BENGALURU: Ottawa has been putting pressure on New Delhi on the killing of former chief of banned terror outfit Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) Hardeep Singh Nijjar, but it has refused to share his death certificate with Indian agencies probing his alleged role in criminal cases against him in India.
“In the event of the death of an accused in a criminal case, the investigating agency has to submit his death certificate before the court. It’s a legal requirement. In Nijjar’s case we asked Canada for his death certificate, and they, in turn, asked why we needed it,” sources, on condition of anonymity, said.
The diplomatic ties between two nations nosedived this week after the latter labelled the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats as “persons of interest” in the investigation into Nijjar’s death in Surrey last year. India rubbished Canada’s accusation as “preposterous”.
However, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau on Wednesday admitted that his country had no “hard evidentiary proof” to support allegations linking Indian officials to the killing of Nijjar.
“There were three criminal cases registered against Nijjar and his aides, who are also designated terrorists—Arshdeep Singh alias Dalla and Lakhbir Singh Sandhu alias Landa—in Punjab in 2021. After Nijjar’s death in June 2023, we requested Canadian authorities to share his death certificate for legal proceedings. They have not shared the document yet,” said sources.
“While Canada is blaming India for Nijjar’s killing, they have not shared any evidence despite requests for the same,” sources said.
“There have been extradition requests from India to Canada for outlaws, who are involved in criminal activities here for more than a decade, but there has been no response from them. Most of them are now Canadian citizens,” said another source.
Criminal cases
There were at least three criminal cases registered against Hardeep Singh Nijjar and his aides —Arshdeep Singh alias Dalla and Lakhbir Singh Sandhu alias Landa—in Punjab in 2021. Both Dalla and Landa are designated terrorists