Last Updated: September 20, 2023, 10:55 IST
A photograph of late temple president Hardeep Singh Nijjar is seen on a banner outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib in Surrey, British Columbia. (PTI)
An insider said Canada’s Intelligence agency CSIS is feeding Trudeau wrong information because they have hired radical agents on the ground
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is “misguided” and being fed “wrong information” by his Intelligence agencies on the Khalistan row, CNN-News18 has learnt from an insider.
As the diplomatic row between Canada and India hots up, CNN-News18 decoded the gang war that killed Khalistani sympathiser Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June this year and how false information is spoiling the relationship between the two countries.
An insider said Canada’s Intelligence agency CSIS is feeding Trudeau wrong information because they have hired radical agents on the ground. “These agents hired by CSIS are from Khalistani groups. They have been hired by top CSIS bosses and on the basis of information= received from them, CSIS prepares reports and sends them to Trudeau.”
The source said the Canadian prime minister is currently facing a dip in rankings as he is abused locally due to job losses and inflation. He is also unable to devote much time to official work due to his personal issues.
The insider added that all Khalistani leaders in his government like Sakhjeet Singh Sajjar, Sukh Dhariyal, and Navdeep Bains are blackmailing him, pushing him into a corner on the diplomatic row.
CSIS is known for covering up evidence in case of any state crime perpetrated by Khalistani groups. In the Air India blast that killed 329 people, CSIS cleared all audio recordings. Similarly, Tara Singh was killed by bullets.
The insider said the Canadians are blaming India when they should be coming clean on these investigations, including the murder of Ripudaman Singh who was killed by Nijjar and Gurpatwant Singh Pannu via a third party.
Two people aged 17-18 years were arrested for the crime but the Canadians never bothered to investigate the people behind the duo because they did not know Ripudaman.
Detailing the gang war that started the latest row, the source said Ripudaman took permission from Amritsar to print the Guru Granth Sahib and bought new printing machines.
After this, Nijjar — on behalf of the Surrey Gurdwara — also wanted to print 25 copies of the Guru Granth Sahib and was asked by Ripudaman to get permission from SGPC and then use his machines.
Though Nijjar got permission and took the machines from Ripudaman Singh, he never returned those.
After this, Ripudaman wrote a letter in praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi about closing the blacklist and punishment to people behind the 1984 riots.
This angered Nijjar and Pannu who threatened him and refused to return the machines. Soon after, Ripudaman was killed. Angered, his supporters killed Nijjar in retaliation.
The insider said the entire incident was a gang war and the Indian government had no role to play in it. The source added that the Canadians are accusing India “only to make Nijjar a hero”.
Canada and India have expelled a senior diplomat each after Trudeau alleged the involvement of “agents of the Indian government” in the killing of Nijjar in Surrey in June, claims outrightly rejected by New Delhi as “absurd” and “motivated”.
Canada-based Nijjar was designated a ‘terrorist’ by India under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in July 2020 and his property in the country was attached by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in September 2020.
Interpol Red Corner Notice was also issued against him in 2016. The local police of Surrey had also put Nijjar under house arrest temporarily in 2018 on suspicion of his terror involvement but he was released later.
Bilateral ties between India and Canada have been tense in recent months, especially after the latter cancelled trade talks.
Last week, a senior official said in New Delhi that negotiations for a free trade agreement between India and Canada will resume after the resolution of political issues between the two countries.