Member of Modi's inner circle behind Canadian criminal plot, official says

A senior official in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is alleged to have authorizeda campaign to intimidate or kill Canadians, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs David Morrison told MPs Tuesday.

Morrison joined other senior officials testifying before MPs on the public safety and national security committee. MPson the committee are asking questions aboutthe RCMP's shocking claim two weeks ago that agents of the Indian government were complicit in widespread crimes in Canada, including murder, extortion and intimidation.

Conservative MP Raquel Dancho, the party's public safety critic, led off the hearing with questions about information the Canadiangovernment shared with the Washington Post.

The newspaper reported that Canadian officials identified Indian Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah as one of the senior officials who authorized intelligence-gathering missions and attacks on Sikh separatists in Canada.

"The journalists called me and asked me if it was that person. I confirmed it was that person," Morrison said.

Shah has been described as India's "second most powerful man" and is one of Modi's closest confidants.

Before Tuesday, Canadian officials would only state on the record that the plot could be traced back to the "highest levels of the Indian government."

The advocacy group Sikhs for Justice issued a statement Tuesday calling for Shah to be prosecuted.

"Amit Shah has weaponized India's security agencies to hunt down and eliminate pro-Khalistan activists, even beyond India's borders,"Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the group's legal counsel, said in the statement.

"The assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil is not just an isolated crime it is part of a well-thought-out policy executed under Shah's directives to crush the voices of Sikhs advocating for self-determination and justice,"

RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme also testified Tuesday. He has saidpolice evidence shows Indian diplomats and consular staffcollected information for the Indian government, which was used to issue instructions to criminal organizations to carry out acts of violence in Canada.

He said the Mounties also have assembledevidence of credible and imminent threats to members of the South Asian community, specificallymembers of the pro-Khalistan movement seeking a separate homeland for Sikhs.

On Thanksgiving Monday, the federal government announced it had expelled six Indian diplomats including the high commissioner,India's chief envoy toCanada. India has denied the accusations and swiftly retaliated by kicking Canadian diplomats out of its territory.

WATCH |'Strong evidence' links 'highest levels' of Indian government to violence: RCMP

'Strong evidence' links 'highest levels' of Indian government to violence: RCMP

16 days ago

Duration 16:08

Commissioner Mike Duheme tells Power & Politics that RCMP allegations about acts of violence and extortion in Canada link to the upper echelons of India's government, and provides an update on police progress against threats to public safety.

Duhemesaid policehave warned 13 Canadians since September 2023 that they could be targets of harassment or threats by Indian agents. Police say some of those individuals have received multiple threats.

Duhemetold CBC he believes those people are safer since the Indian diplomats were expelled.

India has denied working with criminal organizations to target Sikh separatists in Canada and has accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeauof having a "political agenda" behind the allegations.