Canada on Wednesday (July 8) ruled out Indian involvement in the 2023 killing of Canadian citizen and Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, an incident that strained diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The development comes nearly three years after former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged security agencies were probing credible allegations of a “potential link” between Indian agents and the murder.
Separately, the US charged Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar with orchestrating Nijjar’s assassination, with the FBI announcing a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to Brar’s arrest.
What was the Nijjar case?
Nijjar was the chief of the separatist organisation Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and the head of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib in Surrey, Canada. A Canadian resident since 1997, he was married with two sons.
According to the Indian government, Nijjar was involved in recruiting, financing and coordinating the activities of the KTF, which was designated a terrorist organisation under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in 2023.
He was wanted in connection with an attack on a Hindu priest in Jalandhar in 2021, as well as in connection with the December 2020 protests against the farm laws.
In September 2023, Trudeau alleged that the Indian government had been involved in Nijjar’s assassination, a charge that the Indian government dismissed as baseless.
The allegations triggered one of the sharpest downturns in India-Canada ties, with both countries expelling diplomats and suspending several bilateral engagements. Relations began improving in June 2025 when the two nations agreed to normalise relations.
What has Canada said now?
On Wednesday, Canadian police said that there is no evidence linking the Indian government with Nijjar’s killing.
“There is no evidence to suggest that through this organised crime syndicate investigation and the charges laid forward that Indian government officials would be charged or involved in this….nothing has come out to link the Indian government,” Lisa Moreland, Deputy Commissioner, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), told Canadian TV channel CBC News.
However, investigations are still underway, Moreland said.
Who is Lawrence Bishnoi?
Lawrence Bishnoi produced at Panchkula Court in August 2017. (Express Photo)
Lawrence Bishnoi is a gangster from Punjab who has been involved in criminal activity since the early 2010s. Since 2015, he has been lodged in the Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad and is believed to be operating his gang from inside the jail. The gangster was taken to Gujarat by the state’s Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) in connection with a case of cross-border drug smuggling.
Bishnoi has been named in two dozen cases of murders, attempts to murder, extortion and other crimes, especially the 2022 murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala and continued threats against actor Salman Khan. Brar had claimed credit for Moosewala’s assassination.
The Indian Express previously reported that the Bishnoi gang is attempting to fill the vacuum created by the neutralisation of Mumbai-based criminal outfits led by Dawood Ibrahim, Chhota Rajan and Ravi Pujari.
What are the charges by the US?
A federal indictment unsealed in Los Angeles claims that Bishnoi and Brar, real name Satinderjeet Singh, had ordered Nijjar’s shooting outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia in June 2023.
According to the indictment, Bishnoi, who has been incarcerated since 2015, directed the operation from an Indian jail cell using smuggled mobile phones. He allegedly provided a co-conspirator with a photo and Nijjar’s multiple addresses to enable the killing.
The indictment has identified Brar, who remains at large and is believed to be in the US, as the North American leader of the “Lawrence Bishnoi Crime Group”. A federal arrest warrant was issued for Brar this month in a California district court in charges linked with racketeering, organised corruption, extortion and drug possession. The FBI subsequently issued a federal warrant and offered a reward for his arrest.
The charges were named as part of Operation Hard Ball, a large-scale US federal investigation into Indian international crime syndicates linked with racketeering, extortion, kidnapping, drug trafficking, and murder, among other crimes. The operation has named 37 defendants in total, of which 13 have been arrested and are set to appear in court on Wednesday.
Nijjar was the chief of the separatist organisation Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and the head of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib in Surrey, Canada. (File) 
Lawrence Bishnoi produced at Panchkula Court in August 2017. (Express Photo)
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