Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar was in regular touch with the Canadian Security Intelligence Services (CSIS) and had allegedly met the intel officials days before he was murdered in June this year, his son has claimed as reported by CNN-News 18.
Hardeep's 21-year-old son, Balraj Singh had also claimed that his father had been meeting CSIS officials since February this year and was also supposed to meet them two days after he was killed on 18 June.
This statement has also led Indian Intelligence agencies to wonder as to why Nijjar wasn't provided close proximity protection since reliable intelligence was available against Indian agents.
An intel source quoted by CNN-News 18 said that the decision to not provide Nijjar security showed that in some way, the Canadians also supported Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and gave access to Nijjar’s killers. The source added that ISI may have wanted to eliminate Nijjar to put India on the back foot.
Rahat Rao and Tariq Kiyani are the two ISI agents planted in Canada and the duo may have been involved in the task of killing Nijjar, the source claimed.
The source further quoted sources as saying that getting in close proximity to Nijjar was impossible without the help of someone known to him since he was very cautious and guarded. Rao and Kiyani might have wanted to finish off Nijjar so that they could directly control the drug and immigration business, the source told the media portal.
This news comes a few days after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau charged that the Indian government may be behind the killing, the accusation which has led to diplomatic tensions between the two nations.
India denied the allegations made by Canada, calling it" motivated" and asked the latter to take legal action against “anti-Indian elements” operating from its soil instead.
The accusation also sparked tit-for-tat retaliation, with each country expelling diplomats. India has also indefinitely suspended visa services in Canada, citing security threats to its officials.