Canada says Indian govt agents could be linked to Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar's murder

Reuters

Ottawa, September 18

Canada said on Monday it had credible information linking Indian government agents to the murder of a Sikh leader in British Columbia in June and said it had expelled a senior Indian intelligence official.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen was "an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty".

Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18.

Nijjar supported a Sikh homeland in the form of an independent Khalistani state and had been branded by India as a "terrorist", the Canadian Broadcasting Corp said.

"Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar," Trudeau said in an emergency statement to the House of Commons parliamentary chamber.

"Canada has declared its deep concerns to the top intelligence and security officials of the Indian government.

Last week at the G20 I brought them personally and directly to Prime Minister Modi in no uncertain terms."

New Delhi said last week that Modi had conveyed strong concerns about protests in Canada against India to Trudeau.

Foreign Minister Melanie Joly told reporters that Ottawa had expelled the Indian head of intelligence in Canada but gave no further details.

Canada has the highest population of Sikhs outside their home state of Punjab in India, and the country has been the site of many protests that have irked India.

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