OTTAWA(Canada): Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner, Mike Duheme on Monday (local time) claimed that they have information on certain criminal activity carried out by agents of the Government of India.
“Over the past few years and more recently, law enforcement agencies in Canada have successfully investigated and charged a significant number of individuals for their direct involvement in homicides, extortions & other criminal acts of violence. In addition, there have been well over a dozen credible imminent threats to life which have led to the conduct of duty to warn, by law enforcement with members of South Asian community and specifically, members of the pro-Khalistan movement,” the RCMP Commissioner said.
He said that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police created a multi-disciplinary team to investigate and coordinate efforts to combat this threat.
“In February 2024, the RCMP created a multi-disciplinary team to investigate and coordinate efforts to combat this threat. The team has learnt a significant amount of information on breadth and depth of criminal activity orchestrated by agents of the Government of India, in consequential threats to the safety and security of Canadians & individuals living in Canada. Despite law enforcement’s action, the harm has continued, posing a serious threat to our public safety. We reached a point where we felt that it was imperative to confront Govt of India and inform the public about some very serious findings that have been uncovered through our investigations,” he said.
Duheme alleged that there is an extremist threat in Canada which is impacting Canada and India’s ability to collaborate.
He said, “There is a violent, extremist threat in Canada that Canada and India have been working on over the years. However, these threats are impacting Canada and India’s ability to collaborate. Earlier this week, RCMP Deputy Commissioner of Federal Policing made attempt to meet with the Indian law-enforcement counterparts to discuss violent, extremist that occurred in Canada and India and present evidence pertaining to agents of the Government of India’s involvement in serious criminal activity here in Canada. Unfortunately, these attempts were unsuccessful. Therefore, Deputy Commissioner met with officials of the Govt of India, alongside the National Security and Intelligence Advisor and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs over the weekend,” he said.
The RCMP further claimed that investigations have revealed that Indian diplomats and consular officials based in Canada leveraged their official positions to engage in clandestine activities, such as collecting information for the Government of India, either directly or through their proxies; and other individuals who acted voluntarily or through coercion, the statement said.
This evidence, the Police claim, was presented directly to Government of India officials, urging their cooperation in stemming the violence and requesting our law enforcement agencies work together to address these issues..
New Delhi had earlier in the day “strongly” rejected a diplomatic communication from Canada suggesting that the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats were “persons of interest” in an investigation and termed it as “preposterous imputations” and part of the political agenda of the Justin Trudeau government.
In a hard-hitting statement, India said Prime Minister Trudeau’s hostility to India has long been in evidence and his government has consciously provided space to violent extremists and terrorists “to harass, threaten and intimidate Indian diplomats and community leaders in Canada”. (ANI)