Canada gang war: 2 Punjabi shooters among five nabbed for killing gangster Meninder Dhaliwal

Chandigarh, July 26

Two Punjab-origin shooters, among five, have been arrested in the daylight killing of gangster Meninder Dhaliwal and his friend, Satindera Gill, in Whistler on Sunday.

The Whistler police today announced that they have arrested five persons, including 24-year-old Gursimran Sahota and 20-year-old Tanvir Khakh, in the killings that took place at the British Columbia resort village. The police have charged the duo, both from Surrey, with first-degree murder. They belong to the ‘United Nations gang’.

Three others were arrested along with Khakh and Sahota. The extent of their involvement is still being determined.

Dhaliwal belonged to the ‘Brothers Keepers gang’ run by immigrants of Punjab origin. They are involved in a turf war with the ‘United Nations gang’ and ‘Red Scorpions gang’. On July 14, Chris Irwin of the ‘United Nations gang’ was found murdered.

The incident was reported 10 days after an eerily similar killing of Ripudaman Singh Malik, who had been acquitted of the charges of bombing an Air India plane.

The two latest victims were shot in broad daylight while sitting in a car at a public place like Ripudaman and as in that incident, a car was also found burning nearby, according to the media reports.

Dhaliwal, along with his brother Barinder, was on the list of six men, four of them of the Indian descent, released last year by the Vancouver Police Department, which called them “gangsters” who “pose a significant risk to the safety of the public”.

Releasing their pictures, police chief Adam Palmer had warned: “Our police intelligence leads us to believe that the individuals we have identified today may be targeted by the rival gang members.”

Meanwhile, CTV said the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team confirmed Dhaliwal and Gill had been targeted and the shooting was linked to an ongoing gang conflict in the British Columbia’s lower mainland region that includes Vancouver.

DUO FROM ‘UNITED NATIONS GANG’

• The suspects — Gursimran Sahota (24) and Tanvir Khakh (20) – belong to the ‘United Nations gang’
• Residents of Surrey, they’ve been charged with the first-degree murder of gangster Meninder Dhaliwal and friend Satindera Gill
• The police are still determining the extent of involvement of the three other suspects