Testifying at Canada’s foreign interference inquiry, former national security advisor Jody Thomas, detailed how the probe on the murder of Sikh extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar moved towards the possibility of it being an extra-judicial killing, reported India Today.
In her testimony, Jody Thomas said initially it was believed that Hardeep Singh Nijjar had been killed as a form of retaliation for the murder of Ripudaman Singh Malik, who was acquitted in the 1985 Air India Kanishka bombing.
Ripudaman Singh Malik, a Sikh activist, was shot dead in Surrey on July 15, 2022. Malik’s died after Hardeep Nijjar, who was the leader of the Khalistan Tiger Force, had publicly called him a traitor.
Sources in Indian intelligence agencies told India Today that at the time his killing was believed to be part of a larger conspiracy by pro-separatist forces and that Nijjar’s role could not be ruled out.
However, Thomas stated that soon the focus moved away from Malik as Hardeep Nijjar’s murder near the Gurudwara was the second in that year and many people in the Sikh community in Canada did not feel it was simply a tit-for-tat crime.
“Through very good intelligence and policing work, we learnt that there was a high probability that this was an extra-judicial killing,” Thomas stated.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus also testified in front of the committee, in light of the tense relations with India stemming from the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Justin Trudeau stated that India had violated Canada’s sovereignty and had not been cooperative when the Canadian authorities reached out over the Hardeep Singh Nijjar murder.
“In August, intelligence from Canada and The Five Eyes made it clear that India was involved…agents from India were involved on Canadian soil and we told them we have real concerns that your security agencies are involved. India’s response to our investigation was to double down on attacks against our government,” he said.
On Monday, Canada named India’s envoy to Ottawa among the “persons of interest” in the investigation into Nijjar’s killing. Both countries also expelled diplomats from the other nation.
The India ministry of external affairs has stated that the lack of evidence provided by Trudeau only confirmed what they were saying, when they denied the allegations against the country.