Ottawa [Canada], May 5: Following the sensational murder of a Canadian Sikh leader, Canadian police have detained members of a suspected hit squad, according to a media report.
The men are believed to have been involved in various roles in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June last year in Surrey on Canada's west coast, Canadian public broadcaster CBC reported on Friday, citing investigators.
The group is also believed to be linked to three other deaths, including the shooting of an 11-year-old boy in the city of Edmonton.
The men were detained on Friday during police operations in at least two provinces, CBC reported. Investigators had already identified them several months ago and had been keeping them under close surveillance ever since, it said.
The case had brought relations between Canada and India to a low point after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government of ordering the killing Nijjar, who held Canadian citizenship but was born in India.
Nijjar was a well-known advocate of an independent state for people of the Sikh religious community on Indian territory.
Indian authorities had been looking for him for a long time and accused him of "terrorism". Canada is home to a large Sikh community.
Source: Qatar Tribune