Yet another Indo-Canadian youth was gunned down in the city of Surrey near Vancouver on Thursday night in what police described as a "planned hit.''
More than 100 young Punjabi boys have been killed in warfare among Indo-Canadian drug gangs in Surrey since the mid-90s, with most of the cases remaining unresolved.
Twenty-one-year-old Gurpreet Singh Sidhu became another victim when he was killed in a drive-by shooting in front of his home just before midnight on Thursday.
His friend, Upinder Sian, was seriously injured in the attack.
Neighbours, who called police immediately after the shooting, said five shots were fired at the two young men from a driving vehicle.
The assailants managed to escape. It is not known how many assailants were involved in the attack.
Both the victims were rushed to hospital where Sidhu succumbed to his injuries. The extent of injuries to Sian who survived is not known.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team of the local police, which was investigating the shooting, has described the attack as a ``planned hit''.
``Police are in the process of conducting interviews and are seeking further witnesses,'' a police spokesman told the media.
{{/usCountry}}``Police are in the process of conducting interviews and are seeking further witnesses,'' a police spokesman told the media.
{{/usCountry}}The victim lived with his extended family comprising parents and grandparents - who immigrated here from Punjab.
Surrey, which has been described as the Southall of Canada, is home to about 100,000 Indo-Canadians, mostly hailing from Punjab. In fact, they constitute about 25 percent of the population of this fastest growing city in Canada.
The community is plagued by family and youth gang violence. Many wives have lost their lives at the hands of their husbands while more than 100 young men have died in drug-related inter-gang warfare.