Canada Likely To Make First Arrests In Hardeep Singh Nijjar Murder: What We Know So Far

Months after the bombshell announcement by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the Canadian Parliament that there were credible allegations linking Indian government agents to the murder of Khalistani separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the authorities are reportedly close to making first arrests in the case.

According to The Globe and Mail newspaper, the suspects are currently under police surveillance and are expected to be apprehended "in a matter of weeks."

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Suspects still in Canada

The two suspected killers reportedly did not leave Canada following Nijjar's assassination and have been under police surveillance for months.

The report on Wednesday said that police will unveil details regarding the alleged involvement of the assassins and their connection to the Indian government when formal charges are filed.

"Within the community, there's a sense of closure that might come with the two people being arrested like it's being said," the Global News quoted Moninder Singh, spokesperson of BC Gurdwaras Council, as saying.

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How arrests could turn the case

According to the report, the integrated homicide investigation team said it was aware of the reports of imminent arrests in Nijjar's murder but won't comment because it's an active investigation.

The arrests, if they happen, will be a major turning point in the case that has resulted in the bilateral ties between India and Canada hitting rock bottom.

India, which responded to PM Trudeau's allegations as absurd, has so far maintained that the Canadian side has failed to provide any evidence to back its claims of Indian involvement.

AP

Links to Pannun assassination attempt in US

The development also comes at a time when the US is closing in on a related case there.

In November, the US federal prosecutors charged Nikhil Gupta, who was working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the leader of the Sikhs for Justice, an Indian-born US citizen.

The indictment document filed by the US Justice Department has intercepts between Gupta, his handler in India, a high-ranking government official identified as CC-1, and the hitman, where the accused was talking about more targets than the one in New York.

AP

In one of the conversations on June 12, Gupta told the hitman, who was a DEA undercover agent, that there was a big target in Canada and that they needed a good team for the job.

Days later, on June 18, Nijjar was shot dead outside a Gurudwara in British Colombia, Canada, and CC-1 sent Gupta a video of the body.

On June 19, Gupta sent the video to the hitman and told him that Nijjar was the Canadian "job" he had spoken about.

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