RCMP says it has 'strong evidence' linking campaign of violence to the 'highest levels' of Indian government

The head of the RCMP says the Mounties have strong evidence showing the "highest levels" of the Indian government were involved in orchestrating a campaign of violence and intimidation on Canadian soil. 

"We do have strong evidence — not intelligence, but evidence — that this goes all the way up to the highest level," Commissioner Mike Duheme told CBC Power & Politics host David Cochrane on Friday.

"Some of the evidence I am referring to will eventually come out through the judicial process." 

Duheme's sit-down interview comes more than a week after he went public at a news conference with the RCMP's investigation. The RCMP alleges agents of the Indian government were complicit in widespread crimes in Canada, including murder, extortion and intimidation.

Duheme said police evidence shows Indian diplomats and consular staff collected information and brought that information to the Indian government, at which point instructions would be fed to criminal organizations to carry out acts of violence.

The commissioner said police assembled evidence of credible and imminent threats to members of the South Asian community, specifically members of the pro-Khalistan movement.

Last week, the federal government announced it had expelled six Indian diplomats — including the high commissioner, India's chief envoy to Canada. India has denied the accusations and swiftly retaliated by kicking Canadian diplomats out of its country.

"In my 37-year career, this is the first time I've actually seen this," Duheme said Friday, describing the magnitude of the investigation. "We've learned a lot from it."

Duheme said he believes that since the RCMP went public, the threat to South Asian communities has decreased.

"I truly believe, based on the information that we have, that we've had a significant impact on how they were operating." he said.

"I've got to highlight that when you're dealing with organized crime figures, you can deal with it, but they usually regroup and find different tactics. But our investigators are on the ground monitoring everything that's going on." 

During last week's news conference, the RCMP said they've warned 13 Canadians since September 2023 that they could be targets of harassment or threats by Indian agents. Some of those individuals have received multiple threats.

Duheme said he believes those people "are in a better place" now.

Duheme said the Mounties first tried to share evidence linking crimes in Canada to the upper levels of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government with the Indian police, but were unsuccessful.