New Delhi [India]: Recalled Indian High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma, who was targeted by Justin Trudeau’s government as a ‘person of interest’ in the murder investigation of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar reiterated today that “not a shred of evidence was shared” with him by the Canadian authorities.
In an exclusive conversation with ANI, he said that Canada has “Zero, zilch, nothing” as evidence against alleged ‘India’s hand’ in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Stating that India is also an English-speaking country in a way, Verma also questioned the term “credible allegations,” which PM Justin Trudeau had used in the Canadian Parliament, saying, “What are credible allegations? Either they are credible or they are allegations.”
Verma further questioned the legal inaction of the Canadian government and emphasised the lack of legally acceptable evidence, saying, “Why have they not gone to the court of law in Canada?”
“Zero zilch. Nothing. So, so far what I have heard is what they keep saying in the media, credible allegations are there. No, come on. We are also an English-speaking country in a way. So, what are credible allegations? Either they are credible or they are allegations. So no evidence present, shared with us, no evidence, nothing which is judicially, legally acceptable presented to us. We are a country of the rule of law. So if you want to act upon the evidence then you give to us, it has to be legally acceptable,” Verma said.
Expressing his shock at the allegations made by Canada while investigating the case without providing any “evidentiary proof”, Verma said, “RCMP is the federal agency with federal oversight of investigations. So they are still conducting…nothing has been concluded. And that is what baffles me. How can a responsible head of government say what the investigations are going on, and what are the contents of the ongoing investigation? In most of the law-abiding country, this is a crime. That you are an official, you are a government official as the head of the government. And you are spilling the beans.”
Verma also asserted that the RCMP is still conducting the investigation. Reiterating his statement about why Canada has not approached the court, Verma said, “What is stopping them from presenting to their court of law a legally acceptable so-called evidence? So for all I know, there is no evidence. These are hearsay. So even if you look at the Foreign Interference Commission hearings, it’s going on, in the last phase. In most of the documents where India was mentioned, it says, in many instances, it says, this information is single-sourced,” Verma said.
The recalled Indian envoy further stated that Khalistani extremists and terrorists are all India baiters and they do not have an interest in better Canada-India relations.
“These Khalistani extremists and terrorists are all India baiters. They do not have an interest in Canada-India relations either on their mind, better Canada-India relations. So if you source your information like that without any corroboration, single-source information, you can draw whatever conclusion you want, but that cannot be treated as evidence,” he added.
Sanjay Verma was recalled from Canada after the country said he was a person of interest in the Hardeep Singh Nijjar murder case; however, he denied all charges levelled against him by Ottawa.
The ties between India and Canada soured after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged in the Canadian Parliament last year that he had “credible allegations” of India’s hand in the killing of Nijjar.
India has denied all the allegations, calling them “absurd” and “motivated” and has accused Canada of giving space to extremist and anti-India elements in their country.
Nijjar, who was designated a terrorist by India’s National Investigation Agency in 2020, was shot and killed outside a Gurdwara in Surrey in June last year.