It was with the help of British spy call intercepts that the Canadian authorities drew alleged links between India and the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023, a new documentary released this week has claimed. ‘Inside the Deaths that Rocked India’s Relations with the West’ by ‘Bloomberg Originals’ reports that a British intelligence agency – believed to be the UK’s Government Communications headquarters (GCHQ), often referred to as the country’s listening post – intercepted calls that appeared to be discussing three targets.
Nijjar, a Canadian Sikh designated a terrorist by India in 2020 for Khalistani extremism, was allegedly among the names on the intelligence passed on to the Canadian authorities under the ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence sharing agreement between the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In late July 2023, there was a “breakthrough” in the Nijjar murder investigation case when the UK obtained “relevant information”, the video documentary claims.
The British intelligence would only be shared under strict conditions: hand-delivered to Ottawa and kept off electronic systems and only a handful of Canadian officials, pre-approved by London, could see it, it is claimed. “The file was a summary of conversations intercepted by a British intelligence agency between individuals who analysts believe were working on behalf of the Indian government,” the documentary claims.
