OTTAWA, IN – A Canadian official alleged Tuesday that Indian Home Minister Amit Shah ordered a campaign of violence, intimidation and intelligence gathering aimed at Sikh separatists within Canada.

Deputy Foreign Minister David Morrison told MPs on the national security committee that he had confirmed Shah’s name to the Washington Post, which first reported the allegations.

“The journalist called me and asked me if I was that person. I confirmed it was that person,” Morrison told the committee.

Morrison did not say how Canada learned of Shah’s alleged involvement.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said a year ago that Canada had credible evidence that Indian government agents were involved in the murder of the Canadian Sikh activist. Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June 2023.

Canadian authorities have repeatedly said they have shared evidence of this with Indian authorities.

Indian government officials have repeatedly denied that Canada provided evidence and called the allegations absurd. The Indian embassy in Ottawa did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment on the allegation against Shah.

On October 14, Canada expelled the indian high commissioner and five other diplomats, alleging that they were persons of interest in multiple cases of coercion, intimidation and violence aimed at silencing a campaign for a Independent Sikh state known as Khalistan.

Canada is not the only country that has accused Indian officials of planning a murder on foreign soil. The U.S. Department of Justice in mid-October announced criminal charges against an Indian government employee in connection with an alleged foiled plot to kill a Sikh separatist leader living in New York City.

In the case announced by the Justice Department, Vikash Yadav, who authorities say directed the New York plot from India, faces murder-for-hire charges in a planned killing that prosecutors say was intended to precede a series of other politically motivated murders. in the United States and Canada.

Nathalie Drouin, Trudeau’s national security adviser, told the committee on Tuesday that Canada has evidence that the Indian government first collected information on Indian and Canadian citizens in Canada through diplomatic channels and representatives.

He said the information was then passed to the New Delhi government, which allegedly works with a criminal network affiliated with Lawrence Bishnoi.

Bishnoi is currently in prison in India, but Drouin said his vast criminal network has been linked to homicides, murder plots, coercion and other violent crimes in Canada.

Before the Royal Canadian Mounted Police made public allegations that Indian diplomats were persons of interest in criminal investigations, Drouin said there was an effort to work with the Indian government to ensure accountability.

Drouin said a meeting with Modi’s national security adviser Ajit Doval was held in Singapore two days earlier.

He said the decision to make it public was made when it became clear that the Indian government would not cooperate with Canada on the proposed accountability measures.

That included asking India to waive diplomatic immunity for persons of interest, including the high commissioner in Ottawa. Drouin said this was not considered likely.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said it took the extraordinary step of speaking publicly about ongoing investigations due to threats to public safety.

The Indian government denies the allegations and has In exchange, he expelled six Canadian diplomats..

Nijjar, 45, was shot to death in his pickup truck after leaving the Sikh temple he ran in Surrey, British Columbia. A Canadian citizen born in India, he owned a plumbing business and was a leader of what remains of a once-strong movement to create an independent Sikh homeland.

Four Indian nationals living in Canada were charged with Niijar’s murder and are awaiting trial.

Drouin and Morrison were called as witnesses at the committee along with Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Mike Duheme, as well as the director of Canada’s spy service.