NEW DELHI—India and Canada expelled six of each others’ diplomats in tit-for-tat moves after Ottawa accused Indian government agents of links to the 2023 murder of a Sikh separatist leader near Vancouver.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), which is investigating the case at the heart of Monday’s rupture in ties, accused Indian government agents of being linked to an organised crime group called the “Bishnoi group.”
India’s top investigative body, the National Investigation Agency, describes the group as a criminal gang headed by Lawrence Bishnoi, whose lawyer says he contests more than 40 cases accusing him of crimes such as murder and extortion, with many trials yet to begin.
India has not reacted to the accusations of links between government officials and the Bishnoi group. The foreign ministry did not respond to a Reuters query for comment.
India has previously rejected as “preposterous” all Canadian accusations about the murder.
Born in the northern state of Punjab, Bishnoi is short and lean, sporting a beard and moustache when seen in public for court appearances.
In statements, the NIA has said he runs his syndicate from jails in different states, as well as countries such as Canada, through associates, who have been in contact with “pro-Khalistani” elements in neighbouring Nepal and other countries.
However, Bishnoi has said he opposes Khalistan, or the demand for an independent Sikh state, and was not “anti-national”, in an interview with a private news channel last year.
The NIA has said they want to unleash a wave of terror through targeted killings of well-known social and religious leaders, movie stars, singers and businessmen.
Some high-profile cases include the 2022 killing of a popular Punjabi rapper named Sidhu Moose Wala, which the NIA laid at the door of Bishnoi’s associates.
Police, who arrested more than 20 people, have named Bishnoi as a key suspect, media have said.
In a video released by media channels, Bishnoi threatened to kill actor Salman Khan, an icon of India’s Bollywood film industry, in 2018. Shots were fired near Khan’s house this year. Bishnoi has not commented on the matter, however.
The police arrested two gunmen for an attack they later said was at the behest of Bishnoi’s group.
On Saturday, gunmen in the business capital of Mumbai shot dead a lawmaker named Baba Siddique before fleeing.
He has contested the accusations, with trials in many of these cases yet to start, she added.
