Ottawa: One of the suspects in the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, has said in a social media video that he entered Canada on a ‘study permit’ which only took him days to obtain, Canada-based global news reported.
The individual, identified as Karan Brar, stated in a video posted online in 2019 that he applied for a student visa through Ethic Works Immigration Services in Bathinda, Punjab, India. He mentioned receiving his study permit shortly afterward, as per a translation of his Punjabi-language statement provided by Global News.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller has refrained from addressing inquiries regarding the suspects’ entry into Canada. However, online posts suggest that Brar arrived in the country on a student permit three years before the incident.
Brar supposedly relocated to Edmonton on May 4, 2020, after commencing his studies at Bow Valley College in Calgary on April 30, 2020. Nevertheless, queries pertaining to this matter remain unanswered by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
Brar, along with two others named Karanpreet Singh and Kamalpreet Singh, was apprehended in Edmonton last Friday. They face charges of murder and conspiracy and made their initial court appearance in Surrey, British Columbia, on Tuesday.
During the court session, members of the Sikh community from British Columbia filled the courtroom, while pro-Khalistani demonstrators gathered outside, chanting slogans and displaying placards, according to a report by Globe and Mail, a Canadian news website.
The accused individuals, clad in orange jumpsuits, appeared before the court via video link. The arrest of these three individuals is related to the shooting of Nijjar in June 2023, which strained relations between Canada and India.
Last year, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused agents of the Indian government of Nijjar’s killing, an allegation dismissed by India as “absurd” and “motivated.” Nijjar, designated as a terrorist by India’s National Investigation Agency in 2020, was fatally shot outside a Gurdwara in Surrey in June the following year.
The killing, characterized as a “contract killing,” was captured in a video that surfaced in March. Canadian authorities released photographs of the arrested individuals, along with images of the vehicle believed to have been used by the suspects leading up to the homicide, as part of an ongoing investigation conducted by the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) of Surrey RCMP.
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