Footage of the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar has been made public for the first time, as it aired in a television news programme on Friday.
The video, taken from a surveillance camera providing a view of the parking lot of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib on the evening of June 18 last year, shows a white sedan blocking the path of the Dodge Ram pickup truck driven by Nijjar. As that happen, two persons, believed to be Nijjar’s killers, can be seen running towards the vehicle, before they escaped in a waiting Toyota Camry. The video was aired by the Government-funded outlet CBC News.
That video was also viewed by the outlet Globe and Mail which reported on it earlier in the week. “A senior federal source said the Trudeau government is frustrated that no arrests have been made,” the outlet reported.
The case is being handled by the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT). In a release in August, IHIT said investigators have said that a third person, the driver of a getaway vehicle, was involved in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a major pro-Khalistan figure in the country, on June 18 in the town of Surrey in the province of British Columbia.
In a release on Wednesday, the IHIT said it had confirmed that a 2008 silver Toyota Camry was used to drive away the two “heavy-set” and masked suspects in the killing. It had released a grainy image of the driver of the car, which was captured by CCTV in the vicinity.
In December, the Globe and Mail reported that two persons involved in the killing were under surveillance by Canadian law enforcement and that they could be arrested within weeks. On March 6, the Globe reported that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) “told the Government that they want to make sure the case will not fall apart at trial before arrests are made”, citing a source.
It also said “police will explain the alleged assassins’ involvement and that of the Indian government when charges are laid against the two men.”
Nijjar’s killing caused a rupture in relations between India and Canada after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated in the House of Commons on September 18 there were “credible allegations” of a potential link between Indian agents and the murder.
