Canada Border Agency Says No Incriminating Evidence Against Officer Accused by India of Murder and Terrorism
New Delhi: The Canada Border Services Agency said it found no prima facie evidence to corroborate allegations mounted by Indian authorities against one of its officers, Sandeep Singh Sidhu, linking him to terrorism activities in Punjab and alleged involvement in the murder of Balwinder Singh Sandhu, a Shaurya Chakra awardee, in 2020.
Clarifying its stand, the CBSA came out Thursday with, “The CBSA can confirm that we have no evidence to support the allegations made in these articles.” The news has especially pointed fingers at Sidhu for terrorism and violent activities in India. According to the agency, all employees are given rigorous background checks, regular career reviews, as well as any kind of potential allegation that would influence their reliability or security clearance.
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Earlier, the CBSA had confirmed Sidhu’s employment as an officer with the agency; the agency stated that all candidates first undergo severe interviews and security checks as well as some evaluations before being enrolled with the agency. Steps in a hiring process were determined by the agency, which include a telephone integrity interview, an exhaustive credit check, and verification of candidates through various law enforcement and security databases.
At a time of high tension in relations between Canada and India, the latter has downplayed this as it has just witnessed the killing of Sikh separatists Hardeep Singh Nijjar and Sukhdool Singh, also known as Sukha Duneke. Diplomatic tensions have subsequently arisen between India and Canada, with the two countries accusing each other of interfering in their internal affairs, with Canada accusing the Indian authorities of targeting its Sikh diaspora, and India alleging that the Canadian authorities are supporting elements favoring separation.
Notorious Detention and Extradition Orders
From Indian government sources, Sidhu’s name appears on both extradition orders as well as on a list of persons to whom provisional arrest orders have been made in Canada. Such requests come through Indian investigations that claim they connect Sidhu with acts of abetting separatism as well as terror-related violence.
The Indian government has claimed that Sidhu is associated with Lakhbir Rode, a nephew of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, whose radicalism dominated Punjab’s separatist movements in the early 1980s. Rode is alleged to be functioning from Pakistan. The Indian Intelligence agencies believe that he has connections with various strands of Sikh separatism and one of these strands might be related with Sidhu.
According to sources, Sidhu had funded gangster Sukh Bhikhariwal, who was believed to have been hiding in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The money was allegedly used to carry out the killing of Balwinder Singh Sandhu in October 2020 in Bhikhiwind, a city in Punjab’s Patti district, investigators said. Bhikhariwal, sources said, has been staying in Dubai.
Indian law enforcers have filed a case against many of them under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, including murder and criminal conspiracy, besides sections of the Arms Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Last year, the case was handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Just last week, the NIA informed India’s Supreme Court that the plot to kill Sandhu was by operatives from the Khalistan Liberation Force, a banned terror organisation in India for its advocacy of a separate state for Sikhs.
Sidhu, currently a CBSA superintendent and residing in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, is facing some flak as his name figures in the NIA’s dossier which ties him to the Sikh separatist activist Gurjot Kaur. Indian agencies have also accused Sidhu of being a member of the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF). ISYF is reportedly banned in several countries, including India, Canada, the United States, Australia, and Japan, because of suspected links with extremist activities.
Screening and Security Measures of CBSA
The CBSA ensures border security in Canada and has defined practices regarding the hiring, screening, as well as monitoring of its employees. After all, the nature of their work is sensitive. Officers can only be recruited after following an extremely rigorous recruitment process that includes a veritable series of tests to test character, integrity, and reliability. According to the CBSA in its statement, a credit check, law enforcement verification, integrity assessments, among many other requirements, must be passed in order to complete an in-person interview.
From time to time, throughout their careers, CBSA employees are reviewed to ascertain whether they are acting in consonance with the mandate and if they meet or continue to meet the security standards expected of Canadian law enforcement and security officials. According to the CBSA, these checks are there to be reinforced if any allegations surface that would bring into question an employee’s security clearance or reliability.
India-Canada Relations Under Strain
The CBSA’s defense of Sidhu comes during trying times in diplomatic relations between India and Canada as each raises a charge that the other has interfered in its internal affairs. Diplomatic ties between India and Canada hit a new low after two Canadian citizens, separately assassinated, were alleged to have nexus with separatist activities. Indian authorities have been accused by the Canadian authorities of targeting Sikh activists on Canadian soil. India has however refused to comment on the allegations with which it has been charged. This has escalated diplomatic tensions between the two countries and led to both expelling each other’s citizens and issuing advisories against travel between them.
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India has been trying to extradite several individuals based in Canada on charges of either financing or masterminding separatism activities in the Indian province of Punjab. According to reports, extradition cases had stalled because of intricacies in law, as well as some differences in laws between the two sides, and fears over someone’s human rights and fair treatment after extradition.
What This Case Might Mean For Future Extradition Cases
The Sidhu case typifies the challenges in the extradition process, especially when sensitive issues connected to national security and sovereignty are involved. For India, the case is typical of what they allege is a lack of cooperation from Canada in curtailing Sikh separatist activities that, in India’s view, have serious implications for its internal security. Conversely, the government of Canada has seemed to be concerned with human rights and the abuse of extradition laws on those who could only turn out to be activists instead of the terrorists they are labeled to be.
This could add Sidhu’s case to that sensitive relationship between the two nations. This would influence the performance cooperation of sharing intelligence, anti-terrorism initiatives, and international law enforcement cooperations between the two nations.
Conclusion
One important development in this case is the statement that CBSA has “no evidence” for allegations against Sandeep Singh Sidhu. This will speak to future levels of cooperation on extradition and judicial processes between India and Canada, but it will also speak specifically to the internal policies of Canada with respect to its Sikh diaspora. For now, neither country seems likely to budge on this diplomatic tug-of-war over cases like Sidhu’s in a balancing act between national security concerns, individual rights, and international law.