Charges have been laid against a Surrey resident accused of sexually assaulting, confining and in some cases beating women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

Shalendra Kumar Sharma,43, allegedly assaulted four different women from 1994 to 2011, and is being held in custody while police search for any other potential victims.

He has been charged with four counts of sexual assault, four counts of confinement, two counts of assault, one count of kidnapping and one count of uttering threats.

His arrest was announced Monday as B.C.'s missing women's inquiry shifted to a panel format to focus on failures in the investigation of serial killer Robert Pickton.

Vancouver Police Department Supt. Rob Rothwell issued a statement Monday assuring that the officers investigating Sharma were concerned "first, last and always" for the safety of women in the DTES.

"Every member of our team was dedicated to ensuring that the mistakes of the past would never be repeated again," Rothwell said.

Police say they've found nothing linking Sharma to Pickton, who targeted women in the east Vancouver neighbourhood in the 1990s.

The latest alleged incidents took place last December, beginning on the 4th when a woman came forward to say she was picked up in the DTES, taken to Burnaby and sexually assaulted.

Two weeks later, another assault was committed in Burnaby, which Vancouver police and Mounties linked to the prior incident with help from a sex crimes analyst.

Police have not released Sharma's photo, saying he poses no threat to the public while in custody, but made public four photos of vehicles associated with him at different times, including:

  • A 2007 Ford Escape, red, from October 2006 to present
  • A 2003 Ford Explorer, blue, from January 2004 to February 2010
  • A 1997 Ford Explorer, red, from March 1999 to October 2006
  • A 1991 Pontiac Sunbird, red, from January 1994 to May 1997

Anyone who witnessed a crime associated with any of the vehicle models during the appropriate dates or was victimized by someone driving one of them is asked to call police immediately.

Sharma is due to appear in court on March 2.