NEW DELHI: Canada’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has said there’s nothing to link the Indian government with the charges announced by the US on Tuesday against Lawrence Bishnoi and other India-based gangs, which include the killing of Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in 2023.
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According to Indian authorities, this vindicates India’s position that there never was any evidence to back former Canadian PM Justin Trudeau’s dramatic claim in 2023 that there were “credible allegations” about India’s role in the killing of the Canadian national.
The allegations had led to a total breakdown in the relationship with both countries expelling senior diplomatic staff and Ottawa declaring that then Indian high commissioner Sanjay Verma was himself a person of interest in the Canadian probe. However, the relationship has been improving steadily since Mark Carney last year succeeded Trudeau, who was accused by India of playing “vote bank politics”.
The US has charged Bishnoi and his aide Goldy Brar of ordering the hit on Nijjar, bringing into question the Canadian probe into the Nijjar case. Canadian authorities had in 2024 detained and charged 4 Indian nationals for Nijjar’s killing and continue to probe their alleged links with the Indian government. While announcing the indictment, US authorities said nothing to back the claim that Indian government agents masterminded his murder.
Following the announcement of charges against the Bishnoi, Ravinder Dhanda and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria gangs, the RCMP said in a statement that these groups had been engaged in “extortions, drug trafficking, kidnapping and widespread violence – namely the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar – in Canada and the United States”.
In an interview to CBC later, RCMP deputy commissioner Lisa Moreland said the investigation found no evidence that Indian officials were involved in the crimes alleged in the announcement on Tuesday, although she refrained from commenting on the case against the 4 individuals in custody for the Nijjar murder.
Moreland was asked specifically if the US and Canadian authorities had come across anything to link the Indian government with the charges against these organised crime networks, as announced in the indictment.
“As you're aware, there are people in Canada facing charges on that, so I can't comment on investigation. But...in relation to this matter today, there's no evidence to suggest that through this organized crime investigation and the charges in the indictment...Indian officials were charged or involved in this investigation,” said Moreland.
Asked about Trudeau’s allegations, she further said that while the investigation is ongoing “nothing has come out today to link the Indian government”.
An official source here who spoke on condition of anonymity said India had always maintained that Nijjar’s murder was a fallout of gang rivalry and the indictment of Bishnoi and others should end the blame game that marred India’s ties with Canada.
Both countries are currently preparing for a likely visit by Modi later this year to Canada to sign a trade agreement under discussion. With the relationship rebounding strongly in the past 12 months, Carney also visited India earlier this year.
