Toronto: One of the suspects in the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, has said in a social media video that he entered Canada on a ‘study permit’ which only took him days to obtain, Canada-based global news reported.
The accused, Karan Brar, in a video posted online in 2019, said he applied for a student visa through EthicWorks Immigration Services in Bathinda, in the Indian state of Punjab.
He said he received his study visa days later, according to a translation of his Punjabi-language statement, as per Global News.
The promotional video and a picture of Brar, who the firm claimed was from Kotkapura, a city north of Bathinda, were uploaded on EthicWorks’ Facebook page. “Congratulations Karan Brar for the Canada study visa,” the caption below the video read.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller has declined to answer questions about how the suspects came to Canada, but online posts indicate that Brar arrived on a student permit three years before the killing.
Days after three Indians were arrested in Canada for the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, India has said there are “political interests at work” in the matter and reiterated its position that separatists and extremists have been given political space in the country.
Responding to a question on Thursday, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India has been informed about the arrests by Canada, but not at a diplomatic level. To a poser on whether consular access had been granted, Mr Jaiswal only said that, in some countries, access is not given until the person or people who have been arrested specifically request for it.
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