Canadian police arrest fourth man for murder of Sikh leader Nijjar

TORONTO (Reuters) – A fourth person has been arrested and charged with the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year, Canadian police said on Saturday, in a case that has strained diplomatic ties with India.

Canadian police arrested and charged three Indian men in the Alberta city of Edmonton earlier this month and said they were investigating whether the men had ties to the Indian government.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) announced Saturday that 22-year-old Amandeep Singh has been charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the killing of Nijjar.

Singh, an Indian citizen residing in Brampton, Surrey and Abbotsford, was already in custody in Peel, Ont., on unrelated firearms charges, according to IHIT.

Nijjar, 45, was shot in June outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, a Vancouver suburb with a large Sikh population. A few months later, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cited evidence of possible Indian government involvement, sparking a diplomatic crisis with New Delhi.

Nijjar was a Canadian citizen who advocated for the creation of Khalistan, an independent Sikh homeland carved out of India. The presence of Sikh separatist groups in Canada has long frustrated New Delhi, which had labeled Nijjar a “terrorist.”

(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Toronto; Editing by Alistair Bell)