E-Paper
Shots fired at newly opened Kapil Sharma’s cafe in Canada
The cafe is located in a popular destination for outings and lies along the border of the towns of Surrey and Delta in British Columbia
Toronto: Multiple shots were fired at a newly opened cafe in Canada, owned by Indian comedian and screen star Kapil Sharma.
Kap’s Café, which was inaugurated recently, was targeted in the early hours of Thursday by unknown persons.
Several bullets were fired at the cafe and the marks they left were clear and a window was also shattered, according to Sameer Kaushal, founder of the outlet NewsDerby, who was at the scene of the crime on Thursday morning.
Several cruisers of the Surrey Police Service (SPS) lined the street outside the cafe, which is located in a popular destination for outings and lies along the border of the towns of Surrey and Delta in British Columbia.
An unverified video of a person firing at the cafe at night also circulated on social media as did unconfirmed posts in which Harjit Singh Laddi and Toofan Singh, who are associated with the proscribed terror outfit Babbar Khalsa International or BKI, allegedly claimed responsibility for the attack. In the posts, in English and Punjabi, they claimed an episode of the popular Kapil Sharma Show featured a character who made some humorous remarks about the dress and behaviour of Nihangs, which hurt their religious sentiments. Neither the veracity of the posts nor the claim could be established at this time.
BKI is recognised as a terrorist outfit by the Canadian government.
The shootings occurred in what is largely a residential locality and in fact, there are apartments in the complex where the cafe is situated.
Local police had not made a statement about the incident yet.
However, the city and the Lower Mainland region of the province, have seen a wave of businesses that have been targeted by criminal gangs with the objective of extortion.
Strangely enough, on July 3, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) had announced the arrest of two persons, who were not identified by name, for their involvement in extortion-related violence. A day later they had been released without charges, according to the outlet Global News.
On June 11, businessman Satwinder Sharma was shot dead in neighbouring Abbotsford. Meanwhile, Satish Kumar, president of the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir in Surrey, has experienced his businesses being targeted multiple times this year. Kumar told the outlet Vancouver Sun last month, “My life is on the line. My family’s life is on the line.” In December 2023, the residence where his son and family live in was fired upon.
_____
