Expelled Indian high commissioner denies involvement in murder of Sikh leader in Canada

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — India’s high commissioner to Canada has denied any involvement in the murder of a Canadian Sikh leader who was killed in British Columbia last year even though the Canadian government has named him as a person of interest in the assassination.

Sanjay Kumar Verma, who was expelled last Monday along with five other Indian diplomats, said in an interview on CTV’s Question Period Sunday that the allegations are politically motivated.

“Nothing at all,” Verma said when asked if he had any role in in the shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar who was killed outside a cultural center in Surrey, British Columbia on June 18, 2023. “No evidence presented. Politically motivated.”

Four Indian nationals living in Canada were charged with Nijjar’s murder and are awaiting trial.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police went public this week with allegations that Indian diplomats were targeting Sikh separatists in Canada by sharing information about them with their government back home. They said top Indian officials were then passing that information to Indian organized crime groups who were targeting the activists, who are Canadian citizens, with drive-by shootings, extortions and even murder.

Verma denied the Indian government was targeting Sikh separatists in Canada.

“I, as high commissioner of India, have never done anything of that kind,” he said.

Any action taken by Indian officials in Canada was “overt,” said Verma.

In the interview Verma condemned Nijjar’s death.

“Any murder is wrong and bad,” he said. “I do condemn.”

Verma also pushed back on comments made by Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly that compared India to Russia. She said Canada’s national police force has linked