Ottawa/New Delhi, Oct 14 (Reporter) Agents of the Government of India are taking part in criminal activity in Canada that is leading to serious threats to the safety and security of Canadians, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police alleged in a Monday press conference just hours after Canada expelled six Indian diplomats. The Mounties, working with other Canadian police forces, have obtained evidence allegedly tying India government agents to homicides and violent acts in Canada, Commissioner Mike Duheme said, according to the Globe and Mail. He did not provide information on the number of alleged slayings, or how many Indian officials were allegedly involved but said other criminal acts include extortion, intimidation, coercion and harassment. “The team has learned a significant amount of information about the breadth and depth of criminal activity orchestrated by agents of the Government of India, and consequential threats to the safety and security of Canadians and individuals living in Canada,” Commissioner Duheme said. “Despite law enforcement’s action, the harm has continued posing a serious threat to our public safety.” Commissioner Duheme alleged that police investigations reveal that Indian diplomats and consular officials in Canada have leveraged their official positions to “engage in clandestine activities,” that include collecting information for the Indian government either directly or through proxies and that other individuals participated voluntarily or through coercion. Some of these individuals and businesses were coerced and threatened into working for the Government of India. The information collected by the Government of India is then used to target members of the South Asian community.” He said the evidence was presented directly to the government of India. Commissioner Duheme announced no new charges or arrests and declined to say how many investigations are open. The actions of Indian diplomats and consular officials in Canada are “without a doubt, a contravention of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, but also it goes against Canada’s values as a society,” said Assistant Commissioner Brigitte Gauvin. A senior Canadian official said that soon after government officials notified India of the expulsion of the six diplomats, New Delhi recalled them. The source also said that the RCMP have evidence that the six diplomats, including High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma, were involved in the plot to murder Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June, 2023, the Globe and Mail report said. The Canadian government presented the evidence to India last week and the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi staunchly denied the allegations, the source said. Since the gangland slaying of Nijjar, the source said a dozen people of Indian descent have been warned that there was credible evidence that they could be targets of Indian agents. Commissioner Duheme said the police have also identified serious issues of violent extremists working in both India and Canada, the use of organized crime to create perceptions of unsafe environments and targeting of people in the South Asian community in Canada, and interference in democratic processes. The country’s top Mountie noted that it is rare for the police to release information before charges are laid but said it was warranted in this case because of how serious the public-safety threats are. He said there were multiple open investigations into the alleged involvement of agents of the government of India in “serious criminal activity in Canada.” So far, eight people have been arrested in connection to homicides and 22 people have been arrested in relation to extortion, said Assistant Commissioner Gauvin. She said some of those individuals have connections to the government of India. “There’s numerous investigations going on, led by multiple police agencies across the country,” Commissioner Duheme said. He urged anyone feeling threatened to gather information for the government of India to come forward. Before the press conference, the Indian government said it pre-emptively withdrew its High Commissioner to Canada and other diplomats in response to a notice it received on Sunday that they are “persons of interest” in an investigation. “The Government of India strongly rejects these preposterous imputations and ascribes them to the political agenda of the Trudeau Government that is centered around vote bank politics,” the statement from New Delhi said...////...