Canadian police accuse India of working with criminal network to kill dissidents

Canadian police have accused the Indian government of working with a criminal network run by one of India's most notorious gangsters, Lawrence Bishnoi, to carry out targeted killings of dissidents in Canada.

- Hannah Ellis-Petersen

A diplomatic row broke out between India and Canada on Monday after Canadian police accused Indian diplomats of "criminal" activities in the country, including extortion, intimidation, coercion and harassment, and involvement in targeted killings of Canadian citizens.

Canadian police said they had uncovered evidence that implicated India's top diplomat, Sanjay Verma, in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh activist who was gunned down outside a gurdwara in a suburb of Vancouver in June last year.

Canada's foreign minister, Mélanie Joly, also linked five other expelled Indian officials to Nijjar's assassination and said Canada had gathered "ample, clear and concrete evidence that identified six individuals as persons of interest in the Nijjar case".

India rejected the allegations as "ludicrous" and claimed they were part of a political agenda by the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau.

As tensions between the two countries hit new lows, they expelled each other's top diplomats. Among the allegations made by Canadian police is that Indian government agents had collaborated with a criminal syndicate run by India's powerful mob boss Bishnoi to carry out assassinations. They alleged that the south Asian community, "specifically pro-Khalistani elements", were being targeted by the Indian government.