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CTV News
3 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Renewed Indo-Canada ties concern protesters on anniversary of Nijjar killing
Protesters gathered outside the Indian consulate in downtown Vancouver on Wednesday June 18, 2025, marking two years since the assassination of Sikh community leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Greer
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Queens driver gets 10 years in deadly road rage hate crime attack
A Queens motorist was sentenced to 10 years behind bars on Wednesday nearly two years after a road rage bias attack on another driver that quickly escalated into hateful language and deadly violence. Prosecutors initially charged Gilbert Augustin with manslaughter and assault as hate crimes in the October 2023 beating death of Jasmer Singh, 66, a Sikh man whom Augustin repeatedly derided as 'turban man' during the vicious Van Wyck Expressway attack. But Augustin pleaded guilty to second-degree assault as a hate crime, avoiding even more prison time if he had been convicted by a Queens jury on the manslaughter charge. Cops were reluctant at first to charge Augustin with a hate crime. But a grand jury investigation revealed more details about the attack that previously were not available to detectives, officials said. Outrage from the Sikh community, as well as a social media push calling for hate crime charges, encouraged prosecutors to take another look at the case, officials said. 'We hope that today's sentence provides a measure of solace to Mr. Singh's countless family members and friends and sends a clear message that we will not tolerate hate in Queens, the most diverse place in the world,' Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement. Augustin flew into a rage Oct. 19 after his Mustang collided with the 66-year-old father of three's Toyota on the Van Wyck Expressway near Hillside Ave. in Kew Gardens, prosecutors said. The two pulled over and Augustin stormed up to Singh, who was still seated in his car with his wife, according to prosecutors. A witness observed Augustin saying, 'No police, no police,' and repeatedly referring to Singh as 'turban man,' then telling the victim he was not going to let him go home and didn't want him to call the cops, prosecutors said. Augustin reached into Singh's car and took his cell phone, so Singh got out of the Toyota to retrieve it and eventually got his phone back, according to prosecutors. As Singh walked back to his car, Augustin punched him three times in the head and face, knocking his turban off his head and sending him sprawling backward to the ground, prosecutors said. The back of Singh's head slammed into the pavement, causing a brain injury. Singh died at the hospital the next day — the same day an NYPD officer spotted Augustin sitting in his dented Mustang on 111th Ave. in Jamaica, prosecutors said. Augustin, who had a suspended license and couldn't show valid insurance, was taken into custody. Augustin denied that bigotry was a motive for the attack. 'I appreciate my family's support,' he said in court. 'I am not a hateful person.' Augustin was also sentenced to five years of postrelease supervision.
CTV News
3 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
India is a perpetrator of foreign interference, Canadian intelligence agency says
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, speaks as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney listens before a meeting at the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alta., on Tuesday, June 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck TORONTO, June 18 - India is a perpetrator of foreign interference, Canada's intelligence agency said in a report published on Wednesday, just after India's and Canada's prime ministers vowed to strengthen ties at a global summit hosted by Canada. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held what both sides called productive talks on Tuesday at the G7 summit in Alberta and agreed to reinstate top diplomats they had withdrawn last year. Carney drew outrage from some members of Canada's Sikh community when he invited Modi to the G7. Canada-India relations have been tense since former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2023 accused India's government of involvement in the June 18, 2023, murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh separatist leader in Canada. Modi's government has denied involvement in Nijjar's killing and has accused Canada of providing a safe haven for Sikh separatists. The intelligence report noted transnational repression 'plays a central role in India's activity in Canada,' though it said China poses the greatest counter-intelligence threat to Canada and also named Russia, Iran and Pakistan. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in October they had communicated more than a dozen threats to Sikhs advocating for the creation of a homeland carved out of India. 'Indian officials, including their Canada-based proxy agents, engage in a range of activities that seek to influence Canadian communities and politicians,' the Canadian Security Intelligence Service report reads. 'These activities attempt to steer Canada's positions into alignment with India's interests on key issues, particularly with respect to how the Indian government perceives Canada-based supporters of an independent homeland that they call Khalistan.' The Indian High Commission and the Chinese embassy in Canada did not immediately respond to requests for comment. (Reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny; Editing by David Gregorio)
The Independent
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
India and Canada restore ambassadors as Modi and Carney look to turn page on assassination row
