The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has said that the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar remains an ongoing investigation.
Nijjar, a designated terrorist, was killed in June in Surrey in Canada's British Columbia province. He was the chief of the Khalistan Commando Force (KTF), which is also a designated terrorist organisation.
Nijjar's killing is the central to the worsening of the India-Canada relations. Last week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed that there were "credible allegations of a potential link" between the Indian government and the death of Nijjar. India has forcefully rejected the allegation.
Separately, the gurdwara in Surrey near which Nijjar was killed has also started an investigation into how its CCTV footage was leaked. The footage has been central to a damning media report that highlighted the botched police investigation so far in the Nijjar's killing, which Trudeau linked to India, driving the bilateral relationship to a new low.
Probe into Nijjar's killing 'active and ongoing': Police
The Canadian federal police have said that the investigation into Nijjar's killing remains "active and ongoing".
"We are aware of reports being made regarding the homicide of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. As this remains an active and ongoing investigation, I’m unable to comment on specific evidence collected by IHIT," spokesperson Sergeant Timothy Pierotti told PTI on Thursday.
The IHIT refers to the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), which is investigating Nijjar's killing.
So far, no arrests have been made in the case and vehicles purportedly involved in the killing have also not been recovered.
As per reports, Nijjar had been informed by the Canadian authorities that there was a threat to his life, but the origin of the threat or the purported Indian hand was not conveyed to him. The area in which he was killed was heavily patrolled, but, as per locals, the police took a long time to arrive at the scene after the killing was reported and then an argument erupted over whether the local or the federal police should take up the case.
RCMP Spokesperson Pierotti also told PTI that the local weekly newspaper Surrey Now-Leader that police had completed a "fulsome canvass of the area" and are collecting all relevant video footage.
Gurdwara looking into leak of footage
The Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib in Surrey, which Nijjar also headed at the time of his death, has also started looking into how its footage of the killing was leaked.
Earlier this week, The Washington Post published a report based on a review of the footage and interviews with the locals who arrived at the scene of the crime.
Describing the footage, The Post reported that two men got off from a vehicle after it blocks off Nijjar's car that was exiting the gurdwara. The two men then fire Nijjar and then escape the scene. Later, based on the interviews with the locals, The Post reported that three men purportedly involved in the attack escaped in a second vehicle at a distance from the site of killing.
"We’ve been told by the temple that the video is not for the media, the public because it’s an ongoing investigation. That video won’t be released to anyone. It’s an ongoing investigation," Gurkeerat Singh, a spokesman for the gurdwara, told The Canadian Press.
Singh, who has himself seen the video, added, "It wasn’t something done randomly. These people are watching the movement of Hardeep Singh for a while and they know the direction he goes and how he exits the gurdwara."
What do we know of the botched police probe?
The police arrived late at the scene and then took a long time in debating whether the local or the federal police should take up the case.
The locals say there were "hours-long" discussions whether the local Surrey Police should take up the case or the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), reported The Post.
So far, no arrests have been made and the vehicles allegedly involved in the attack have also not been recovered.
The Post further reported that most of the locals along the route taken by the purported attackers for their escape have not been interviewed by the police.
"The Post visited 39 businesses and homes along the path the assailants took during their escape. The majority of those interviewed said they had not been contacted by the authorities," reported The Post.
Observers have said that the botched investigation by the Canadian police has further reduced the credibility of Trudeau's allegations.
Trudeau drives India-Canada relations to a new low
With his claim, Trudeau drove the India-Canada relations to a new low, which had already been strained for years over the safe haven that the Khalistan movement and other terrorist and organised crime networks involved in anti-India activities have found in Canada.
The Khalistan movement seeks to carve out a separate Sikh nation out of India. For decades, the movement waged a bloody insurgency in India that finally ebbed in 1990s. While the insurgency ebbed in the 1990s, it has found strong pockets of influence abroad, particularly in Canada.
The India-Canada tensions had increased since Trudeau became the Prime Minister of Canada as the Khalistani movement has found increased tolerance under him. He and his ministers and allies have attended Khalistani events and a Khalistani convicted for an attempted murder of an Indian minister was even invited to an event hosted by Trudeau in India during his disastrous visit in 2018.
Following the allegations that Trudeau made in the Canadian parliament, his government expelled a senior Indian diplomat posted in Canada and outed him publicly as station chief of Indian external intelligence agency Research and Intelligence Wing (RAW) in Canada. In a tit for tat response, India expelled a Canadian diplomat posted in India, who has since been identified as Olivier Sylvester, the station chief of Canadian intelligence in India. Further, India suspended visa services for Canadian nationals and ordered the downsizing of the Canadian missions in India.
Following Trudeau's allegations, India issued an advisory warning of "politically-condoned" anti-India activities in Canada. The phrase "politically-condoned" reflects the support that the Khalistan movement and anti-India elements in Canada receive from Trudeau, his party and allies, and his government.
