MONTREAL, Canada: A fourth Indian national was charged by Canadian authorities on Saturday in the 2023 killing of a separatist Sikh leader in Vancouver.
Amandeep Singh, 22, was already being held on unrelated weapons charges before being charged with “first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder” in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Three more Indian nationals were arrested this month.
The killing sparked a diplomatic row between Ottawa and Delhi when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau linked Indian intelligence services to the murder.
Nijjar, who immigrated to Canada in 1997 and became a citizen in 2015, advocated for a separate Sikh state, known as Khalistan, carved out of India’s Punjab.
He was wanted by Indian authorities for alleged “terrorism” and conspiracy to commit murder – charges he denied.
He was shot and killed on June 18, 2023 by masked assailants in the parking lot of a Sikh temple he led in suburban Vancouver.
Trudeau announced a few months later that Canada had “credible allegations” linking Indian intelligence to the murder.
India dismissed the allegations as “absurd” and reacted furiously, briefly restricting visas for Canadians and forcing Ottawa to withdraw diplomats.
In November, the US Department of Justice charged an Indian citizen living in the Czech Republic with allegedly preparing a similar assassination attempt on American soil.
Indian government officials were also involved in the scheme, prosecutors said in court documents released.
The shocking allegations come after US President Joe Biden invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on an unusual state visit as the US seeks closer ties with India to counter China’s growing influence.
US intelligence agencies assessed that the plot on American soil was approved by then-top Indian spy official Samant Goel, the Washington Post reported in April.
Canada is home to about 770,000 Sikhs, who make up about two percent of the country’s population, with a vocal minority calling for an independent state of Khalistan.
