The suspect in the murder of Hardeep Nijjar claims to have entered Canada with a “study permit.”

Ottawa, Canada, May 9: According to a social media video posted by one of the suspects in the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, he entered the country with a “study permit,” which he obtained in a matter of days, according to Canada-based Global News.

In a 2019 video that was uploaded online, the accused, Karan Brar, claimed that he registered for a student visa in Bathinda, Punjab, India, via EthicWorks Immigration Services.

According to a translation of his Punjabi-language statement, he claimed to have acquired his study visa a few days later, as reported by Global News.

The company posted the promotional video and a photo of Brar—said to be from Kotkapura, a city north of Bathinda—on EthicWorks’ Facebook page.

The video title said, “Congratulations, Karan Brar for the Canada study visa.” Global News said, “One more happy client from Kotkapura.”

Regarding the suspects’ immigration history, Immigration Minister Marc Miller has refrained from commenting. However, internet discussions suggest that Brar entered Canada three years before the murder on a student visa.

As per another Facebook profile allegedly belonging to Brar, he began his studies at Bow Valley College in Calgary on April 30, 2020, then relocated to Edmonton on May 4, 2020, Global News said.

However, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada has not yet responded to inquiries on the topic.

On Friday, three Singhs—Brar, 22, Karanpreet Singh, 28, and Kamalpreet Singh, 22—were arrested in Edmonton. They appeared in court on Tuesday in Surrey, British Columbia, where they are being charged with murder and conspiracy.

British Columbian Sikhs packed a Surrey courthouse on Tuesday for the first video-taped court appearance of three Indian nationals charged with murdering Hardeep Singh Nijjar, according to the Canadian news website Globe and Mail.

Outside the Surrey provincial court, pro-Khalistani demonstrators waved signs and shouted slogans accusing the Indian government of causing the death as the three, clothed in orange jumpsuits, appeared in court.

The three men were detained in Edmonton on Friday of last week and are charged with first-degree murder and murderous conspiracy in regard to the shooting incident that occurred in June 2023 that significantly harmed Canada’s ties with India.

Notably, relations between Canada and India have deteriorated since Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada, claimed that Nijjar was killed by operatives of the Indian government. India, meanwhile, has brushed off the charges as “motivated” and “absurd.”.

In June of last year, Hardeep Singh Nijjar—who India’s National Investigation Agency classified as a terrorist in 2020—was shot and murdered while leaving a Gurdwara in Surrey. According to reports, a video of his murder appeared in March of this year. It showed armed men shooting Nijjar in what has been called a “contract killing.”

Last Monday, as part of an ongoing investigation into possible ties to the Indian government, Canadian police made public photos of all three people detained in connection with the murder of Nijjar, an Indian-designated terrorist, in 2017.

The automobile that the suspects are said to have driven in and around the Surrey region before the killing was photographed, along with images of the three accused, by the Canadian police.

The three males were taken into custody on May 3rd for the June 2023 death of Nijjar, according to the Surrey RCMP’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT). The IHIT detectives were aided by members of the British Columbia and Alberta RCMP, as well as the Edmonton Police Service.