A few adult men were arrested Friday and charged in the killing of a Sikh chief in British Columbia, which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India of orchestrating, fraying relations among the two nations.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh nationalist and Canadian citizen, was gunned down very last June by two masked assailants in the parking large amount of the temple in Surrey, British Columbia, the place he was president, in accordance to the police.

A few men, all Indian nationals in their 20s, ended up all arrested in Edmonton, Alberta and charged with initially-diploma murder and conspiracy to dedicate murder. Police recognized the adult males as Karan Brar, Kamalpreet Singh and Karanpreeet Singh.

The police claimed the men had been dwelling in Canada 3 to 5 decades and were not long lasting people of Canada, but would not comment on their immigration status.

Many other investigations are ongoing and incorporate exploring links to the Indian government’s involvement, explained Assistant Commissioner David Teboul of the Royal Canadian Mounted Law enforcement, including that the partnership with Indian investigative associates experienced been complicated.

Mr. Nijjar was a leader in the local Khalistan motion, which seeks to develop a separate Sikh nation in India that involves the northern condition of Punjab.

He was born in Punjab and moved to Canada in the warmth of India’s crackdown on Sikh leaders in the 1990s, according to Indian media stories. He was the leader of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple in Surrey, a metropolis outside the house Vancouver that is residence to a person of the most significant Sikh populations in Canada.

The Indian federal government experienced labeled Mr. Nijjar a terrorist in 2020, and termed for his arrest.

His killing established off diplomatic skirmishes in between Canada and India, following Mr. Trudeau accused India of being included in the killing on Canadian soil. The Indian government strongly denied the accusation, which led both of those nations to expel senior diplomats.

Mr. Nijjar had been a person of quite a few Sikh local community members warned about threats on their lifestyle by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Jagmeet Singh, leader of the federal New Democratic Social gathering who represents a British Columbia district, testified past thirty day period at a overseas interference inquiry that he experienced also been warned by the law enforcement of probable threats versus his lifestyle.

The community inquiry, which sent its interim report on Friday, was founded previous September following escalating political force towards Mr. Trudeau to examine allegations that nations around the world like China and India have interfered in Canadian elections.

The report identified that Indian intelligence officers use proxies in Canada to impact communities and politicians, with a unique interest in the Khalistan motion.

The arrest of the men accused of carrying out Mr. Nijjar’s killing will give very little comfort and ease to the Sikh group if Indian officers implicated in the killing and other interference pursuits are also not held accountable, reported Balpreet Singh Boparai, a Toronto-based attorney at the Globe Sikh Corporation of Canada.

“We just hope that Canada has the guts to be transparent and recognize individuals individuals who are at the rear of this plot,” he said.

Other than a map outlining the getaway vehicle’s route and some grainy photographs of the assailants, the police investigating Mr. Nijjar’s murder about the previous 12 months have introduced minimal information and facts on their progress.

In December, sources who spoke to The Globe and Mail, a Canadian newspaper, stated arrests were imminent, but the passing months experienced left some in the local community worried that Mr. Nijjar’s just one-year loss of life anniversary in June would pass with no resolution.

“We would not be at this place devoid of the bravery and the bravery of the Sikh group coming forward,” stated Superintendent Mandeep Mooker, a homicide investigator for the Mounties.

Mihika Agarwal contributed reporting from Surrey, British Columbia.