Canadian mayors decry extortion bids against Indians

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 18

Giving voice to persistent complaints of gangsters targeting people of Indian origin, the mayors of Canadian towns of Brampton and Surrey have written to Canada’s Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, expressing alarm over the escalation of extortion threats against Indian and South Asian business communities.

“This alarming development underscores the severity and widespread nature of these threats, which are predominantly targeting members of the South Asian business community,” wrote mayors of Brampton and Surrey.

They said the police had “acknowledged the gravity of the situation” in which the extortionists had all the personal details about the target who was contacted through social media and told to pay money for protection against violence. The police had connected some of the incidents to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.

“The complexity and inter-jurisdictional nature of these crimes necessitate a more comprehensive strategy involving provincial and federal authorities. It is imperative the federal government, through your ministry, takes a leading role in facilitating this collaboration,” said Mayors Patrick Brown of Brampton and his Surrey counterpart Brenda Locke.

The police have connected a series of arson and drive-by shootings as attempts by extortionists to instill fear in the targets of extortion. In one area, the police made six arrests for extortion, shootings and arson.

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