India’s Foreign Minister, S Jaishankar, recently addressed the arrest of the three Indian men who were charged with the murder of the Khalistani separatist terrorist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in Canada last year. He emphasised that India will await information from Canadian police regarding the three Indian men arrested before drawing conclusions.
The Canadian police had announced the arrest of the three individuals on Friday. The arrest raised several concerns about the arrested individuals’ possible links to the Indian government. Jaishankar responded to the rising speculations by stating that while news of the arrests had reached him, further details were awaited from Canadian law enforcement.
“The suspects apparently are Indians of some kind of gang background… we’ll have to wait for the police to tell us,” Jaishankar commented. He also reiterated India’s concerns about organized crime from Punjab operating in Canada.
Sanjay Verma, India’s High Commissioner to Canada, expressed hope for recieving regular updates from Canadian authorities regarding the arrested individuals. “I understand that the arrests have been made as a result of investigations conducted by the relevant Canadian law enforcement agencies. This issue is internal to Canada, and therefore we have no comments to offer in this regard,” Verma added.
The three arrested individuals, all Indian nationals, had been arrested in Edmonton, Alberta, on Friday, according to the reports by the police officials
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, aged 45, was fatally shot outside a gurdwara in Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver, in June. The incident sparked tensions, especially after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested Indian government involvement, leading to a diplomatic standoff between Ottawa and New Delhi.
