4th Indian national arrested, charged with murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar

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Homicide investigators in B.C. say murder charges have been laid against a fourth Indian national in connection to the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a Surrey gurdwara last year.

Amandeep Singh has been charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, the Lower Mainland's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team announced Saturday afternoon.

The 22-year-old was already in custody in Ontario for unrelated firearms charges, according to IHIT.

Amandeep Singh joins three others – 22-year-old Karan Brar, 22-year-old Kamalpreet Singh, and 28-year-old Karanpreet Singh – who are facing the same charges in connection to Nijjar's killing.

Those three were arrested in Edmonton earlier this month.

Amandeep Singh has resided in Brampton, Ont., Surrey and Abbotsford, police said.

Homicide investigators thanked the Abbotsford Police Department and Ontario's Central Region RCMP for their assistance in gathering evidence leading to the latest arrest and charges, saying they helped "mitigate a significant public safety risk related to Amandeep Singh."

“This arrest shows the nature of our ongoing investigation to hold responsible those that played a role in the homicide of Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” said Supt. Mandeep Mooker, the officer in charge of IHIT, in Saturday's update.

Nijjar was shot and killed outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey on June 18, 2023.

The murder shocked and angered many in the local Sikh community, who saw the killing as a politically motivated assassination conducted on behalf of the Indian government because of Nijjar's outspoken support for Sikh independence.

Nijjar was an organizer of an unofficial referendum among the Sikh diaspora that sought to gauge support for the creation of an independent Sikh homeland known as Khalistan, which would include territory that is currently the Indian state of Punjab.

In the months after the homicide, investigators steadfastly refused to comment on the suspected motive, but in September 2023, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that national security authorities were investigating "credible allegations" of a link between the killing and the government of India.

India has denied the allegations, and diplomatic relations between the two countries have been strained for months.