Fourth Man Arrested in Hardeep Nijjar Murder case was already facing firearm charges

BC investigators arrested a fourth individual, 22-year-old Amandeep Singh, for his role in the shooting death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar on May 11. The police informed that Singh was already in custody for unrelated firearms charges out of Peel Regional Police, Ontario.

Amandeep Singh appeared in court via audio conference as he is currently in an Ontario correctional facility. Lawyer Yogesh Gupta represented Singh in today’s hearing.

Bhupinder Singh Hothi, general secretary of Surrey’s Guru Nanak Gurdwara, who was outside the court with other members said, next court hearing is set up on May 21 at 9.30. He said it was the group’s intention to attend every court appearance.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) pursued the evidence and gained sufficient information for the BC Prosecution Service to charge Amandeep Singh with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Amandeep Singh is also an Indian national who resided in Brampton, Surrey, and Abbotsford.

Superintendent Mandeep Mooker, the Officer in Charge of IHIT said that the efforts and support of its partners, specifically the Abbotsford Police Department and the Central Region RCMP, assisted IHIT in mitigating a significant public safety risk related to 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.”

Mooker had emphasized earlier too that the arrest of the suspects in this high-profile case does not mean the investigation has ended. He said it remains an ongoing investigation.

Amandeep’s arrest marks the fourth arrest of an Indian national living in connection to Nijjar’s killing, with three others arrested in Edmonton earlier this month.

IHIT with the assistance of members from the BC and Alberta RCMP and the Edmonton Police Service arrested three other men on May 3rd after 10 months of investigation for the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar who was shot to death in the parking lot of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey in June 2023.

Three individuals were charged with first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in relation to the homicide: 22-year-old Karan Brar of Edmonton; 22-year-old Kamalpreet Singh of Edmonton; and 28-year-old Karanpreet Singh of Edmonton.

IHIT released photos of the accused men in hopes of furthering its investigation.

IHIT also released photographs of a Toyota Corolla, believed to have been used by the suspects in the time leading up to the homicide, in and around the Surrey area. Superintendent Mooker said that the investigation does not end here. “We are aware that there could be others out there that played a role in this homicide and we remain dedicated to identifying and arresting each one of them. I would like to thank the Nijjar family, the citizens of Surrey and the members of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Executive, for your patience and support throughout this investigation. I appreciate that the community still has questions, many of which we will not be able to answer at this time, as this investigation now proceeds through the courts system.”

Assistant Commissioner David Teboul in a statement said, that the police cannot comment about the nature of the evidence collected by police nor can we speak about the motive behind the murder of Mr. Nijjar. “However, understanding this situation has attracted considerable and very broad public interest, I will say this matter is still very much under active investigation. I will underscore that today’s announcements are not a complete account of the investigative work currently underway. There are separate and distinct investigations ongoing into these matters, certainly not limited to the involvement of the people arrested today, and these efforts include investigating connections to the Government of India.”

The police confirmed the arrested suspects were Indian nationals meaning they were not on PR or Canadian citizens. The Canadian officials including the immigration minister have not commented on the visa status of the killers, but according to many media reports they came to Canada on a student visa and had connections with India’s notorious Lawrence Bishnoi Gang.

According to Global News, one of the suspects entered Canada using a study permit that he said took only days to obtain. In a video posted online in 2019, Karan Brar said he applied for a student visa through EthicWorks Immigration Services in Bathinda, in India’s Punjab state.

The three suspects arrested before had already made their first court appearance in a BC court. The killers were not physically present but made the appearance by video.

Friends and family of slain Nijjar and supporters of Khalistan gathered outside Surrey’s provincial court house last Tuesday as the three men made their first court appearance. The Canadian government has suggested the Indian government is complicit in Nijjar’s assassination.

However, Indian Foreign Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar accused Ottawa of welcoming in criminals from India, in response to the RCMP arrests. He also called Canada the primary driver of what he described to be a violent movement of Sikhs seeking to carve their own country within India.