The RCMP chief said the Mounties have strong evidence that the “highest levels” of the Indian government were involved in directing the violence and intimidation operation on Canadian soil.
“There is strong evidence, not information, but evidence that this is going to the highest level,” he told CBC. power and politics on friday.
“Some of the evidence I am referring to will eventually come to light through the judicial process.”
Duhem’s sit-down interview came more than a week after he announced the RCMP investigation at a press conference. The RCMP alleges Indian government agents have been complicit in a wide range of crimes in Canada, including murder, extortion and intimidation.
Duhem said there is police evidence that Indian diplomats and consular officials collect information and bring it to the Indian government, at which point instructions are given to criminal organizations to carry out acts of violence. said.
He said police had gathered evidence of a credible and imminent threat against members of the South Asian community, particularly members of the pro-Khalistan movement.
The federal government announced last week that it had expelled six Indian diplomats, including the high commissioner and chief envoy of India to Canada. India denies the accusations and quickly retaliated by expelling Canadian diplomats from the country.
“This is the first time in my 37-year career that I’ve actually seen this,” Duhem said Friday of the scale of the investigation. “We learned a lot from that.”
Canada has expelled six senior Indian diplomats after the RCMP said there was evidence that the Indian diplomats were involved in operations of intimidation, coercion and even murder on Canadian soil. . Andrew Chan breaks down what we know about Canada’s claims about the Indian government’s ties to organized crime and recent diplomatic escalations between the two countries.
Duhem said he believes the threat to South Asian communities has decreased since the RCMP went public.
“Based on the information we have, we truly believe we have had a significant impact on their operations,” he said.
“What I want to emphasize is that when you’re dealing with organized crime figures, you can deal with it, but they usually regroup and look for other tactics. But our investigators monitors everything that is happening on the ground.”
Mounties tried to report to Indian police: Mr. Duhame
At a press conference last week, the RCMP said it had warned 13 Canadians since September 2023 that they could be subject to harassment and intimidation by Indian agents. Some of those individuals have received multiple threats.
Duhem said he believed those people were now “in a better situation.”
Duhem said the Mounties first tried to share evidence with Indian police linking the crimes in Canada to senior members of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, but were unsuccessful.
Duhem said RCMP Deputy Commissioner Mark Flynn, who heads the federal police force, met with Indian government officials in Singapore earlier this month, along with Canada’s national security adviser Nathalie Drouhin and Deputy Foreign Minister David Morrison.
“At that meeting, the Deputy Commissioner discussed how Indian government officials, through diplomatic and consular officials, collect information on behalf of Canadians, bring it back to the Indian government, and how it flows through Canada. “We have presented evidence as to whether they are ‘providing executable items to organized crime groups,'” he said.
The Washington Post reported, based on anonymous sources, that the violence and intimidation campaign in Canada was approved by India’s Home Minister Amit Shah.
Duhem said he could not comment on the evidence.
India has denied collaborating with criminal organizations targeting Sikh separatists in Canada and accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of “political motives” behind the allegations.
