According to reports from Canada-based global news, one of the suspects involved in the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar claimed in a social media video that he obtained entry into Canada on a ‘study permit’, which he acquired within a few days.
Karan Brar, the accused, stated in a video shared online in 2019 that he applied for a student visa through EthicWorks Immigration Services in Bathinda, Punjab, India. He mentioned receiving his study visa shortly after the application process, as per translations of his statement in Punjabi, as reported by Global News.
EthicWorks Immigration Services uploaded a promotional video and a picture of Brar, who the firm claimed hailed from Kotkapura, a city situated north of Bathinda, on their Facebook page.
“Congratulations Karan Brar for the Canada study visa,” the caption below the video read. “One more happy client from Kotkapura,” reported Global News.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller has declined to address inquiries regarding the entry of the suspects into Canada, although online records suggest that Brar arrived on a student permit three years prior to the incident.
Global News reported that, according to another Facebook page purportedly owned by Brar, he relocated to Edmonton on May 4, 2020, after commencing studies at Bow Valley College in Calgary on April 30, 2020. However, queries regarding this matter have not yet elicited a response from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
Brar, along with Karanpreet Singh, 28, and Kamalpreet Singh, 22, were apprehended in Edmonton on Friday and face charges of murder and conspiracy. They appeared in court in Surrey, British Columbia, on Tuesday.
According to the Globe and Mail, members of the Sikh Community from British Columbia packed a Surrey courtroom on Tuesday as the three Indian nationals accused of Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing made their initial court appearance via video.
As the trio, clad in orange jumpsuits, stood before the court, pro-Khalistani demonstrators outside the Surrey provincial court chanted slogans and brandished placards, laying blame on the Indian government for the killing.
The three individuals were apprehended in Edmonton last Friday and face charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy in connection with the June 2023 shooting of Nijjar, which severely strained Canada’s relations with India. Notably, tensions between India and Canada escalated after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Indian government operatives of orchestrating Nijjar’s killing.
However, India has dismissed these allegations as “absurd” and “motivated.” Hardeep Singh Nijjar, labeled a terrorist by India’s National Investigation Agency in 2020, was fatally shot as he exited a Gurdwara in Surrey in June of the following year. The emergence of a video depicting his killing in March this year portrayed Nijjar being gunned down by armed assailants in what has been characterized as a “contract killing.”
Last week, Canadian authorities released photographs of the three individuals arrested in connection with the killing of the India-designated terrorist Nijjar last year, amidst an ongoing investigation into alleged ties to the Indian government. Alongside images of the three suspects, Canadian police also disseminated pictures of the vehicle believed to have been utilized by the individuals in the period leading up to the homicide, within and around the Surrey area.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) of Surrey RCMP stated that on the morning of May 3, IHIT investigators, aided by members from the British Columbia and Alberta RCMP and the Edmonton Police Service, apprehended the three men for Nijjar’s killing in June 2023.
