Amid investigation and allegations of killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Canadian law enforcement has denied allegations carried in a report that officers arrived late to the scene of Khalistani figure killing.

The Washington Post, in a report on the murder, state that at least six men, among them those that appeared to be Sikh, and two vehicles, were involved in the murder of Nijjar on June 18.

It also noted that witnesses said that it took between 12 and 20 minutes after the gunshots that police arrived. It cited a witness as saying that an “hours-long tussle” between Surrey police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or RCMP over leading the investigation caused a further delay.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Surrey detachment of the RCMP countered those claims, saying that the first information of the incident came at 8.27 pm and the first officers to respond reached the spot in under four minutes with more joining them soon after.

As is routine with murder cases, the case was handed over to the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team or IHIT, with support from Surrey RCMP. “We are confident all necessary investigational steps are being taken to hold those responsible for the homicide accountable,” the statement added.

The statement said IHIT “cannot provide further details on any aspects of the ongoing investigation and will not be commenting further at this time.”

It said that the Post sent them a list of questions, with a deadline the next day, adding, “This did not provide an adequate opportunity to respond. Subsequently a story was published which contained inaccurate information on the police response to this homicide.”