Canadian police on Saturday said that they have arrested and charged a fourth person with the murder of Khalistani separatist leader and designated terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Canada’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) announced that Amandeep Singh, 22, has been charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in Nijjar’s killing.
Amandeep is a resident of Brampton, Surrey and Abbotsford and is an Indian citizen. He was already in custody in Ontario for unrelated firearms charges, Canadian authorities said.
“This arrest shows the nature of our ongoing investigation to hold responsible those that played a role in the homicide of Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” Mandeep Mooker, IHIT officer in-charge was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Nijjar, 45, a designated terrorist, was shot dead in June 2023 outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, a Vancouver suburb with a large Sikh population. Few months after his death Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed his government had evidence that Indian government officials were involved in his killing. Trudeau’s claims prompted a diplomatic crisis with New Delhi.
Canadian police earlier this month arrested and charged Karan Brar (22), Kamalpreet Singh (22) and Karanpreet Singh (28) in the city of Edmonton in Alberta. The police said that they are probing if the men had ties to the Indian government.
Nijjar was a Canadian citizen who called for the creation of Khalistan, an independent Sikh homeland carved out of India, if needed through violent means.
He was wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Punjab Police in multiple cases. The home ministry designated Nijjar as an individual terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in July 2020. The Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) chief posted photos and videos on social media platforms in a bid to spread “insurrectionary imputations and hateful speeches” and allegedly made several attempts to cause disharmony among different communities in India.
The NIA said that he raised funds to procure arms and ammunition and to train young Sikhs for conducting terrorist activities across the country. People familiar with the developments speaking to CNN-News18 said in a separate report that Nijjar possibly had links to Pakistani spy agency Inter-State Services (ISI).
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