Ottawa, Feb 21 (PTI) Canadian police have arrested two teenagers for a shooting incident outside the home of a close aide of slain Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, an incident for which the separatist groups had blamed Indian agencies.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Tuesday confirmed that two teenagers had been arrested in connection with the February 1 shooting incident outside the house of Simranjit Singh Jammu, a close aide of Nijjar, in South Surrey.
In the statement, the RCMP also made it clear that investigators have not established any links to foreign interference in this case.
“At the time of this incident, there was speculation circulating that this was connected to foreign interference. Investigators have not established any links to foreign interference in relation to this matter,” the statement said.
It said that on February 6, the Surrey RCMP Serious Crime Unit executed a search warrant on a residence and seized three firearms and multiple electronic devices during the search.
On February 12, two 16-year-old youths were arrested and the British Columbia Prosecution Service approved charges of discharging a firearm into a place and possessing a loaded prohibited firearm.
“The youths are currently being held in custody awaiting their next court appearance,” the RCMP said.
A spokesperson for the British Columbia Gurdwaras Council, Moninder Singh, said at the time that the home belonged to Simranjeet Singh, who was a friend of Nijjar whose killing in Surrey in June last led to a diplomatic row between India and Canada.
According to sources, the case turned out to be that of a family feud.
Khalistani leaders tried to mislead the Canadian security agencies to throw the investigation off the track. But the truth came to the fore when Surrey RCMP cracked the case by the arrest of 2 teenagers for the crime, sources said.
“Unconfirmed reports state that one of the teens was Singh’s son from his first wife, who allegedly wanted revenge from Singh for mistreating his mother,” a source said.
The Sikh community is demanding an apology from BC Gurdwara Council spokesperson Moninder for lying and misleading the community and investigative agencies, they said.
The ties between India and Canada came under severe strain after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in September alleged a “potential” involvement of Indian agents in Nijjar’s killing in Surrey in June.
India, however, rejected the charges by Canada, deeming them as “absurd and motivated” and said the country has a strong commitment to the rule of law. PTI SKL ZH AKJ ZH ZH
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