Canadian police on Friday arrested three men over the killing of a Sikh separatist in Vancouver last year, whose death has been linked to the Indian government, local media reported.
The killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, which Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly linked to Indian intelligence, ignited a diplomatic firestorm between the two countries.
India dismissed the allegations as “absurd” and responded furiously, briefly curbing visas for Canadians and forcing Ottawa to withdraw diplomats.
Canadian broadcaster CBC, citing documents submitted in a western Canadian court, said Friday the three arrested men are facing first degree murder and conspiracy charges.
They are accused of being shooters, drivers and spotters on the day Nijjar was killed.
CBC said police were also investigating possible links to three more murders, including of an 11-year-old boy in Edmonton. Police are reportedly set to hold a press conference later Friday.
Nijjar, who immigrated to Canada in 1997 and became a citizen in 2015, advocated for a separate Sikh state carved out of India.
He was wanted by Indian authorities for alleged terrorism and conspiracy to commit murder.
Last June, he was shot dead by masked assailants in the parking lot of a Sikh temple near the west coast city of Vancouver.
Trudeau announced several months later that Canada had “credible allegations” linking Indian intelligence to the killing and expelled an Indian official, spurring the diplomatic tit-for-tat with New Delhi.
In November, the US Justice Department charged an Indian citizen living in the Czech Republic with allegedly plotting a similar assassination attempt on American soil.
Prosecutors said in unsealed court documents that an Indian government official was also involved in the planning.
The shock allegations came after US President Joe Biden hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a rare state visit, as Washington seeks closer ties with India against growing China’s growing influence.
US intelligence agencies have assessed that the plot on American soil was approved by India’s top spy official at the time, Samant Goel, the Washington Post reported this week.
Canada is home to some 770,000 Sikhs, who make up about two percent of the country’s population, with a vocal minority calling for creating a separate state of Khalistan.
The Sikh separatist movement is largely finished within India, where security forces used deadly force to put down an insurgency in the state of Punjab in the 1980s.