Even as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accused India of being involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, which India has refuted as “motivated and absurd", a report by The Washington Post has highlighted the slow response, turf battle and botched investigation into the case.
The Washington Post has reviewed a 90-second video, which has been shared with the investigators, and spoken to witnesses.
Nijjar, 45, the president of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, was gunned down outside its parking lot on June 18. Community members say investigators told them that the assailants fired about 50 bullets, of which 34 hit Nijjar.
THE VIDEO SHOWS AN ORGANISED ATTACK
According to the Post, the video shows Nijjar’s grey pickup truck pulling out of a parking space, with a white sedan from an adjacent lot driving parallel. Once the vehicles approach the parking lot exit, the sedan blocks the truck. Two men in hooded sweatshirts emerge and point a firearm at the driver’s seat. The sedan and the two men then exit the parking lot.
Bhupinderjit Singh, a volunteer at the gurdwara, who was playing soccer roughly 100 yards away in Kabbadi Park, was the first to reach the truck and realise that Nijjar was dead. Soon, Gurmeet Singh Toor, another gurdwara leader, pulled up in his pickup truck. Both of them then drove off in search of the assailants.
Malkit Singh, a gurdwara committee member, who was also playing soccer, saw two hooded men running towards the neighbouring Cougar Creek Park and get into a waiting silver car. Three other men were waiting inside. He told the Post that he couldn’t see their faces clearly, but one of the two shooters pointed a gun at him before getting into the car and driving off.
He then got a call from Bhupinderjit Singh, saying that Nijjar has been shot dead. Charanjeet Singh, the gurdwara’s caretaker, stayed with Nijjar’s body.
THE JURISDICTION CONFUSION
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s (RCMP) Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said they received a first report of the shooting at 8.27 pm. Witnesses told The Post it took between 12 and 20 minutes for the police to arrive, which they found shocking, considering the regular patrolling in the area.
Even after the officers arrived, according to Bhupinderjit Singh, there was an hours-long tussle between the Surrey police and RCMP on who would head the probe. The Post said that neither the RCMP nor its homicide investigation team responded to the claim.
BOTCHED PROBE?
The authorities on July 21 asked the public for help in identifying the two gunmen, while on August 16, they asked for help identifying a silver 2008 Toyota Camry and driver.
According to the Post, a majority of the 39 businesses and homes along the path of the assailants said they had not been contacted by the authorities. They have also not discussed publicly the sedan or the men in it, as claimed by Malkit Singh.
CALLOUS ATTITUDE?
Community members, meanwhile, wondered why Nijjar was not given more protection, which his son Balraj Singh Nijjar said they had sought, given the death threats.
His son said he wished he could have driven a bulletproof car, which is illegal in British Columbia, or worn a vest, for which a permit is required.
Moninder Singh, the spokesman of the British Columbia Sikh Gurdwara Council, told the Post that Nijjar’s mechanic recently found a tracker in the wheel well of his truck. Moninder Singh said the federal authorities told him that his name, like Nijjar’s, has appeared on a hit list, but have not given any more information or told him whether it has been shared with the local authorities.
Malkit Singh said that he was interviewed only once, and got no update so far.
Comments
0 comment