Toronto: Two former international students from India have been sentenced to three years in prison and possible deportation after serving out that term, for their alleged involvement in a horrific traffic fatality that claimed the life of an indigenous man last year.
On January 27, 2024, officers from the Surrey detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) arrested the two, Gaganpreet Singh and Jagdeep Singh.
Earlier this year, they both pleaded guilty to the charges of dangerous operation of a conveyance, failure to stop after accident with a person and interference with a dead body.
Behind those charges was a horrific background. The two 22-year-olds were in a car when it struck and dragged the victim, a pedestrian, for 1.3 km.
While delivering the sentence, Surrey Provincial Court Judge Mark Jette said, “They could see victim under the car,” as per the outlet North Delta Reporter.
He added that Gaganpreet Singh “drove away at an estimated 70 kilometres an hour” and then “stopped the car and reversed it in an attempt to dislodge (the victim).”
They later tried to remove the victim from under the vehicle and on managing to do so, allegedly fled the area. “Both displayed indifference,” Jette said.
{{/usCountry}}They later tried to remove the victim from under the vehicle and on managing to do so, allegedly fled the area. “Both displayed indifference,” Jette said.
{{/usCountry}}The car belonging to Jagdeep Singh and there was also a passenger who was not charged.
The victim, who was not named at the request of his family, was a 43-year-old father, of Cree heritage.
Gaganpreet Singh, the outlet reported, came to Canada from Punjab in India as an international student in 2022 and obtained a diploma from Vancouver Community College, while Jagdeep Singh studied at Cambria College and Excel Career College in Surrey before moving to work in Victoria at the end of 2023.
The Canada Border Services Agency or CBSA will seek deportation order both the men once their sentences are complete.