India on Monday issued a sharp rebuttal to Canada, rejecting allegations of its High Commissioner being a ‘person of interest’ in a murder investigation, describing them as “preposterous imputations.” 

Ties between India and Canada have been thorny ever since Justin Trudeau alleged India’s involvement in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian Khalistani terrorist, in June 2023. India has repeatedly refuted these claims as “absurd” and “motivated,” accusing Trudeau’s government of indulging in vote-bank politics by pandering to pro-Khalistan elements within Canada.

The diplomatic row took a sharp turn when Canada reportedly named the Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma as a ‘person of interest’ in its investigation into Nijjar’s death. India swiftly hit back, accusing Canada of maligning its officials without evidence and using “preposterous” claims to justify its failure to curb Khalistani extremism on its soil.

The latest exchange follows a brief encounter between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Justin Trudeau on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Laos recently. While sources in New Delhi described the meeting as inconsequential, Trudeau painted it as a “brief exchange” in which he reiterated his concerns about the safety of Canadians and upholding the rule of law. “I won’t go into details about what we talked about… the safety of Canadians is one of the fundamental responsibilities of any Canadian government,” Trudeau said at a press conference.

Details to follow. 

After veteran politician Baba Siddiqui was shot dead in Mumbai last week, sources claim his MLA-son Zeeshan Siddiqui is also on the Bishnoi gang’s hit-list. The shooters told the cops they were given a contract to kill both Baba Siddique and Zeeshan, said police sources.

The shooters, they said, were told both the father and the son would be present at the murder spot on Saturday evening. But if they did not get a chance to attack them together, the shooters were ordered to kill whoever they could find first, the sources added.

Zeeshan Siddique, a Congress MLA from Vandre East, was expelled by the party months ago after instances of cross-voting during the legislative council elections.

Three shooters carried out the murder of Baba Siddiqui outside his son’s office on Saturday night after throwing chili powder at the police constable deployed for his security.

Two of them – Gurmail Baljit Singh of Haryana and Dharmaraj Kashyap of Uttar Pradesh – have been arrested while the third – Shivkumar Gautam – had escaped from the spot. He was last seen around Panvel this morning.

Several police teams have been deployed in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi to arrest Shiv while Mumbai Police’s Anti-Extortion Cell investigates the case.

Investigations have revealed that the three accused used to travel from Kurla (where they lived on rent) to Bandra every day, mostly in auto rickshaws, and recce the places Baba Siddiqui and his son used to frequent. These places included areas around their house, office, and the events they attended.

The three men who shot dead politician Baba Siddique on Saturday threw chilli powder at the police constable who was guarding the former Maharashtra minister, sources said. Mr Siddique, a three-time MLA, was killed as he left his son, MLA Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Mumbai’s Bandra East on Saturday evening. 

Among the three shooters, Gurmel Baljit Singh, 23, a resident of Haryana and 19-year-old Dharmaraj Kashyap of Uttar Pradesh have been arrested. The third shooter, Shivkumar Gautam from Uttar Pradesh, is still on the run.

According to their plan, Singh and Kashyap were to shoot the 66-year-old NCP leader under the cover of a Dussehra procession and fireworks. However, after seeing the crowd of people and security around Mr Siddique, Shivkumar said he would shoot first.

All three shooters were carrying chilli powder and pepper spray with them. As soon as Shivkumar fired six bullets at Mr Siddique, they threw chilli powder at the police constable. Shivkumar then fled after hiding in the crowd, but Singh and Kashyap were caught. Two pistols and 28 live rounds were recovered from them.

Baba Siddique was provided a non-categorised security and was allotted three police constables, who worked in three shifts. At the time of the shooting, one policeman was accompanying Mr Siddique.

According to sources, the arrested shooters told police that Shivkumar was the leader of the pack. During interrogation, they also portrayed themselves as innocent and said only Shivkumar knew who the mastermind was behind the killing.

Lawrence Bishnoi’s Gang Claims Responsibility For Baba Siddique’s Murder

According to sources, the accused have claimed that they work for gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. Bishnoi, who is lodged at Gujarat’s Sabarmati jail, was also involved in the shooting incident outside the Mumbai residence of Bollywood actor Salman Khan, who is known to have been a close friend of Baba Siddique.

The suspects had been monitoring Mr Siddique for months, conducting reconnaissance of his residence and office. 

They were paid Rs 50,000 each in advance for the hit and the arms had been delivered to them only days before the assassination.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday said the third accused in the Baba Siddique murder case will be arrested “soon”. 

“Be it the Bishnoi gang or any underworld gang, we won’t spare anyone,” he told reporters.

On Sunday evening, Mumbai Police’s crime branch also arrested 28-year-old Pravin Lonkar, a “co-conspirator” in the case, from Pune. They said they were on the lookout for his brother, Shubham Lonkar. 

The brothers had hatched the conspiracy of Mr Siddique’s murder and enlisted Shivkumar and Kashyap in the plot.