India and Canada are restoring ambassadors to each other's capitals as both countries appear content to move on from a diplomatic clash over the assassination of a Sikh activist on Canadian soil. Canadian prime minister Mark Carney and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi met on the sidelines of the G7 and agreed that the two nations will name new high commissioners, as ambassadors are known between Commonwealth nations. Mr Carney's office said they agreed to appoint new envoys to replace the ones both nations had withdrawn as the crisis grew. The decision has been taken 'with a view to returning to regular services to citizens and businesses in both countries,' the Canadian prime minister's office said in a statement. The meeting took place despite protests against Mr Modi's visit to the country by members of Canada's Sikh community. Sikh protesters tore up Indian flags in downtown Calgary on Tuesday and showed posters of the Indian leader handcuffed, in a prison jumpsuit or behind bars. New Delhi and Ottawa suffered a major breakdown in their bilateral relations in late 2023 after former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government of direct involvement in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh leader and Canadian citizen in British Columbia who advocated for the creation of a Sikh homeland – known as Khalistan – in India's Punjab region. The dispute between the two nations worsened in October last year when both countries expelled a number of high-ranking officials. India was sent a diplomatic communication suggesting that the Indian high commissioner and other diplomats were 'persons of interest' in Canada's investigation into Nijjar's death. Canada expelled six Indian diplomats, including India's high commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma, and consular officials from the country 'in relation to a targeted campaign against Canadian citizens by agents linked to the Government of India', said Canada's foreign affairs department, Global Affairs Canada. The Indian foreign ministry retaliated by ordering the expulsion of six Canadian diplomats, including acting high commissioner Stewart Ross Wheeler, who was first summoned by India's External Affairs Ministry to protest Canada expelling Indian diplomats. Canada was forced to suspend in-person services at all missions in India outside its embassy in New Delhi. The Indian government has denied involvement in Nijjar's killing and accused Canada of providing a safe haven for Sikh separatists. Symbolically turning a page on nearly two years of diplomatic enmity, Mr Carney and Mr Modi met on Tuesday in the scenic resort town of Kananaskis in Alberta in the Canadian Rockies, where they said they held a productive first bilateral meeting and that the talks between them had gone well. Mr Carney said he hoped the meeting would "provide the necessary foundations to begin to rebuild the relationship, based on mutual respect, sovereignty, trust." "I would describe it as foundational – as a necessary first step, a frank, open exchange of views around law enforcement, transnational repression," he said, speaking to reporters at a news conference. Mr Carney also told Mr Modi that it was 'my great honour to have you here'. The Canadian leader eventually invited his Indian counterpart after mounting speculation in the Indian media that Mr Modi had been snubbed – in the event, Mr Carney said India was invited to attend due to its importance in global supply chains. "Had an excellent meeting... India and Canada are connected by a strong belief in democracy, freedom and rule of law," Mr Modi said on X during his first visit to Canada in a decade. India is Canada's top source of temporary foreign workers and international students, as well as an important market.
Globe and Mail
4 days ago
- Politics
- Globe and Mail
B.C. Premier calls on Ottawa to label India's Bishnoi gang as terrorists
British Columbia Premier David Eby is calling on Ottawa to label a notorious Indian gang as a terrorist organization, in a bid to help police tackle extortion cases targeting South Asian businesses. B.C. is singling out the Bishnoi group amid a wave of extortion threats that has rattled Sikh people across Canada. 'There are allegations that gangs in India are operating here in our province, and in other provinces, to intimidate and extort business owners,' Mr. Eby told reporters in Victoria on Tuesday. 'I will be writing to the Prime Minister to ask that one of the gangs that is self-identified as being involved in some of these activities, the Lawrence Bishnoi group, be listed as a terrorist organization in Canada,' he said. Who is Lawrence Bishnoi, the man at centre of row between India and Canada? Mr. Eby's intervention is in response community pressure in Surrey. Last Friday, the Surrey Police Service announced it has established an Extortion Investigations Team after receiving ten reports of extortion just in the past six months. Surrey police say the reports involve individuals or businesses from the South Asian community who are contacted through a letter, phone calls or social media. They face demands for money made under threats of violence. 'We discourage anyone from responding to such demands. Officers are working to prevent these traumatizing situations and to holding those responsible to account,' Chief Superintendent Wendy Mehat, an RCMP liaison for Surrey, said in a statement. On Sunday, B.C.'s Public Safety Minister Garry Begg attended a crowded public safety forum in Surrey where business owners said they are facing threats demanding millions of dollars. 'We don't make this recommendation lightly, but this activity strikes at public confidence in the justice system, in our democracy and in their safety and community, and it erodes public confidence in the rule of law. It is a very serious matter. It's a huge concern for the people of Surrey,' Mr. Eby told reporters. Police forces in at least six cities across Canada are investigating extortion cases targeting the South Asian community and in particular people of Indian origin. In December 2023, police in Abbotsford, B.C., said they were investigating extortions involving affluent members of the South Asian community. They said suspects were believed to have ties to the Bishnoi gang. India's top investigative body, the National Investigation Agency, says Lawrence Bishnoi is running a transnational crime syndicate from an Indian jail cell. The Bishnoi gang has also been identified by the RCMP as playing a possible role in violent crimes on Canadian soil that have led to diplomatic tensions between Canada and India. Last year, the federal government expelled six Indian diplomats after the RCMP said it had credible evidence Indian agents played a role in crimes, including the killings of Canadian citizens and extortion. 'What we've seen, from an RCMP perspective, is the use of organized crime elements and it's been publicly attributed and claimed by one organized crime group in particular, which is the Bishnoi group,' the RCMP said at the time. Mr. Eby said there is a federal co-ordinating task force working on the extortion cases across the three provinces affected, but he said they need additional tools to reach beyond the Canadian border in dealing with transnational organized crime. 'This is more in the nature of terrorism than it is traditional crime. The community is terrified and I'm hopeful that by asking the Prime Minister to take this step, that he lists this organization and any others involved, and give police additional tools to advance their work on the ground.'
