The murder of Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada in June 2023 was carried out by the fugitive gangster-turned-terrorist Goldy Brar, according to an audio clip that has surfaced, whose authenticity is yet to be ascertained.
Nijjar’s murder outside a gurdwara in Surrey, Canada, on June 18, 2023, had sparked India’s worst diplomatic conflict with Canada after India rebuffed Canada’s allegation of orchestrating it. Nijjar was a Khalistani terrorist wanted by India.
Goldy Brar, who is wanted in India for several murders—including that of singer-songwriter Sidhu Moosewala—is heard in the leaked conversation with Khalistani terrorist Paramjit Singh Pamma that it was he (Brar) who got Nijjar eliminated because the latter was involved in selling drugs to young people.
“Those who groomed and incited 16-to-17-year-olds to sell drugs… Those who blackmailed young people into selling drugs and becoming informants… Nijjar supported and strengthened these individuals so that he could use them when necessary,” Brar allegedly told Pamma in the leaked audio clip. “That’s why we, my team and I, had to kill Nijjar, because these people were using young people to sell drugs. Everyone has to face the consequences of their actions,” added Brar in the clip.
Weeks after Nijjar was found shot dead by unidentified gunmen, then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India of having a hand in the murder. New Delhi vehemently rejected the accusation and said Canada was allowing wanted Khalistani terrorists to function from its soil. These allegations and counter-allegations led to a slump in diplomatic ties between the two countries.
Relations between India and Canada returned to normalcy when Liberal Party leader Mark Carney paved Trudeau’s exit in the Canadian parliamentary election. Canadian investigators said last month that they found no evidence linking Nijjar’s murder with India.
Also read: Smriti Irani, Ram Madhav back in BJP’s new national team; Amit Malviya out as IT Cell chief
“There’s no evidence to suggest through this organised crime investigation and the charges and the indictment laid forward that Indian officials were charged or involved,” said Lisa Moreland, the Deputy Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in response to a specific question on Trudeau’s allegations.
Brar, whose official name is Satinderjeet Singh, hails from Faridkot in Punjab. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the USA announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to Brar’s arrest last month. FBI has accused Brar of “involvement in the Lawrence Bishnoi Organised Crime Group, which is allegedly engaged in a variety of violent acts in Southern California and across the United States and Canada”.
