Canadian police found no ‘foreign interference’ behind attack on home of Nijjar’s associate

The Canadian police, on Tuesday (Feb 20) said two teenagers have been detained and charged in connection with a shooting at the home of a close associate of slain Khalistani separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar and ruled out the allegations of “foreign interference”.

‘No foreign interference’

Two 16-year-olds have been charged in connection with the shooting, said the Surrey detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in a statement.

Multiple shots had been fired at the residence of an associate of the pro-Khalistan figure Nijjar who was killed in Canada’s Surrey, British Columbia, last year.

Since then Khalistani separatist groups in Canada, including Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) had alleged the involvement of the Indian government in the shooting which took place at Simranjeet Singh’s residence on February 1.

Officers responded to a report of shots fired at a residence in the 2800-block of 154 Street, on February 1 at around 1:21 am (local time), said the RCMP.

“At the time of this incident, there was speculation circulating that this was connected to foreign interference. Investigators have not established any links to foreign interference in relation to this matter,” it added.

The RCMP in Canada’s Surrey also said that they have arrested and charged two 16-year-olds in connection with the shooting.

“On February 12, 2024, two 16-year-old males were arrested and the BC Prosecution Service approved charges of Discharging a Firearm into a place and Possessing a Loaded Prohibited Firearm,” said the Canadian police.

Allegations againstIndian government

The shots were fired at Simranjeet Singh’s home, earlier this month, who is reportedly a close associate of Hardeep Singh Nijjar and helped organise a pro-Khalistani protest outside the Indian consulate in Vancouver on January 26.

A spokesperson for the British Columbia Gurdwaras Council and prominent figure of the pro-Khalistan movement in Canada, Moninder Singh told CBC News how Simranjeet believes the Indian government is involved in the incident.

Simranjeet Singh “feels like this is the Indian state, or their actors, that are playing their part here to kind of scare them off from…the activism work that he’s doing,” Moninder told CBC News.

The statement came after the Surrey RCMP, on the day of the shooting, had said that the “investigators believe this was an isolated incident”.

India and Canada relations

Diplomatic relations between India and Canada have been strained since September last year after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his government was investigating a potential link between agents of the Indian government in the killing of Nijjar – a designated terrorist in India.

New Delhi has since denied these allegations calling them “absurd” and “motivated”. The Khalistani separatist leader was killed outside a gurdwara in Surrey city on June 18, 2023.

(With inputs from agencies)