New Delhi: Canadian officials have rejected reports claiming that the four Indian nationals accused of killing Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil have been granted bail.
Ann Seymour, a senior official at the Canadian Ministry of Attorney General, said that all the accused are in custody under mandatory detention orders.
A court in Canada’s British Columbia, where Nijjar was assassinated in June 2023, ordered the mandatory detention for the quartet — Karan Brar, Kamalpreet Singh, Karanpreet Singh and Amandeep Singh.
The next hearing in the case has been set on February 11, when pre-trial applications will be addressed.
According to officials, bail is unlikely before the trial begins given the gravity of the charges — first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Addressing reports of bail having already been granted, Seymour clarified that no such action has been taken and no bail hearing is currently scheduled for the accused.
“The court imposed mandatory detention orders on all four accused. All four accused continue to remain in custody, and there are no bail hearings scheduled,” Seymour said.
India Today had accessed court records which marked custody status of the accused as ‘N,’ indicating they were not under detention. However, Seymour confirmed that they remain in custody under detention orders.
Nijjar was killed on June 18, 2023 in Surrey, British Columbia.
