'Speculative, inaccurate': Canada factchecks own media report linking PM Modi with Nijjar murder

PTC News Desk: Canadian government has now rubbished its own media report linking PM Modi and other top officials with Nijjar killing. The government stated that there is no evidence to connect Prime Minister Narendra Modi or his top officials to any criminal activity in Canada, including the killing of Sikh activist  Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

National security and intelligence advisor to Justin Trudeau, Nathalie G Drouin, in a statement, said that the Canadian government is "not aware" of any evidence of the claims made by a Canadian media house citing unnamed officials.

"On October 14th, because of a significant and ongoing threat to public safety, the RCMP and officials took the extraordinary step of making public accusations of serious criminal activity in Canada perpetrated by agents of the Government of India. The Government of Canada has not stated, nor is it aware of the evidence, linking Prime Minister Modi, Minister Jaishankar, or NSA Doval to the serious criminal activity within Canada," the statement read.

The justification follows a Canadian media report citing that the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was orchestrated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The report further said that PM Modi along with EAM Jaishankar and NSA Doval were informed about the plan.

However, the same report acknowledged that the Canadian government had "no direct evidence" to support these claims against PM Modi.

Soon after the report floated, India swiftly rebuked the claims with External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal calling the report a "smear campaign". "Such ludicrous statements made to a newspaper purportedly by a Canadian government source should be dismissed with the contempt they deserve. Smear campaigns like this only further damage our already strained ties," Jaiswal said.