NEW DELHI: The arrest of three India nationals by the Canadian police for their alleged role in the killing of Khalistani operative Hardeep Singh Nijjar is likely to confirm the assessment of Indian authorities that Nijjar’s killing was the fallout of a gang war and a fight for the control of the resource-rich gurdwaras of Canada. The Canadian government under Justin Trudeau, for the last one year, under pressure from Sikh radical groups and Khalistani pressure groups, has been claiming that Nijjar was killed by Indian intelligence operatives.

Apart from leading the Khalistan Tiger Force, which has been banned by Government of India and being a prominent member of another banned terrorist group, Sikhs For Justice, Nijjar was also the president of the Guru Nanak Sikh gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. After his death, videos and pictures showing him carrying automatic assault rifles and taking part in training exercises had emerged.

Sikh gurdwaras receive huge donations from various quarters, some of which is then given by the office bearers to local politicians to be on their good side. These office bearers too are given preferential treatment by local politicians because of the influence they hold over the Sikh voters.

These office bearers, apart from handling the affairs of the gurdwaras, carry out their own businesses which includes mediating over disputes between two parties.

On Friday night, the Canadian police announced the arrest of the 22-year-old Karan Brar, Kamal Preet Singh and 28-year-old Karan Preet Singh from Edmonton, Alberta.

Ottawa-based local sources told The Sunday Guardian that the three were a part of a hit-squad that has carried out similar murders in the last one year.

The three had entered Canada at different points since 2021 as “international students” and were involved in criminal activities since then.

Sources said that these three were also likely to be involved in a November 2023 shootout that took place in Edmonton in which a 41-year-old Harpreet Singh Uppal and his 11-year-old son were shot dead on 9 November. Uppal was a high ranking member of a criminal syndicate involved in a drug trade and had escaped a similar attack in October 2021 after he and his family members were fired at by unidentified gunmen while having dinner at a restaurant in Edmonton.

One day before, on 8 November, Parmvir Singh Chahil, a 27-year-old member of “United Nations group” formed in 1979, was shot dead in Toronto.

On 20 September, another Canada based gangster who had fled India in 2017, Sukhdool Singh Gill alias Sukha Duneke was shot dead in Winnipeg. He was a senior member of Davinder Bambiha gang and a close associate of Arshdeep Singh, better known as Arsh Dala, another member of the Bambiha gang. Bambiha, 25, was shot dead in a police encounter at Gill Kalan near Rampura, Bathinda in September 2016. However, his gang members continue to operate across Canada and the United States.

The Bambiha gang and a criminal syndicate led by another gangster, Lawrence Bishnoi, who has been in the custody of Indian authorities since 2014, have been killing each member for supremacy and revenge.

Members of both these gangs have tied up with local gangs in the respective countries to pool their resources and the Punjabi youth, who are migrating to Canada in large numbers, are considered by them as an easy pool to pick and recruit them as lower level operators for which they are assured money, drugs and access to sex workers.

While the Canadian police have not yet confirmed whether these four killings—that of Nijjar, Uppal, Gill and Chahil—were carried out by the same group members that were arrested on Friday, sources said that all them were linked and happened because of turf war and/or retribution.

Emails sent to Canadian officials seeking a response on whether they have been able to uncover the links between these four murders did not elicit a response till the time this report went to press.

In 2023, Edmonton had recorded 200-plus shooting incidents, most of them targeted shooting, a rise of more than 50% over 2022.

Canada has a long history of experiencing gang wars, which is attributed to the political patronage that these gangs receive from local officials and politicians. In the 1990s, all major Canadian cities were reeling under mob violence, with “Hells Angels” and “Blood Family Mafia” who were majorly into drug trafficking, becoming household names.

Now, they have been replaced with local Canadian gangs who are actively working with their Indian counterparts while expanding their operations to other countries.

(Agencies)