Two Sikh rally organizers say they were wrongly arrested amid Parliament bomb scare

OTTAWA — Two organizers of a Sikh event set to take place on Parliament Hill Saturday say they were arrested and released after being wrongfully identified in connection to a bomb threat in the area.

Manveer Singh, an organizer of a remembrance rally for the 1984 massacre of Sikhs in India, says police arrested him and told him they had “credible information” that he was connected to a serious bomb threat on the Hill.

Parminder Singh, another organizer of the rally, says he was arrested not long afterward by Ottawa police, who told him there was a threat under his name related to a bomb threat of Parliament.

He says after being in custody for a short while, police released him and apologized, adding they arrested him based on wrong information.

Both men say they are worried about the damage done to their reputation as a result of being arrested in connection to the explosives threat. 

Ottawa police did not answer questions about the men’s account of events, saying only that the investigation into the matter is now concluded and no charges were laid.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 13, 2022.

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

The Canadian Press