Published 15:03 IST, October 26th 2024
Canada Declines NIA’s Request for Nijjar's Death Certificate As Row With India Spirals: Reports
Notably, the NIA was asked by Canada to give a reason for seeking Nijjar’s death certificate.
New Delhi: Justin Trudeau-led Canadian govt is yet to furnish the death certificate of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar despite several requests by the National Investigation Agency, according to media reports.
Ottawa had publicly alleged the involvement of Indian govt officials in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, an Indian-origin citizen of Canada who was killed in Surrey in June last year. Nijjar was accused in nine cases being investigated by NIA.
Notably, the NIA was asked by Canada to give a reason for seeking Nijjar’s death certificate.
The NIA had reached out to Canadian authorities for the documents to fulfil the legal requirement of updating the courts in India in view of the cases lying pending against him.
However, as per media reports, citing NIA sources, Canada posed some counter-queries, including why the death certificate of its citizen should be sought by India.
It is to be noted that Nijjar’s killing had sparked a diplomatic row between Indian and Canada with the latter alleging the role of Indian agencies, an allgation strongly dismiised by New Delhi.
Recently, tensions between the two nations escalated further after Canada named senior Indian diplomats as “persons of interest” in the Nijjar murder probe, and India retaliated by recalling those diplomats from the country.
The central probe agency is also yet to get success in securing an Interpol red-corner notice against another pro-Khalistan preacher and a designated terrorist, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who holds a US citizenship.
The NIA is probing six cases of Khalistani terror against Pannun and has attached three of his properties — across Chandigarh, Amritsar and Pathankot — so far on grounds of being proceeds of terrorism. Interestingly, there was an attempt on Pannun’s life in the US in New York in June 2023, prompting the US to claim the involvement of an Indian official.
Updated 15:23 IST, October 26th 2024