India's Vancouver consulate officials linked to Sikh activist Nijjar killing, reports Canadian daily
Indian consular staff in Vancouver are alleged to have aided in intelligence linked to the 2023 killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, reports The Globe and Mail.
Canadian national-security officials were presented with evidence that Indian consular staff in Vancouver allegedly supplied information to assist in the assassination of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, reports The Globe and Mail.
According to the Canadian daily, one official, identified by a law-enforcement source as Kanwaljit Singh, worked as a visa officer at the Vancouver consulate and allegedly gathered information about Nijjar from members of the Indian diaspora in Surrey, British Columbia.
Citing national-security and law-enforcement sources, The Globe and Mail reported that Kanwaljit was also an intelligence officer with India's external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), and CSIS had been monitoring an undercover RAW agent posted to the Vancouver consulate as a visa officer.
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Earlier on 18 June 2023, Nijjar, a prominent advocate for a separate Sikh homeland in India's Punjab state, was shot dead in the parking lot of a gurdwara in Surrey. Ottawa has accused Indian agents of involvement, while India has consistently denied any role.
The report further alleged that information about Nijjar was passed to a RAW officer in New Delhi, identified by the sources as Vikash Yadav, who then communicated with the Lawrence Bishnoi organized-crime group.
A Canada-based gang member allegedly helped arrange the killing, and Yadav has also been named in a US indictment over a separate foiled plot targeting another Sikh activist associated with Nijjar, according to the report.
Four Indian nationals in Canada have been charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy in connection with the Nijjar killing, but no diplomats or consular staff have been charged.
