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Rajbir Singh of Misl, a Sikh youth organization in Winnipeg, says some members of the community are concerned after the homicide of an alleged Punjabi gang member in the city. (Travis Golby/CBC)
A Winnipeg Sikh youth organization says it's concerned about the possibility of gang activity in the city after the fatal shooting of a man who police in India allege was a notorious criminal there. Sukhdool Singh Gill, 39, was found dead by police in a duplex on Hazelton Drive, in northwest Winnipeg, on the morning of Sept. 20.
His death came just two days after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there are credible allegations linking India to the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a pro-Khalistan activist, in Surrey, B.C., in June. "There's obviously a lot of shock, there's a lot of confusion," said Rajbir Singh, who leads Misl Winnipeg, a Sikh youth organization.
The area is home to a large population of Punjabi people, who have settled there to keep community connections and be close to a gurdwara, a Sikh place of worship, Singh said.
Gill, who went by the alias Sukha Duneke, was allegedly part of the Bambiha gang in India, according to police documents in that country. He was accused of extortion and arranging money for gang members to buy weapons, and his name was linked to murders in India.
An expert on conflict management in India said Gill was involved in a long-running feud with rival gangs. He allegedly left India in 2017 after obtaining a passport illegally with the help of police.
Gulneet Singh Khurana, a former senior police superintendent in Moga — a district in India's Punjab state — told CBC the passport case was filed in 2022 after police got complaints about extortion calls and learned Gill was in Canada.
"When we looked into the matter, we came to know he was in Canada," Khurana said in an interview translated from Hindi. "When we verified the matter, we came to know that he had hidden facts and gone abroad."
Singh said no one here really knew of Gill, or the fact he was in Winnipeg, until his death. "He might've been known as a person by a very niche crowd, people who kind of keep up with the gang violence in India and outwards," said Singh. "However, I can't say he was a prominent figure of the community."
Rival gangs claim responsibility Rival gangs in India have claimed responsibility for Gill's death, including the Bishnoi gang, which took credit in a social media post, according to reports by Indian media. However, a justice official in India is skeptical.
Shweta Shrimali is superintendent of Sabarmati Central Jail in India's Gujarat state, where gang leader Lawrence Bishnoi is being held. Bishnoi has no social media access and no contact with anyone who could've made the post for him, according to Shrimali.
"He has been in our jail the whole time and there is no relation of him with this," Shrimali told CBC in an interview translated from Hindi. The week he was killed, Gill also appeared on a wanted list released via the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) by India's National Investigation Agency — a specialized counter-terrorism law enforcement agency.
Source: CBC NEWS
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Read MoreA Winnipeg Sikh youth organization says it's concerned about the possibility of gang activity in the city after the fatal shooting of a man who police in India allege was a notorious criminal there. Sukhdool Singh Gill, 39, was found dead by police in a duplex on Hazelton Drive, in northwest Winnipeg, on the morning of Sept. 20.
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