Watch: Trudeau slams ‘criminals’ in own agencies over linking Modi to violence in Canada

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday (Nov 22) called his own officials “criminals” for linking top Indian leadership to violent activities in Canada. Trudeau was addressing media in Brampton when he was asked about his views on reports linking Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Foreign Minister S Jaishankar to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Khalistani separatist leader, last year in Surrey, British Columbia.

"We have seen, unfortunately, that criminals leaking top-secret information to the media have consistently gotten those stories wrong," Trudeau said. "That's why we had a national enquiry into foreign interference, which has highlighted that criminals leaking information to media outlets are unreliable on top of being criminals," the Canadian PM added.

Earlier, a bombshell report by Canadian media outlet Globe and Mail claimed that Canada's security agencies believed PM Modi was aware of the violent plots and added that Jaishankar and Indian National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval were also kept in the loop. But the report was immediately rubbished by Trudeau's intelligence adviser.

Nathalie Drouin in a statement clarified: “The Government of Canada has not stated, nor is it aware of the evidence, linking Prime Minister Modi, Minister Jaishankar, or NSA Doval to the serious criminal activity within Canada. Any suggestion to the contrary is both speculative and inaccurate.”

Also read: Canadian Police arrest Khalistani terrorist Arsh Dalla, close aide of Hardeep Singh Nijjar

India and Canada are locked in a tense geopolitical standoff over the killing of Nijjar, which Ottawa blames on the agents of the Indian government. New Delhi calls these allegations “absurd” and “motivated”, linking the standoff to “vote-bank politics” at home. India has also accused Canada of providing a safe haven to Indian criminals and terrorists, who threaten India's national security and territorial integrity.

Canadian police earlier this month even detained a most wanted criminal of India, named Arshdeep Singh, alias Arsh Dalla, in connection with a shootout in Canada on October 27-28. Dalla is a close aide of slain Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Dalla is the acting chief of the Khalistani Tiger Force, a designated terrorist organisation in India. He is accused of various nefarious crimes, including murder, target killings, and extortion, according to Indian intelligence agencies.

(With inputs from agencies)