BRAMPTON: In the context of the recent spate of extortion threats targeting the GTA’s South Asian community, one can assume that richness attracts jealousy. And yes it can also be assumed that some businesses have amassed disproportionate wealth through illegal means, leading extortionists to target them.
But, by and large, it was inconceivable till a few years ago to even imagine that in a peace-loving and law-abiding society such as Canada one would ever face threats of extortions.
Terms for extorions such as `Fi roti’ or, ’Supari’ often heard in Ludhiana in Punjab or Mumbai where the Dawood Ibrahim gang and its off-shoots extracted ransom money from the rich through threats of killing are being heard in Canada.
How did this happen in a brief period? It is unbelievable that there have been over 9,000 calls in the past two years targeting mostly Punjabi community businesses around the GTA in Ontario, Surrey and Abbotsford in BC and Calgary and Edmonton in Alberta.
Many businesses of the Punjabi community face these calls daily. The modus operandi of extortionists is to gather all information about a particular business and then make a call to pay ransom – from a million dollars upwards.
The ransom is to be paid in either India or Canada. They will also tell the target victim the name of the gang and their leader. Should a business fail to pay the ransom in the given time limit, a team of hired gangsters will shoot in front of their business offices or their houses to warn them to pay or face the consequences.
It has also been revealed that 50 percent of the targeted businesses are those indulged in drug trafficking, selling job letters, and gained riches through illegal means. These types of business owners quietly pay the ransom amount and do not report to the police.
It is only those businesses which have made success through rightful means generally refuse to pay ransom and report such calls to the police.
Some of the known names who were named in media reports in the GTA include Millenium Tyres, a Hyundai dealer in Mississauga, Nawab Motors, Sardarji Restaurant, Taste of India Restaurant, Brar Sweets and many others. Similar calls were received in Calgary, Edmonton, Surrey and Abbotsford.
Initially, it was assumed that these are a few isolated incidents of ransom calls to tainted businesspeople from their estranged employees or partners or some small-time gangsters. However, when many calls were received on behalf of known gangsters based in India, red flags went up.
As the number of calls soured, ransom incidents happened in major cities of Canada and a few in the US as well. Canadian police forces established a special task force to tackle this situation. The task force apprehended many Punjabi youngsters acting on directions of gangsters lodged in the jails of India.
This alarming situation has suddenly arisen due to the following reasons.
One, due to the post-COVID economic meltdown in Canada, the gangsters have recruited unemployed youth to work for them.
Two, hard-up international students have been drawn to crime due to need and greed for easy money.
Three, inspired by the erstwhile Vietnamese/Italian gangs in Canada, many Punjabi young men have become gangsters. One such gang is Brothers Keepers of Surrey, which were earlier aligned with the Scorpion gang indulging in drug trafficking. A few members of this gang working for gangsters in India have been apprehended by the police
Interestingly, most ransom calls have been connected to the known gangsters in Punjab and Haryana in India.
The murder of Punjab-based Indo-Canadian singer Sdihu Moosewala, who was executed in gangster style, has been linked to the gang of Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar. While Bishnoi is in jail in India, Goldy Brar is reportedly somewhere in Canada or the US.
One wonders why police in Canada have failed to know about the whereabouts of Goldy Brar.
And shockingly, the Indian authorities have also failed curb jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi from guiding his network of gangsters. He has become so powerful that he is giving interview to Punjabi media in Punjab while being behind bars. From his jail cell in Gujarat, he even reportedly made a ransom video call to a Punjabi movie director living in California.
In the background of deteriorating relations between India and Canada, such calls by gangsters from Indian jails give rise to many rumours and speculation.
There are three kinds of gang operations. The first in which international gangs have their leaders in India or abroad. They have their handlers all over Canada, the US and in other countries.
The second group are Canadian gangs of Punjabi origin who used to act as drugs couriers but have now transitioned to ransom collectors.
The third group of gangs includes Canadian-born Punjabi kids who have now got the taste of easy money. They know quick money can be made by unfair means.
A consolidated approach by the community, social organizations, political leaders, police, judiciary and governments at all levels is needed to check this menace.
First, community and business leaders need to get together and talk collectively about the seriousness of this threat. The culture of eulogizing gangsters as heroes, gun violence and drugs in Punjabi songs needs to be totally banned and boycotted.
Second, put pressure on Canadian authorities to make stringent laws against such crimes, locking up the gangsters for long periods and immiediately deporting those who are not Canadian citizens.
Third, Canada needs to establish a task force to track such crimes, gather evidence and then request Indian authorities to check these transnational crimes originating from their soil. They may have to involve Interpol in a major way and let not the current soured Indo-Canadian relations come in the way of fighting crime.
Fourth, Punjabi youth need to be sensitized at home and educated in schools and at religious places against allurement of earning money by crime and shortcuts.
The Indian and Punjabi community in Canada must admit that their society is afflicted by this new type of cancer which can result in disaster and tarnish their image if it goes unchecked for a long time. All need to collectively raise their voice in curbing this menace.
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