recruited by an Indian government employee to “orchestrate the assassination” of Mr. Pannun. The Indian agent described himself as a “senior field officer” who previously served in the country’s Central Reserve Police Force, the indictment said, “and had responsibilities in “security management” and “intelligence.”
The Indian agent agreed to pay US$100,000 to a purported hitman, who was an undercover police officer, to kill Mr. Pannun in a deal brokered by Mr. Gupta, U.S. prosecutors allege.
A few days before Mr. Nijjar’s death in June, Mr. Gupta told an undercover officer – whom he thought was a criminal – that “we will be needing one good team in Canada” to carry out another assassination, according to the indictment. He also allegedly told the police officer that the plotters in India would be directing slayings in both countries.
Mr. Gupta allegedly later told the undercover officer that Mr. Nijjar was No. 4 or No. 3 among assassination targets in Canada and the United States.
Mr. Gupta has been charged with murder for hire as well as conspiracy to commit murder for hire. Both charges carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.