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17 arrested in California Sikh community shootings
17 people, including two wanted for murders in India, were arrested in Northern California for their involvement in two warring criminal syndicates responsible for multiple shootings, including a mass shooting at a Sikh temple and a sword attack at a parade in 2018. The accused are all members of California's Sikh community and were part of one of the two rival groups, whose feud was fuelled by intense personal connections. The violence started in 2018 at a Sikh parade in Yuba City, leading to shootings, including one at a wedding party in 2021.
Authorities in Northern California on Monday said they had arrested more than a dozen persons from two warring criminal syndicates whose violent rivalry they say was responsible for a mass shooting at a Sikh temple and a brutal sword attack at a parade in 2018.
Sutter county district attorney Jennifer Dupré said two of the people arrested are mafia members who are “wanted on a number of murders” in India.
Authorities arrested 17 persons, including Karandeep Singh, Pardeep Singh, Pavittar Singh, Husandeep Singh, Sahajpreet Singh, Harkirat Singh, Tirath Ram, Dharamvir Singh, Jobanjit Singh, Gurvinder Singh, Nitish Kaushal, Gurminder Singh Kang, Devender Singh, Karambir Gill, Rajeev Ranjan, Jobanpreet Singh, and Singh Dhesi.
Dupré said five other people — Amandeep Singh, Harmandeep Singh, Gursharn Singh, Grucharan Singh and Jaskaran Singh — have not yet been arrested.
Dupré said the accused have not had court appearances yet. It’s not clear if they have attorneys yet who can speak on their behalf.
Dupré said the two syndicates were responsible for multiple shootings where 11 persons were shot at, including five at a Stockton Sikh temple on August 27, 2022, and two at a Sikh temple in Sacramento on March 23. None of the victims died. Dupré said all of the arrested persons are part of California’s Sikh community and were members of one of the two rival groups whose feud was fuelled by intense personal connections.
“This started out as one group, and one faction broke off, and since then they have been rivals trying to outdo each other. Mainly they show up places and try to shoot each other,” Dupré said, comparing it to the US Civil War “where brothers were fighting against brothers.” Dupré said the arrests are not related to the murders of a Sikh family last year in the San Joaquin Valley, which included the killings of an 8-month-old baby, the baby’s parents and an uncle.
Dupré said the violence began in 2018 at the annual Sikh parade in Yuba City, one of the largest South Asian festivals held outside of the Indian subcontinent. There, Dupré said, a man was beaten so hard with a sword that it broke. The violence soon escalated to shootings, including one at a wedding party in 2021.
The rash of violence attracted the attention of the Yuba-Sutter narcotic and gang enforcement task force, which launched an investigation with assistance from the FBI, the drug enforcement administration, and various other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. The investigation intensified in March, when authorities learned of potential violence at a Sikh parade in Sacramento. Dupré said police stopped two cars before they reached the parade, arresting seven people and seizing four handguns and two other guns with large capacity magazines. A shooting still happened at the parade, injuring two people, but Dupré said a “mass casualty incident” was prevented.
“If those weapons had gotten into the parade, it could have been a bloodbath,” Dupré said. Altogether, Dupré said police seized 41 guns, including weapons such as AK-47, handguns, and at least one machine gun.
Yuba City, a city of nearly 70,000 people along the Feather River just north of Sacramento, has a large Sikh community.
