NEW DELHI: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, while testifying at a Federal inquiry into foreign interference, named notorious criminal Lawrence Bishnoi and his alleged involvement in criminal activities in Canada.
"Indian diplomats were collecting information of Canadians who were opponents of or in disagreement with the Modi government. This information was passed to organisations like Lawrence Bishnoi gang who then targeted Canadians on the ground. The RCMP wanted to break this chain and hence came out with the revelations on Monday,’’ Trudeau alleged.
Trudeau alleged that Indian diplomats were involved in covert, clandestine activities, and were withholding family visas of those they suspected. He said that the Royal Canada Mounted Police (RCMP) felt it had reached the threshold as the actions of the diplomats were soon turning to be a threat to public safety.
"We wanted to question the Indian diplomats on their involvement but since they didn’t agree we asked them to leave the country,’’ Trudeau said referring to the expulsion of six Indian diplomats including the High Commissioner.
Trudeau said that when he apprised PM Modi in September 2023 (on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Delhi) about the intelligence information on the Indian government's involvement in Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing, PM Modi responded by saying that he wanted the people who are outspoken against his government and living in Canada to be arrested.
"I told PM Modi that the people in Canada had freedom of speech and we would work with India if it came to terrorism,’’ said Trudeau adding that his objective was to defend territorial integrity.
Trudeau said that they engaged with Indian government and wanted to know if Indian agencies were involved as there needed to be accountability, but India wanted evidence.
"We didn’t want to blow up relations with India or make them uncomfortable... when I came for G20 that’s why I didn’t make these inputs public,’’ he said.