Millions of Indians woke up Thursday to a deluge of news stories falsely claiming that the four Indian nationals accused of murdering Sikh Canadian Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023 had been released from custody after the case against them fell apart.
The stories were repeated in many different outlets, including the Times of India, which headlined its report "Four Indians Accused in Nijjar Murder Case Released from Custody in Canada."
CBC News has confirmed that the reports are false. None of the Nijjar accused have left custody, nor are they expected to.
"It is not true that the four accused have been released on bail," Ann Seymour of the BC Prosecution Service told CBC News. "All four accused were detained, and they continue to remain in custody."
The next court appearance is a pretrial conference on Feb. 11, and they will also appear in court on Feb. 12.
Indian media outlets that repeated the false claims include the Hindu Post, First Post, Hindustan Times, Business Today, Business Standard, India Today, The New Indian Express, Mint News, News 18 and others.
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