Police make arrests in killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar

Canadian police have arrested members of an alleged hit squad investigators believe was tasked by the government of India with killing prominent Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C. last June, CBC News has learned.

Sources close to the investigation also told CBC News that police are actively investigating possible links to three additional murders in Canada, including the shooting death of an 11-year-old boy in Edmonton.

Members of the hit squad are alleged to have played different roles as shooters, drivers and spotters on the day Nijjar was killed at the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, according to the sources.

The men were arrested Friday during police operations in at least two provinces. Sources said investigators identified the alleged hit squad members in Canada some months ago and have been keeping them under tight surveillance.

Kamalpreet Singh, Karanpreet Singh and Karan Brar face first-degree murder and conspiracy charges in the Nijjar case, according to documents filed in a Surrey court Friday. The charges have not been tested in court.

Police are expected to share some details of their investigation later Friday.

CBC News learned of the arrests — as well as other information that may not be announced by police on Friday — through extensive discussions with senior investigative and government sources, as well as members of the Sikh community.

The investigative and government sources spoke with CBC News on the condition that they not be named due to the sensitivity of the matter. The sources in the Sikh community expressed concerns about their personal security, so CBC News is not disclosing their identities.

Nijjar, a 45-year-old Canadian citizen, was shot dead on June 18, shortly after evening prayers at his Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, B.C., in what appeared to be a highly coordinated attack, according to video of the incident obtained by CBC's The Fifth Estate.

Last August, Canadian officials told representatives of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government in person that Canada had intelligence linking it to Nijjar's killing.

A month later — on Sept. 18, 2023, not long after returning from a fraught visit to India for the G20 Summit — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rose in the House of Commons to state that "Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India" and Nijjar's killing.

"Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty," he added.

Modi's government has denied it ordered extrajudicial killings in the U.S. and Canada. Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar initially decried the Canadian allegation as "absurd" and accused Canada of harbouring violent extremists.

The minister's tone at a Sept. 27, 2023 speaking event was somewhat less confrontational. Jaishankar said at that time that "we told the Canadians that this is not the government of India's policy."