Canadian police investigators have found no evidence linking Indian government officials to the 2023 killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, according to Deputy Commissioner Lisa Moreland of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Speaking to Canada's CBC News, Moreland stated that "there's no evidence to suggest through this organised crime investigation and the charges and the indictment laid forward that Indian officials were charged or involved." The investigation directly contradicts previous allegations made by then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that severely strained bilateral relations between India and Canada. However, Moreland noted that "investigations are still underway," suggesting the case remains active despite the latest findings.
The investigation resulted in US authorities charging jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and his aide Satinderjeet Singh alias Goldy Brar of ordering Nijjar's assassination. Under the coordinated operation named 'Operation Hardball', law enforcement agencies from the US, Canada and Europe arrested 24 people for their alleged links to three India-based organised crime groups, including the Bishnoi gang. The charges included orchestrating Nijjar's murder as well as various other cross-border organised crime activities. According to the latest indictment, Bishnoi, who has been incarcerated since 2015, directed the operation from an Indian jail cell using smuggled mobile phones and allegedly provided a co-conspirator with a photo and Nijjar's multiple addresses to enable the killing. The FBI subsequently issued a federal warrant and offered a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to Brar's arrest.
The investigation findings come after India recalled its high commissioner and five other diplomats in October 2024 following Ottawa's attempts to link them to the Nijjar case. India also expelled an equal number of Canadian diplomats and accused Ottawa of allowing pro-Khalistani elements to operate from Canadian soil. However, the relations began recovering after Liberal Party leader Mark Carney's victory in the parliamentary election in April last year, with both sides posting high commissioners in each other's capitals and agreeing to revive several mechanisms to advance relations. The breakthrough came in June 2025 when the two nations agreed to normalise relations, marking the end of one of the sharpest downturns in India-Canada ties.
Nijjar was the chief of the separatist organisation Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and the head of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib in Surrey, Canada, according to the latest reports. A Canadian resident since 1997, he was married with two sons and was wanted in connection with an attack on a Hindu priest in Jalandhar in 2021, as well as in connection with the December 2020 protests against the farm laws. The investigation revealed that the Bishnoi gang has been involved in extortions, drug trafficking, kidnapping and violence in Canada and elsewhere. While Bishnoi has been in jail in India since 2015, the FBI announced a reward of USD 50,000 for information leading to Goldy Brar's arrest. The crackdown was part of a years-long federal investigation into Indian crime syndicates engaged in targeted killings, shootings, extortion, drugs trafficking and other crimes around the world, with 37 defendants charged across three indictments.
