Canada Claims Indian Agents Working With Lawrence Bishnoi Gang To Target Pro-Khalistan Elements On Its Soil

Addressing a press conference in Ottawa on Monday, the Assistant Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said that through their investigation, they have come to the conclusion that India used organised crime elements to target the South Asian community, specifically pro-Khalistani elements in the country.

"It has been publically attributed and claimed by one organised crime group in particular - Bishnoi Group. We believe that the group is connected to agents of the Government of India," the police officer said.

The federal police said that they have established a special team to investigate the potential links between the threats to pro-Khalistan citizens and the Indian government agents.

"...there have been well over a dozen credible imminent threats to life which have led to the conduct of duty to warn, by law enforcement with members of South Asian community and specifically, members of the pro-Khalistan movement," it said, adding that the team has learnt a significant amount of information on breadth and depth of criminal activity orchestrated by agents of the Government of India, in consequential threats to the safety and security of Canadians & individuals living in Canada.

#WATCH | Ottawa, Ontario (Canada): "It (India) is targeting South Asian community but they are specifically targeting pro-Khalistani elements in Canada...What we have seen is, from an RCMP perspective, they use organised crime elements. It has been publically attributed and… pic.twitter.com/KYKQVSx7Ju

— ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2024

The recent claims by Canada followed a diplomatic fallout between the two countries. India on Monday expelled six Canadian diplomats from the country after Canada accused Indian High Commissioner  Sanjay Kumar Verma of orchestrating the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, an anti-Indian pro-Khalistan terrorist residing in the North American country.

Nijjar Shot Dead In 2023

Nijjar, a pro-Khalistani, who was declared a terrorist by National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2020, was killed in June 2023 in Canada's Surrey. He was allegedly shot dead by three armed men when he was exiting a Gurdwara parking in Surrey in the British Columbia province of Canada.

Soon after his death, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused agents linked with the Indian government of the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The accusations were sharply rebutted by India which had termed them as 'baseless'.

India's Strong Rebuttal 

Meanwhile, India on Monday strongly rejected the claims made by Canada, terming them as 'preposterous imputations'. New Delhi ascribed them to the political agenda of the Trudeau Government that is centred around vote bank politics. 

"Prime Minister Trudeau’s hostility to India has long been in evidence. In 2018, his visit to India, which was aimed at currying favour with a vote bank, rebounded to his discomfort. His Cabinet has included individuals who have openly associated with an extremist and separatist agenda regarding India," one excerpt of the MEA statement stated