Community leaders, RCMP host forum on extortion plots targeting South Asian businesses

Members of Surrey's South Asian business community gathered Saturday to listen to community leaders, politicians and RCMP discuss a recent string of extortion attempts and shootings.

"I know people are very scared right now," said Satish Kumar of the Vedic Hindu Cultural Society of BC. "And people sometimes don't come forward."

Since October, businesses in a number of Lower Mainland municipalities, from West Vancouver to Abbotsford, have been targeted by letters from self-described "Indian gang members" demanding protection money.

Multiple shootings have been connected to the extortion plot – although no injuries have been reported.

Police say all of the recent extortion attempts are similar in nature and likely related.

And they could also be connected to other attempted extortions and violence in other provinces.

In Edmonton, several homes under construction have been torched in recent weeks.

Many of the builders are part of the South Asian community and have also been targeted for extortion.

And in Ontario, Peel Regional Police recently arrested a B.C. man in connection with a shooting that may be linked to a number of extortion attempts on business owners in Brampton.

"We have reached out to other jurisdictions, we are co-operating and it's a matter of assembling the information, comparing notes and driving forward in each jurisdiction, being mindful of other agencies and to share that information," said Asst. Comm. Brian Edwards of the Surrey RCMP.

Police have not ruled out the possibility the plots could be transnational and possibly connected to organized crime in India.

It's something former B.C. premier and Attorney General Ujjal Dosanjh has considered as well.

"We need to understand that some of these guys are interconnected with Punjab, and vice-versa, and therefore we need to work with the law enforcement agencies of each other and we need to work with the governments at various levels," he said in an interview with CTV News.

Last week, Surrey RCMP arrested two men in connection with a possibly related shooting, but released them without charges.

Edwards blamed the high threshold for charge approval in Canada for the men's release, but said he was confident his investigators would gather enough evidence so the men would eventually have to face the courts.

At Saturday's community forum, Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke called on Attorney General Niki Sharma to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the cases.

"There are steps that are required before the Attorney General can step in," Sharma told CTV News in response to the Mayor's request. "First, the RCMP needs to investigate and we need to get as much information as possible. And then the Crown would have to move forward with charges in the court. And then we would have to see whether or not a special prosecutor is required."

She said Solicitor General Mike Farnworth has been in touch with his counterparts in other provinces about the extortion attempts.