"Big setback for Canadian govt?": Former diplomat KP Fabian on Nijjar murder case

New Delhi [India], January 10 (ANI): Former Indian diplomat KP Fabian on Thursday remarked on the recent development over the four alleged accused in the murder of NIA-designated terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, questioning whether the decision made by the Justice Department of British Columbia, Canada, poses a significant setback for the Canadian government on the matter.
Earlier, the documents released by the Justice Department showed that all four alleged accused in the murder of Nijjar appear to be no longer in custody.
The case documents show 'N' against the status of being in the custody of four men--Karan Brar, Amandeep Singh, Kamalpreet Singh and Karanpreet Singh--who were charged with the murder of Nijjar and conspiracy to murder by the Canadian police.
Fabian further expressed concern over the length of time taken by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to complete their investigation.
"The question now is whether the bail given to the four accused is a big setback for the Canadian government. Well, it is difficult to say. It is a victory for the advocates who represented the accused...The case will be tried in the Supreme Court of British Columbia...These four were accused and taken into custody in May 2024 and it is surprising that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) took so much time to complete the investigation," the former diplomat said.
Brar, 22; Karanpreet Singh, 28; and Kamalpreet Singh, 22, were all taken into custody in Edmonton on May 3. A fourth accused identified as Amandeep Singh (22) was already in custody of Peel Regional Police in Ontario for unrelated firearms charges and was also arrested for the said crime on May 11.
According to the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) in British Columbia, they are accused of murder and conspiracy. Police personnel, however, had not given any evidence of any link to India as was being speculated in the Canadian media.
At the time of the arrest of the alleged accused, the Ministry of External Affairs reiterated that Canada had not provided any "specific" evidence or relevant information in the Hardeep Singh Nijjar killing case and that no "formal communication" had been provided to India over the arrests of three Indians allegedly involved in the matter.
Notably, ties between India and Canada have been strained after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused agents of the Indian government of killing Nijjar.
However, India has dismissed the accusations as "absurd" and "motivated".Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was designated a terrorist by India's National Investigation Agency in 2020, was shot and killed as he came out of a Gurdwara in Surrey in June 2023.
The video of his killing that reportedly surfaced in March 2024 showed Nijjar being shot by armed men in what has been described as a "contract killing." (ANI)