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SURREY, British Columbia (AP) — At least six men and two vehicles were involved in the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside his place of worship, according to video and witness statements reviewed by The Washington Post, suggesting a larger and more organized operation has already been reported.
Members of the local Sikh community, meanwhile, say authorities have told them little about their investigation into the June 18 murder outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara here. They say police were slow to arrive on the scene and disagreements between authorities led to further delays. Several business owners and residents near the gurdwara said investigators were not on site to ask questions or request security videos.
In a bombshell announcement last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Canada’s House of Commons that authorities were investigating “credible allegations” that Indian government agents were involved in the murder. The allegations were based in part on information gathered by one of Canada’s partners in the Five Eyes intelligence alliance.
Nijjar, 45, the president of the gurdwara, was a leader of the Khalistan movement, which The aim is to establish an independent Sikh state in the Indian region of Punjab. He received death threats, his family said.
The Khalistan movement is banned in India; In July 2022, India’s National Investigation Agency accused him of conspiring to murder a Hindu priest in Punjab and described him as a “fugitive terrorist”. But Narendra Modi’s government has dismissed claims it played any role in his death as “absurd”. New Delhi says Trudeau’s comments were intended to divert attention from what it said was the real problem: Canada harboring people India considers terrorists.
Nijjar’s murder was filmed by a gurdwara surveillance camera. The video was made available to investigators.
A 90-second recording of the video reviewed by The Post begins with Nijjar’s gray Ram pickup pulling out of a parking space. A white sedan appears in an adjacent parking lot, stops and drives parallel to the truck.
The vehicles are initially separated by a sidewalk. When the truck accelerates, the sedan adapts to its pace. Then the truck pulls into the sedan’s path and for a moment they are side by side.
As the vehicles approach the parking lot exit, the sedan pulls up and brakes to block the truck.
Two men in hoodies emerge from under a covered waiting area and walk toward the truck. Everyone points a gun at the driver’s seat. The limo leaves the parking lot and drives out of sight. Then the two men walk in the same direction.
Bhupinderjit Singh, a gurdwara volunteer, was playing football about 100 meters away at Kabbadi Park when he heard what he initially thought were fireworks.
“My second thought was shots — and our president,” he said.
Singh was the first witness to reach Nijjar’s truck. He opened the driver’s door, he said, and grabbed Nijjar by the shoulders. The gurdwara leader didn’t appear to be breathing.
Community members say investigators told them the attackers fired about 50 bullets. Thirty-four hit Nijjar.
“There was blood and broken glass everywhere,” Singh said. “The ground was littered with bullets.” Soon Gurmeet Singh Toor, another Gurdwara leader, pulled up in his pickup truck. Singh got in and they drove off in pursuit of the gunmen.
Malkit Singh, a Gurdwara committee member who also played soccer, saw two hooded men running toward neighboring Cougar Creek Park. He chased her through the park.
Malkit Singh said he did not recognize the men. He described them as people wearing “a Sikh outfit,” with hoodies pulled over small pughs on their heads and masks over their “bearded faces.” One of them, just over 5 feet tall and strong, struggled to run fast, Malkit Singh said. The other was about 10cm taller and slimmer.
The men ran out of the park into a dead end, he said, and got into a waiting silver car.
Three other men were waiting in the silver car, he said. He couldn’t see their faces.
“One of [running] “A man pointed his gun at me just before he got into the car,” he said. “The smell of gunpowder in the air shocked me and reminded me how dangerous they were.” The five men drove away.
Malkit Singh’s phone rang. It was Bhupinderjit Singh who told him that Nijjar was dead.
Toor, one of Nijjar’s closest friends, described the shock.
“They entered our house and killed our leader,” he said.
Charanjeet Singh, the caretaker of the gurdwara, stayed with Nijjar’s body. He saw men he didn’t know videotaping the crime scene. Within minutes, news of the murder spread on social media.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said police received an initial report of the shooting at 8:27 p.m
Witnesses told the Post that it took between 12 and 20 minutes for the first police officers to arrive after the shooting. Community members called the time span shocking considering how many police officers regularly patrol the neighborhood.
When officers actually arrived, Bhupinderjit Singh said: “There was an hours-long standoff between Surrey Police and the RCMP. They couldn’t decide who would lead the investigation, so there was a delay.”
Asked about Bhupinderjit Singh’s claim, the Surrey Police Service referred The Post to the RCMP. Neither the RCMP nor its homicide investigation team responded to the Post’s questions.
On July 21, more than a month after the shooting, authorities asked the public for help identifying the two gunmen. On Aug. 16, they asked for help identifying a silver 2008 Toyota Camry and its driver.
The post office visited 39 businesses and homes on the attackers’ escape route. The majority of respondents said they had not been contacted by authorities.
Authorities have not spoken publicly about the white sedan or who may have driven it. They also did not mention the two other men that Malkit Singh allegedly saw in the getaway car.
Community members say they are most concerned that authorities did not provide Nijjar with better protection before the murder and that they have received little information since.
“My father demanded more police surveillance around the gurdwara so that the entire community is safer,” said Balraj Singh Nijjar, 21-year-old son of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Police said they were investigating the case, but to his knowledge no action had been taken.
Like the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported, Canadian authorities have resorted to human and signals intelligence to support their claims of Indian government involvement. This intelligence includes intercepted communications from Indian diplomats, some on Canadian soil.
The threats against Nijjar’s life were well known in the community. Some gurdwara members told the Post that they became worried when they saw him driving alone. His son said he wished he could have driven a bulletproof car, which is illegal in British Columbia, or worn a vest, which requires a permit. Moninder Singh, spokesman for the British Columbia Sikh Gurdwara Council, said Nijjar’s mechanic recently found a tracker in the wheel well of his truck.
Moninder Singh says federal authorities told him that his name, like Nijjar’s, was on a “hit list,” but neither was given any further information. Moninder said he wasn’t sure whether federal authorities passed the information on to local authorities.
A spokesman for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service said the agency could not comment on information sharing with authorities.
However, now that the Prime Minister has spoken out, he is more confident of getting answers, said Malkit Singh.
“Until Trudeau’s announcement last week, I had zero percent confidence that they would solve this case,” he said. “They interviewed me a total of once and haven’t told us anything for months.
“But last week things changed. If Trudeau has finally realized that India is behind this, then the investigators must be doing something right.”
Jasminder Singh, Amanda Coletta, Sarah Cahlan, Jan Ludwig and Jon Swaine contributed to this report.