OTTAWA, Ontario — A Canadian official claimed Tuesday that Indian Home Minister Amit Shah ordered a campaign of violence, intimidation and intelligence gathering. Sikh separatists in Canada.

Deputy Foreign Secretary David Morrison told members of parliament of 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 if it was him. “I confirmed it was him,” Morrison told the committee.

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

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

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

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

On October 14, Canada deported the person Indian high commissioner and five other diplomats claimed to be persons of interest in multiple cases of coercion, intimidation and violence aimed at silencing a campaign. Independent Sikh state known as Khalistan.

Canada isn’t the only country doing this blamed Indian officials Planning an assassination in foreign lands. The United States Department of Justice announced in mid-October that it had filed criminal charges against an Indian government employee in connection with an alleged thwarted plot to kill a Sikh separatist leader living in New York.

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 for a planned killing that prosecutors say preceded a series of earlier politically motivated killings. In the United States and Canada.

Nathalie Drouin, Trudeau’s national security adviser, told the committee on Tuesday that there was evidence in Canada that, for the first time, the Indian government had collected information about Indian nationals and Canadian citizens in Canada through diplomatic channels and proxies.

He said the information was then passed on to the government in New Delhi, which was allegedly working with a criminal network linked to Lawrence Bishnoi.

Bishnoi is currently in prison in India, but Drouin said his vast criminal network is linked to murders, assassination plots, oppression and other violent crimes in Canada.

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

Drouin said there was a meeting with Modi’s national security advisor Ajit Doval in Singapore two days ago.

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

This included asking India to waive diplomatic immunity for those involved, including the high commissioner in Ottawa. Drouin said that seemed unlikely.

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

Indian government denies allegations In return, he expelled six Canadian diplomats.

Nijjar, 45, was fatally shot in his pickup truck after leaving the Sikh temple he led in Surrey, British Columbia. The Indian-born Canadian citizen was the owner of a plumbing business and a leader of the remnants of the once-powerful movement to create an independent Sikh homeland.

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

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