No action from Canada on India's request to arrest Lawrence Bishnoi gang members: MEA

New Delhi: After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government accused the diplomats and other officials of India of being in collusion with Lawrence Bishnoi’s criminal network in Canada, New Delhi on Thursday turned the table alleging that no action had been taken on information it had shared with Ottawa on the operations of the gang in the North American country.

New Delhi alleged that Ottawa had not acted on its requests for the extradition of as many as 26 fugitives of India from Canada, although they included not only Khalistani Sikh terrorists, like Gurjeet Singh, Gurjinder Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Lakhbir Singh Landa, and Arshdeep Singh Gill, but also members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.

Justin Trudeau’s government had also not followed up on several other provisional arrest warrants issued by India against fugitives, who had fled to Canada, Randhir Jaiswal, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said in New Delhi.

“We had shared security-related information with the Canadian government regarding gang members including those of Lawrence Bishnoi gang and requested them to arrest them (criminals)...So far, no action has been taken by the Canadian side on our request,” Jaiswal said during the MEA’s weekly briefing for media persons on Thursday. “We find it really strange that now people who we wanted to be deported or action to be taken, we are being told that, RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) is blaming the Indian side for the crimes committed by these people in Canada," he added.

“This is a contradiction of terms which we don’t understand,” said the MEA spokesperson.

His comment came three days after New Delhi decided to withdraw its envoy to Ottawa, Sanjay Kumar Verma, and five of his colleagues after Canada conveyed to India that they had been identified as “persons of interest” in the police investigation into the killing of the Nijjar at the parking lot of a gurdwara in the British Columbia province North American country on June 18, 2023.

Ottawa said that it had to expel Verma and five other officials of India as New Delhi was not ready to waive their diplomatic immunity to clear the way for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to bring them within the ambit of the probe. New Delhi also retaliated by expelling six diplomats of Canada, including its acting High Commissioner to India, Stewert Wheeler, and Deputy High Commissioner Patrick Hebert.

Trudeau alleged in Ottawa on Wednesday that India’s diplomats and other officials posted in his country had been collecting information about the citizens of Canada opposed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in New Delhi and passed on that information to criminal organisations like the one led by gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) also alleged that the agents of the Government of India had been in collusion with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang for the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar at the parking lot of a gurdwara in the British Columbia province of the North American Country.

“Canadians who are opponents of Modi government, their information was passed to the Indian government at the highest level and then information directed through criminal organisations like the Lawrence Bishnoi gang resulted in violence against Canadians on the ground,” Trudeau said on Wednesday testifying before a commission conducting a public inquiry into the allegations of foreign interference in federal electoral processes and democratic institutions. “We wanted to question Indian diplomats, but they did not waive their diplomatic immunity which is why we had to ask them to leave."

He also said that when Canadian agencies asked India to look into the allegations, New Delhi sought proof. "At that point, it was primarily intelligence, not hard evidentiary proof," said the prime minister of Canada.

“What we have heard only confirms what we have been saying consistently all along – Canada has presented us no evidence whatsoever in support of the serious allegations that it has chosen to level against India and Indian diplomats. The responsibility for the damage that this cavalier behaviour has caused to India-Canada relations lies with Prime Minister Trudeau alone," Jaiswal said in New Delhi on Thursday.

He criticised the Trudeau Government for repeatedly citing “freedom of speech” as an excuse for not acting against the Khalistani Sikh extremists running an anti-India campaign in Canada. "They have brought forth the idea of freedom of speech and said, they can't do anything in this regard. This is baseless from our side," he added.

"On Lawrence Bishnoi gang, other gangs, syndicates, a few years ago and recently too, have told Canada and requested for their provisional arrests. So, far no action has been taken, neither any arrest made," the MEA spokesperson said.