Goldy Brar claims responsibility for Nijjar killing in purported 'leaked' audio

Gangster Goldy Brar has purportedly claimed responsibility for the 2023 killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, according to an alleged leaked audio recording that has surfaced more than three years after the assassination triggered a major diplomatic confrontation between New Delhi and Ottawa. The authenticity of the recording has not been independently verified. In the purported conversation, Brar is heard speaking with UK-based Khalistani operative Paramjit Singh Pamma and claiming that his group was behind Nijjar’s killing. India Today said security agency sources had identified the voice as Brar’s, while noting that it could not independently authenticate the recording.

Nijjar was shot dead outside a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18, 2023. His killing subsequently became the centre of an extraordinary diplomatic dispute after Canada alleged a potential link between agents of the Indian government and the assassination, an allegation India repeatedly rejected.

Brar alleges drug network

In the purported recording, Brar alleges that Nijjar had provided support to individuals involved in narcotics networks and had helped people who recruited teenagers into selling drugs. He claims that young people were being coerced or manipulated into becoming drug sellers and informants. Brar further alleges that Nijjar protected such individuals because they could be useful to him when required. He presents those claims as the reason his group decided to target the Khalistani separatist.

The allegations concerning Nijjar’s involvement with drug networks remain claims made in an unverified recording and have not been established by the emergence of the audio itself. The purported conversation also contains allegations involving weapons and criminal networks, adding another dimension to competing accounts surrounding Nijjar’s killing.

Gang rivalry claim emerges

The most consequential part of the recording is Brar’s alleged assertion that Nijjar’s killing arose from a conflict involving criminal networks rather than a state-directed operation. Brar purportedly tells Pamma that his own group carried out the assassination, portraying the killing as retaliation arising from activities within transnational gang and narcotics networks. The recording, however, does not by itself establish who planned, financed or participated in Nijjar’s murder. Its authenticity, context and the accuracy of the claims made in it would require independent verification by investigating authorities.

Brar, whose real name is Satinderjeet Singh, is wanted in India in connection with several serious criminal cases and has previously been linked to the killing of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala.

Killing sparked diplomatic crisis

Nijjar’s assassination became an international flashpoint in September 2023 when then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Parliament that Canadian security agencies were pursuing allegations of a possible connection between Indian government agents and the killing.

India rejected the allegation as absurd and motivated and maintained that Canada had failed to provide adequate evidence supporting the charge.

Relations between the two countries subsequently deteriorated sharply, with diplomatic expulsions and a prolonged dispute over Khalistani separatist activity in Canada.

The appearance of the purported Brar recording is therefore likely to attract particular scrutiny because the voice in the clip offers a substantially different explanation for why Nijjar was targeted.

Authenticity remains crucial

Despite the potentially significant nature of the claims, the recording must be treated cautiously until its authenticity and complete context are established. An admission contained in leaked audio does not automatically amount to proof of responsibility, particularly in cases involving organised crime, where competing gangs may make claims for influence, intimidation or other purposes.

Canadian authorities have investigated Nijjar’s assassination and made arrests in connection with the case. The emergence of the recording could provide another lead for investigators if it is authenticated and determined to contain credible information. For now, it adds a new and potentially important claim to a killing that has remained at the heart of India-Canada tensions since 2023 — but it does not, on its own, settle the question of who ultimately ordered and executed the assassination.