US indictment of Indian national in assassination plot gives weight to Canadian charge: Trudeau

By Barry Ellsworth

TERNTON, Canada (AA) – An allegation by US authorities that the Indian government was involved in a foiled plot to assassinate a Sikh in New York City shows that a similar charge in Canada should be taken seriously, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday.

Trudeau said in September there was “credible evidence” of the Indian government’s involvement in the murder of a Canadian Sikh separatist in British Columbia, mirroring the US case.

“The news coming out of the United States further underscores what we’ve been talking about from the very beginning, which is that India needs to take this seriously,” Trudeau said Wednesday. “The Indian government needs to work with us to ensure that we’re getting to the bottom of this. This is not something that anyone can take lightly.”

The US Justice Department announced charges Wednesday against an Indian national for allegedly participating in a murder-for-hire scheme on US soil orchestrated by an Indian government employee.

The US allegation is contained a criminal indictment made public Wednesday that implicates the Indian government in a plot to assassinate the Sikh separatist in New York City. But it also revealed there were plans to carry out three similar killings on Canadian soil.

Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Wednesday that he had been briefed on the American case since the summer and that Canadian law enforcement agencies are working with their US counterparts.

While LeBlanc would not comment on any specific case, he said the New York allegations show that the US has its concerns about the Indian government in killings too.

“What was filed in a US court today confirms that Canada is not alone at managing these particular threats,” he said.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported Wednesday that the Indian government announced that it will conduct a detailed inquiry into the US allegations.