British spy call intercepts had helped the Canadian authorities conclude there were alleged links between India and the killing of pro-Khalistan separatist figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023, a new documentary released this week has claimed.
Delhi has, in the past, rejected the allegations of its involvement in the killing, calling them “absurd” and “politically motivated”.
Since June this year, New Delhi and Ottawa have been working towards rebuilding their relationship after Mark Carney replaced Justin Trudeau as the Prime Minister of Canada in May.
The documentary, Inside the Deaths that Rocked India’s Relations with the West, by Bloomberg Originals reports that a British intelligence agency – believed to be the UK’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), often referred to as the country’s listening post – intercepted calls that appeared to be discussing three targets.
Nijjar, a Canadian Sikh designated a terrorist by India in 2020 for pro-Khalistan activities, was allegedly among the names on the intelligence passed on to the Canadian authorities under the Five Eyes agreement between the UK, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. This, according to sources, underlines that the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network had helped piece together the information.
In July 2023, there was a “breakthrough” in the Nijjar murder investigation when the UK obtained “relevant information”, the video documentary claims.
The British intelligence would only be shared under strict conditions: hand-delivered to Ottawa and kept off electronic systems, and only a handful of Canadian officials, pre-approved by London, could see it, it is claimed in the documentary.
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“The file was a summary of conversations, intercepted by a British intelligence agency, between individuals who analysts believe were working on behalf of the Indian government,” the documentary claims.
“They had discussed three potential targets: Nijjar, (Avtar Singh) Khanda and (Gurpatwant Singh) Pannun. Later, there was an exchange about how Nijjar had been successfully eliminated,” it alleges.
Khanda, a British Sikh pro-Khalistani activist, died in June 2023 at a hospital in Birmingham. He was terminally ill with blood cancer and, despite allegations from some groups in the UK, the British authorities ruled there were “no suspicious circumstances” surrounding the death.
In the wake of the documentary, Sikh Federation UK said it has written to security minister Dan Jarvis to demand why the British government has intelligence from July 2023 that it has not shared or referred to “when specifically asked by MPs representing the Sikh community.” In a letter, it has stated: “We are particularly concerned about British intelligence…that is relevant to the mysterious death of Avtar Singh Khanda.”
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US-based Pannun, designated a terrorist by India for his Khalistani extremism, has also been interviewed in the documentary in which he is seen surrounded by armed bodyguards and claiming to be in fear for his life.
Earlier, New Delhi had termed the Canadian allegations a “deliberate strategy of smearing India for political gains.” The issue triggered a massive diplomatic row when the then PM Trudeau made a statement in the Canadian Parliament in 2023 that its security forces were “actively pursuing credible allegations” linking Indian government agents to the murder of Nijjar in British Columbia.
Carney has, since May, maintained that the investigations and judicial process is underway and has not made any categorical comments on the nature of the investigations — keeping an arm’s length from the law enforcement and judiciary.
That has led to a thaw in the bilateral ties.
(With PTI inputs from London)
