‘Open for investigation’: EAM Jaishankar denies receiving evidence of Indian involvement in Canadian killing of Nijjar

Mumbai (Maharashtra) (India), May 13: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has again denied receiving any evidence implicating the involvement of Indian nationals in the killing in Canada of India-designated terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Responding to media queries here, Jaishankar said, “I have also read that another arrest has been made. If that person is an Indian national, usually through consular practice you inform the government or embassy of the country of origin. But further “We have long maintained that if anything, any event in Canada, any violence, contains any evidence or information that is relevant to be investigated in India, we are open to investigating that.”

He stressed that while the arrest of an Indian national would generally trigger notification to the government or embassy, ​​no specific evidence has been received to date that would warrant investigation by Indian authorities.

“But to date we have never received anything specific and worth pursuing by our investigative agencies. And I am not aware that anything has changed in that regard in recent days,” the foreign minister said in a press conference. interacting during a seminar on Indian capital markets ‘Roadmap for Viksit Bharat’ at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in Mumbai on Monday.

Canadian police arrested a fourth suspect on Saturday for his alleged involvement in Nijjar’s murder, Canada-based CBC News reported.

Nijjar was murdered on June 18 outside the Gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia. The suspect has been identified as Amandeep Singh (22).

According to the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) in British Columbia, Singh was already in the custody of Ontario’s Peel Regional Police on unrelated firearms charges.

“IHIT examined the evidence and gathered sufficient information for the BC Public Prosecution Service to charge Amandeep Singh with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder,” the police statement said.

Police said Singh is an Indian national and splits his time in Canada in Brampton, Ontario; Surrey, British Columbia, and Abbotsford, British Columbia, as reported by CBC News. Investigators did not provide further details about the arrest, citing ongoing investigations and legal proceedings.

This comes days after Canadian police arrested three Indian nationals Karan Brar, Kamalpreet Singh and Karanpreet Singh in Edmonton. The trio was charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the killing.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was labeled a terrorist by India’s National Investigation Agency in 2020, was shot as he emerged from a Gurdwara in Surrey in June last year. The attack was described as ‘highly coordinated’ and involved six men and two vehicles. Notably, Canadian police have not provided any evidence of any link with India, as speculated in the Canadian media.

Nijjar’s killing sparked diplomatic tensions between Canada and India after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed India had a hand in the killing, a claim New Delhi has rejected, calling it “absurd” and “motivated.”

Earlier this week, the Foreign Ministry reiterated that Canada has not provided “specific” evidence or relevant information in the Hardeep Singh Nijjar murder case and that no “formal communication” has been provided to India regarding the arrests of three Indians allegedly involved were involved. In this case. “No specific or relevant evidence or information has been given to us in this case. Canada has informed us about the arrest. But we have not had any formal communication…” MEA spokesperson said on the arrest of three Indians in Canada in Nijjar murder.

When asked whether India has granted consular access to the three Indians arrested in the Nijjar Killing case, the MEA said they have not received any request for the same from the Canadian side as the suspects have not yet requested consular access.

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