The Canadian Police on Friday arrested members of an alleged hit squad suspected to have killed Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, according to a media report. Quoting sources close to the investigation, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that the police are actively investigating possible links to three additional murders in Canada, including the shooting death of an 11-year-old boy in Edmonton.
Members of the hit squad are alleged to have played different roles as shooters, drivers and spotters on the day Nijjar was killed at the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey in British Columbia, according to the sources. The men were arrested Friday during police operations in at least two provinces.
Sources said investigators identified the alleged hit squad members in Canada some months ago and have been keeping them under tight surveillance. Police are expected to announce the arrests and share some details of their investigation later Friday, the report said.
Nijjar, a designated terrorist in India, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen in British Columbia province on June 18 last year. Since Trudeau's allegations, India has suspended visa services for Canadians and previously expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move.
Earlier, a purported video footage of the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was designated a terrorist by the National Investigation Agency in 2020, surfaced online. In the video Nijjar is seen being shot by armed men in what has been described as a 'contract killing', Canada-based CBC News reported. The video showed Nijjar leaving the parking lot of the Gurdwara in his grey Dodge Ram pickup truck.
As he approached the exit, a white sedan pulled in front of him, blocking his truck. Two men then run up and shoot Nijjar before escaping in a silver Toyota Camry, CBC News reported. The two witnesses, who were playing soccer in a field nearby when the incident happened, revealed that they ran towards the place from where the gunshots were heard and also tried to chase the assailants.
(With inputs from PTI)
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