Documents reveal past of B.C. Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s alleged killer | 24CA News

One of the alleged hitmen accused of killing B.C. Sikh temple chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar was arrested and launched in Surrey, B.C., shortly earlier than the assault, in response to courtroom information.

Three weeks earlier than Nijjar was gunned down in an ambush that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has linked to the federal government of India, Surrey RCMP charged Amandeep Singh with fleeing police and harmful driving.

Documents obtained by Global News present that Singh signed an endeavor on June 6, 2023, through which he agreed he would flip up for his courtroom appearances and never possess firearms.

Twelve days later, he allegedly opened fireplace on Nijjar within the car parking zone of Surrey’s Guru Nanak Sikh Temple, a killing that some consider has the hallmarks of a political assassination.

The case means that Singh, who was arrested in Brampton, Ont. on Saturday for Nijjar’s killing, was within the neighborhood of the B.C. temple and allegedly behaving erratically previous to the capturing.

The RCMP is investigating the potential involvement of the Indian authorities, which had lengthy complained about Nijjar, a Canadian chief of the Khalistan motion that seeks independence for India’s Punjab.

The plot was allegedly a part of a pattern through which international intelligence providers are contracting out killings to crime teams. Singh, 22, appeared in B.C. courtroom by telephone from Ontario on Wednesday to face homicide and conspiracy expenses.

Like the three others accused of collaborating in Nijjar’s killing, Karan Brar, Kamalpreet Singh and Karanpreet Singh, he’s an Indian nationwide in his 20s who got here to Canada on a brief visa, a supply acquainted with the matter mentioned.

Singh got here to Surrey to review, however took a yr off and labored nightshifts at a warehouse, mentioned a separate supply, who spoke on the situation of not being recognized due to security fears.

He then appeared to take a flip. He received an arm tattoo with the picture of a gun, drove a muscle automobile and wore costly sneakers, prompting questions on the place he was getting his cash, the supply mentioned.

On March 26, 2023, Singh allegedly didn’t cease when the RCMP tried to tug his car over about 4 kilometres from the Guru Nanak temple, courtroom information point out. He was charged on May 26, however launched on an endeavor to look in courtroom in Surrey on June 16.

Nijjar was killed two days later.

At the time, Singh was staying within the basement suite of a $2-million dwelling in Surrey, a couple of six-minute drive from the place Nijjar was shot, courtroom information present.

He then moved to Ontario, the place he stayed with a good friend in north Brampton till he was arrested with 4 others on Nov. 3, 2023.

According to the courtroom file within the case, Singh was accused of being an occupant in a 2021 Peterbilt 579 semi-trailer through which a loaded firearm was discovered.

He was charged with 9 counts, together with possession of an FN 509 9mm pistol with a 24-round prolonged journal. He was additionally charged with failing to adjust to an endeavor to not possess weapons.

His courtroom file notes that he required a Punjabi interpreter.

According to a supply acquainted with the Brampton property listed in courtroom paperwork as Singh’s tackle, he didn’t stay on the residence however usually stayed there with one of many tenants, Swaranpreet Singh.

A person by that title was amongst these arrested on Nov. 3.

A neighbour recalled a heavy police presence on the road as officers raided the suburban dwelling.

“Anybody who was at the house at that time, they all got put in custody and questioned,” mentioned the supply, who spoke on the situation of not being recognized.

Singh was nonetheless detained and awaiting trial in Ontario on May 11 when he was charged with Nijjar’s homicide.

India has denied any function within the conspiracy, blamed gangs and complained that Canada has didn’t crack down on the Khalistan motion, which New Delhi views as a safety menace.

Moninder Singh, Nijjar’s shut good friend, welcomed the most recent arrest however mentioned the Sikh group was targeted on what he known as the first wrongdoer: India.

“These individuals were sent for Hardeep Singh Nijjar, and tomorrow another team of these types of individuals could be sent for another Sikh leader speaking about sovereignty and Khalistan,” he mentioned.

“Justice for this political assassination is a combination of convictions and appropriate sentencing and also a public inquiry solely into India’s role in this assassination and interference in Canada and the immediate suspension of all intelligence sharing agreements with India.”

Shortly after Nijjar was killed, the U.S. introduced it had disrupted an analogous plot towards Nijjar’s affiliate, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

In the U.S. case, an Indian intelligence officer primarily based in New Delhi is accused of hiring an Indian crime determine to kill Pannun.

The plot was allegedly orchestrated by India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), which reviews to the workplace of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Both Nijjar and Pannun had been organizing a referendum on Khalistan on the time they had been focused.

Pannun mentioned in an interview that solely the “foot soldiers” had been arrested thus far. “They are just members of Modi’s his squad,” mentioned Pannun, the lawyer for the advocacy group Sikhs for Justice.

But the “kingpins” had not but been delivered to justice, he mentioned. He accused Indian diplomats, consular representatives and RAW brokers in Ottawa and Vancouver of involvement within the plot, and urged Canada to analyze.

Since the RCMP arrests, India has launched “a wave of terror” towards pro-Khalistan activists in India, Pannun mentioned.

“In the last one week over two dozen residences of Khalistan referendum campaigners were raided and the women members of the families were illegally detained to pressure them to produce male campaigners before the police,” he mentioned.

The Punjab Police mentioned in a put up on X that it had arrested three males it known as Sikhs for Justice “operatives.”

The director normal of the police pressure, Gaurav Yadav, posted a photograph of a twig paint can and accused the lads of “writing pro-Khalistan slogans at various public places.”

Yadav known as the case a “major breakthrough” and claimed the lads had been backed by the “mastermind” Pannun.

“The investigation has been carried out in a professional and scientific manner,” he wrote.

Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca with information from Rumina Daya