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India will assist Canada extortion probe, need formal request: Envoy
The police in Edmonton believe that these crimes are being orchestrated from India. However, Canada has yet to contact Indian authorities in this regard.
India could assist in investigating links to gangs operating there and conducting extortion targeting Indo-Canadians, but only if there is a formal request from Ottawa along with evidence.
This was indicated by India’s High Commissioner to Ottawa Sanjay Kumar Verma even as police in Edmonton, the capital of the province of Alberta, said on Thursday that it believed these crimes, 27 of which are being investigated locally, were being “orchestrated from India.”
Canada has yet to contact Indian authorities in this regard, as Verma said, “Canadians are yet to request, with evidence.”
However, he added that there were “existing mechanisms between the two governments to cooperate on organized crimes.”
He stated, “If specific and relevant evidence — not merely unsubstantiated allegations — are shared with us, pointing to links between Canadian extortionists and Indian gangsters, we shall act accordingly.”
Edmonton Police Service or EPS is investigating 27 events linked to an “extortion series” that have taken place in the region since October last year. These include 5 extortions, 15 arsons and 7 firearms offences, a release from EPS said on Thursday.
“A dedicated project team continues to investigate this series and its connection to organized crime,” it added.
At a press conference on Thursday, EPS Staff Sgt Dave Paton said, “It’s our belief that these crimes are being orchestrated from India.”
“Typically our victims receive WhatsApp communication, and then from there, there’s a request that comes along with that for compensation to allow those victims to remain safe,” he said.
On January 4, in a statement, EPS said six persons had been arrested so far in this connection “for shooting and arson incidents that have been connected to the extortion series”. They included 20-year-old Parminder Singh, who faces 12 firearms-related charges connected to an October 19 shooting at a residence in the city. He remains in custody. Others were identified as Hassan Dembil, 18, Manav Heer, 18, Ravinder Sandu, 19, who were charged with arson-related offences linked to a December 19 residential fire. They have since been released. Also arrested and then released was Arjun Sahnan, 19, who faces five firearms-related charges. One of these suspects has left Canada, police said on Thursday, without identifying who that was.
While the violent tactics of the gangs, including shootings, have not resulted in injuries, an estimated CA$ 9 million in property damage has been reported due to those incidents.
A spate of similar extortion attempts have been reported from the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia and the Greater Toronto Area since late last year.
