Expulsions of Indian diplomats reduced threat: RCMP commissioner

RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme says the threat to public safety has been “significantly reduced” since six Indian diplomatic officials were expelled from the country last week.

“I can confirm that, based on various techniques that we use in normal investigations and that we reach out from the community, I can confirm that there has been a significant reduction in threats,” Duheme told Vassy Kapelos, host of CTV’s Question Period, in an interview that aired on Sunday. .

“Look at some of the key players – and I said it in my statement on Thanksgiving Day – you had diplomats and consular officers involved, working on behalf of the government of India, on top of agents as well,” Duheme said. “So when you look at the government of Canada deporting these six people, it has had an impact on what we’re seeing in South Asian communities.”

When asked by Kapelos whether the future replacement of those diplomats would result in a return of the threat to public safety, the commissioner said this would likely be the case.

“Based on what I know, I think I would be concerned.”

During a pair of news conferences on Thanksgiving Monday, the RCMP and the federal government accused Indian diplomats and consular officials based in Canada of participating in clandestine activities linked to serious criminal activity in this country, including murders and extortions.

Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly went a step further on the RCMP, saying that the since-deported Indian High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma, along with five other Indian diplomats, are considered persons of interest in the killing of the Sikh separatist leader and Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh. Nijjar in BC last summer.

Verma and his colleagues were declared persona non-grata for refusing to waive their diplomatic immunity from being questioned by law enforcement.

“There has always been a separate and distinct investigation into the Indian government’s involvement in crime in Canada, and then we came out that was specific to that, and had nothing to do with the Nijjar case, which is before the courts . Duheme said when asked by Kapelos whether he makes the same connection as Joly between the murder of Nijjar and the expelled high commissioner.

“We are investigating diplomats and consular officers who have direct links with the government of India through agents in various crimes, as I said, murder, coercion and intimidation,” he also said, without drawing any direct link between other open investigations and the Nijjar case.

Duheme said that in his 35 years in law enforcement he has “never seen anything like this,” adding, “It’s actually a bit surreal when you look at it all.”

“I cannot say that the threat would be eliminated forever,” Duheme also said. “Because like any organized crime group or in the criminal world, they reorganize and find a different way of doing things.”

Then-RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme waits to appear before the Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, in Ottawa, Tuesday, June 13, 2023. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

The RCMP commissioner added that the issue is not unique to Canada, but that there have been similar examples before in other countries, namely in the United States, where a recently partially unsealed indictment from the U.S. Department of Justice charged an Indian government official in connection with the thwarted alleged assassination attempt of a dual Canadian-American citizen in New York City.

That indictment also links the alleged assassination attempt in the US to the murder of Nijjar in Canada.

In an exclusive interview on CTV’s Question Period last week, Verma denied any involvement in Nijjar’s murder and insisted that Canada has “not shared a shred of evidence” with the Indian government.

Duheme refuted that statement, saying that although both law enforcement and political officials tried to contact their Indian counterparts “on numerous occasions” to share evidence, the evidence was ultimately delivered in vain at a meeting in Singapore.

“So perhaps the High Commissioner never saw the evidence, but it was shared with the government official of India,” Duheme said.

“There was evidence showing how agents working for the Government of India here in Canada, through the diplomatic process and official consulates, how tasks were carried out, how information flowed back to the Government of India, to organized crime groups, and then back again. to Canada,” he also said.

Verma also said in his interview with CTV News that he chose not to waive his diplomatic immunity because the lack of evidence presented to him prevented him from defending himself during an interrogation.

But Duheme said “the evidence would have been shared” if Verma had signed up for an interview.

When asked about Verma’s criticism that the Canadian government is risking diplomatic relations with one of its largest trading partners over intelligence, rather than evidence, Duheme specifically said the RCMP made its accusations on Thanksgiving Day based on evidence expressed.

“The evidence that we have was presented to the Prime Minister, was presented to a minister, was presented to the Minister of Global Affairs Canada, and I would say our evidence is strong enough that the government has taken a position to expel six diplomats put,” he said.

Duheme also discussed in his interview the procedural standstill in the House of Commons over unredacted documents related to the now-defunct Sustainable Development Technology Canada.

You can watch Duheme’s full interview in the video player at the top of this article.