The six senior diplomats ordered expelled by Ottawa may not be the last Indian officials to be expelled, as Canadian police investigate involvement in “widespread violence” by Indian government operatives. Investigators said that there was. he told CBC News.
The support network for India’s covert operations remains largely in Canada, these officials said, but some members of the network will now voluntarily and without risk of arrest. He believes there is a high possibility of a quiet withdrawal.
Sources say India’s operations in Canada are multi-layered and multifaceted, with many people playing different roles, some voluntarily and others under pressure from Indian diplomats and their agents. He says he has received it.
Sources claim that Indian diplomats engaged in covert operations themselves and recruited others to assist them.
Since 1955, India has required all citizens who become citizens of a foreign country to renounce their Indian citizenship. This means that many first-, second- and third-generation Indian Canadians are in need of so-called OCIs (Overseas Indian Citizens). visa To visit India.
Indian diplomats and consular officials used their discretion to issue and withhold such visas, putting pressure on citizens to monitor and become informants, sources told CBC News.
A “small part” of a much larger operation
One person close to the investigation said the killing of Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was killed in Surrey, B.C., last year, was a serious crime, even though it was a grave crime. He said it was “just a small part” of a larger operation. An affront to Canadian sovereignty.
Officials told CBC News they believe one of the key goals of the Indian government’s operation is to convince Indo-Canadians that violence and lawlessness are endemic in Canada. Ta. The idea, they say, is to strengthen the Indian government’s argument that Canada is putting Indo-Canadians at risk by failing to crack down on Sikh separatist and criminal activity for decades. Ta.
People close to the investigation say people with ties to the Indian government are demanding exorbitant amounts of money from Indian-Canadians, with the sole purpose of extorting them by shooting them in a car, setting them on fire, or carrying out subsequent attacks. It appears that the only purpose is to cover violent acts.
The RCMP investigation into allegations of Indian covert operations in Canada began before Nijjar’s murder, but he was picked up by a Sikh leader at the exit of the parking lot of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurudwara in Surrey, British Columbia. After the truck shooting, more priority was given and more resources were put into it. June 18, 2023.
Sources said the troopers had already suspected Indian government involvement in the murders the previous year and quickly discovered a link between the Nijjar incident and Indian government officials.
They said electronic intercepts of communications between the Indian government and Indian intelligence officials, as well as Indian diplomats in Canada, quickly confirmed that the killings were on the orders of senior Indian government officials. Ta.
Sources close to the investigation and Canadian government officials told CBC News that they do not believe such a dangerous operation would be carried out, involving not only Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) but also diplomatic services. No, he said. It will proceed without approval from the top government of India.
India claims Ottawa has yet to show evidence
When the US government accused Indian government officials of involvement in a murder plot against American-Canadian Gurpatwant Singh Panun in New York City, India pushed back, claiming that rogue agents had planned the plot independently. .
India completely denies any involvement in the closely related plot to assassinate Nijjar, and has publicly maintained that no evidence of the incident has been presented. Canadian national security officials shared evidence with Indian officials at meetings in Dubai last year, in New Delhi and most recently in Singapore last week, the people said.
Mr. Nijjar was representing Mr. Panun in Canada as part of a global effort to organize a referendum on whether to establish an independent Sikh state in India called Khalistan. The referendum, which is non-binding and symbolic, has infuriated the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“They are,” Indian officials claimed.ambushed” by U.S. and Canadian government officials acting jointly.
In what appears to be a message partly aimed at domestic consumption, the Indian government said: continued to publicly demand Canadian sources said Canada presented evidence that Indian officials had already seen.
Multi-layered operation
The first wave of action by Canadian law enforcement investigating Indian government activities in Canada is the lowest and most replaceable of the alleged sabotage operations, people told CBC News. The focus was on criminal gang members who were charged with committing acts of violence.
The latest round of expulsions focuses on a higher level: diplomats, who enjoy a degree of immunity from arrest.
Sources say the operation is being conducted at the highest levels in New Delhi and includes senior Indian government officials, who are, of course, completely outside the reach of Canadian law enforcement. .
But there’s another level of RCMP oversight. He is an informant and criminal intermediary who is said to have gathered intelligence, conducted surveillance, and acted as a liaison between diplomats and the gunman.
Two men were charged with murder on November 4 in connection with the death of Ripdaman Singh Malik, who was acquitted of the 1985 Air India bombing and was shot to death in Surrey, British Columbia, on July 14, 2022. He is scheduled to stand trial for the crime.
Charges against co-defendants Jose Lopez and Tanner Fox have not been heard in court. The two men are not from India. Officials told CBC News that Fox is believed to have ties to organized crime in B.C. Fox is also on trial in a separate murder case unrelated to India.
Officials have said they believe the Indian government was involved in Malik’s death, but the prosecution’s case is not expected to delve deeper into links to New Delhi, relying instead on physical evidence against the two defendants. is.
Investigators have said they do not believe Mr. Lopez and Mr. Foxx were contracted directly by Indian diplomats or through a criminal intermediary.