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Police presence increased at Vancouver’s Indian Consulate after link to B.C. gurdwara murder

Click to play video: 'Trudeau says Canada not trying to ‘provoke or escalate’ tensions with India over Nijjar’s murder'
Trudeau says Canada not trying to ‘provoke or escalate’ tensions with India over Nijjar’s murder
WATCH: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada is not looking to escalate the situation with India after he revealed allegations of “credible” intelligence that agents of the Indian government had a hand in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian Sikh leader. “We are not looking to provoke or escalate. We are simply laying out the facts as we understand them and we want to work with the government of India,” Trudeau said – Sep 19, 2023

Vancouver police confirmed to Global News Tuesday that it has increased its presence around the Indian Consulate on Howe Street in the downtown area.

The City of Vancouver also said staff installed a no parking and no stopping zone sign near the consulate.

These decisions were made following discussions with other policing agencies, Vancouver police confirmed.

On Monday, the human rights advocacy group Sikhs For Justice said peaceful protests will “shut down” Indian consulate offices in Canada next week, with new intelligence appearing to link the Indian state to a high-profile murder in British Columbia.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar, president of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, was gunned down in the Surrey temple’s parking lot after evening prayers on June 18. Nijjar, 45, was a prominent community leader and supporter of Sikh separatism.

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On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revealed that national security authorities had obtained “credible” intelligence “agents of the government of India” were behind the grisly killing — something the World Sikh Organization of Canada and others had suggested shortly after Nijjar’s death.

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India’s Ministry of External Affairs has vehemently denied the claims, calling them “absurd and motivated” in a statement early on Tuesday.

Protests, however, are slated to take place outside Indian consulates in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver next Monday, according to Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, legal counsel for Sikhs for Justice.

— with files from Elizabeth McSheffrey

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