Close X
Thursday, November 14, 2024
ADVT 
National

Witness of B.C. Sikh leader's shooting says the gunshots sounded like fireworks

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 27 Sep, 2023 06:25 PM
  • Witness of B.C. Sikh leader's shooting says the gunshots sounded like fireworks

The B.C. gurdwara where a Sikh separatist leader was gunned down has launched an investigation into how an American newspaper was able to view security camera footage of the June killing. 

Gurkeerat Singh, who said he is a spokesman for the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, said it's unclear how The Washington Post was able to see the video of Hardeep Singh Nijjar's death. 

"We've been told by the temple that the video is not for the media, the public, because it's an ongoing investigation. That video won't be released to anyone."

It's an "ongoing investigation," he said in an interview on Wednesday. 

While Singh said The Canadian Press could not review video captured at the temple of the shooting, he confirmed the reporting of The Washington Post. 

He has seen the 90-second video several times, he said. 

Singh said the video shows Nijjar leaving the temple's parking lot in his grey pickup truck. A white car drives parallel and then cuts in front of the pickup and stops, preventing Nijjar from leaving. 

Two gunmen then emerged from out of camera range to shoot Nijjar, Singh said. 

Singh said the surveillance footage shows the shooting was "preplanned and well-orchestrated."

They knew Nijjar's driving habits and his routine, he said. 

"It wasn't something done randomly. These people are watching the movement of Hardeep Singh for a while and they knew the direction he goes and how he exits the gurdwara," said Singh. 

Nijjar's death set off escalating diplomatic tension between India and Canada after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in Parliament that Canada's intelligence services were investigating “credible” information about “a potential link” between India’s government and the killing.

Nijjar had been a vocal supporter of the Khalistan movement that advocates a separate Sikh homeland in the Punjab. He was an organizer for the unofficial referendum in several countries calling for a separate homeland for Sikhs. 

The independence movement has angered India’s government, and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed “strong concerns” to Trudeau about the way Canada has handled the movement. 

Malkit Singh was the goalkeeper in a soccer game with friends at a field near the gurdwara on June 18 when he heard what sounded like fireworks. 

"Someone said 'that's not fireworks, it's gunshots,'" he said in an interview translated from Punjabi. 

"It was just a blast, bursts of shots, on and on. Then we saw two men running off, so I and a couple of the players chased after them. And two other people ran toward the gurdwara to see what was happening. I was barefoot because that's how I tend goal.

"The two men, running so fast, wore black hoodies and black pants, and their heads were covered with pieces of light cloth. They weren't wearing turbans. We just couldn't catch up with them before they disappeared."

Singh said that two days later, a friend showed him surveillance video on his phone from the gurdwara parking lot of a light-coloured car following Nijjar's truck, then stopping the pickup at the exit. Both he and the friend were on a committee headed by Nijjar, he said, so they had access to the video.

He said he met Nijjar shortly after arriving from India in 2014 and that Nijjar helped pay for Singh's wedding the following year and supported him in every way. 

"I don't have any family here, and he gave me a job in his plumbing company for a year."

Nijjar knew he was a target, Singh said.

"He said police told him there were threats against him, that he should be careful. But he said, 'What am I supposed to do? I have to go to work and support my family. They can't provide security for me.' He wasn't afraid though, because he said we're all going to die when our time is up."

Bhupinderjit Sidhu was also playing soccer with Singh that day. He and another man ran toward Nijjar's truck and saw him slumped over.

"I opened the door and had a very good look at him. He wasn't breathing. I shook him, and he was not breathing. There was glass from the broken window on the passenger side," he said in an interview conducted in both English and Punjabi. 

Sidhu said he was shocked at the death of the man he considered a friend. 

"But at the same time, it was all over Indian social media that he would be a target for the Khalistan movement in Canada." 

Sgt. Timothy Pierotti with the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said on Wednesday that it is an active investigation and the team can't release more details. There's no indication why police didn't tell the media that a second vehicle was involved in the murder. 

"As the investigation into the homicide of Hardeep Singh Nijjar remains open and active, I cannot comment on specific evidence collected by the investigational team," said Pierotti. 

He said police had completed a "fulsome canvass of the area," following the evidence and collecting all relevant video footage. 

The Washington Post also reported it took police between 12 and 20 minutes to response after the gunshots were fired. 

RCMP issued a statement on Tuesday to correct the "record on the homicide." 

"The first 911 call in relation to this incident was received at 8:27 p.m. and the first officers arrived on scene in under four minutes, with more officers arriving on scene shortly after," the statement said. 

It says the public act of violence has caused community members to feel unsafe. 

"In response to community concerns, Surrey RCMP has increased patrols around gurdwaras and temples." 

When asked about how The Washington Post's reporters saw the video of the killing, journalist Maham Javaid said they would not comment on their sources. 

MORE National ARTICLES

Ministers told to find $15 billion in government spending cuts by October deadline

Ministers told to find $15 billion in government spending cuts by October deadline
Treasury Board President Anita Anand is tasking federal cabinet ministers with finding $15.4 billion in government spending cuts by a deadline of Oct. 2. A spokesperson for Anand says the government wants to refocus underutilized funds on critical services such as health care — and it doesn't expect to cut any public-service jobs.

Ministers told to find $15 billion in government spending cuts by October deadline

Statue damaged in Kelowna, hunt on for 4 suspects

Statue damaged in Kelowna, hunt on for 4 suspects
R-C-M-P in Kelowna are looking for four suspects after a city statue was damaged. The Mounties say it happened downtown early Saturday morning when "The Working Man" statue was knocked over.

Statue damaged in Kelowna, hunt on for 4 suspects

BC Hydro seeing record consumption

BC Hydro seeing record consumption
B-C Hydro says it set a new record for the highest peak hourly demand in August on Monday night.  It comes as a heat wave sweeping across the southern half of B-C also sets records, including 37.5 Celsius in Port Alberni, breaking a benchmark set in 1933 and 30.6 Celsius at Yoho National Park, surpassing a mark set in 1930.

BC Hydro seeing record consumption

2 arrested in carjacking delivery van

2 arrested in carjacking delivery van
Two men who have been arrested for allegedly carjacking a delivery van in Richmond failed to consider that many of those vehicles come equipped with G-P-S tracking systems.  R-C-M-P say it happened on Sunday when the driver said his van was taken at gunpoint by two people wearing masks.

2 arrested in carjacking delivery van

Federal Liberals have gone more than six months without appointing ethics watchdog

Federal Liberals have gone more than six months without appointing ethics watchdog
Mario Dion retired in February after serving as the last permanent ethics and conflict-of-interest commissioner. A longtime staffer in that office, Martine Richard, took on an interim role in April — but she resigned within weeks amid controversy around the fact she is the sister-in-law of Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc.

Federal Liberals have gone more than six months without appointing ethics watchdog

COVID-19 activity showing early signs that it may be increasing, new PHAC data says

COVID-19 activity showing early signs that it may be increasing, new PHAC data says
New data from the Public Health Agency of Canada suggests that COVID-19 infections may be slowly starting to rise again in Canada. On its website, the agency says there are signs of continued fluctuations in some COVID-19 activity indicators after a long period of gradual decline.  

COVID-19 activity showing early signs that it may be increasing, new PHAC data says