Gangs of Canada: How the western country has become a haven for Punjabi gangsters

Gang wars and anti-India Khalistani activities. Canada is becoming infamous for it and as ties with India deteriorate, the growing crimes in the country are grabbing headlines. Amid this fallout, on Thursday (21 September), news emerged that Sukhdool Singh – alias Sukha Duneke – a Punjabi gangster, who is also a known Khalistani sympathiser, was killed in an inter-gang rivalry in Winnipeg, Canada. We examine how Canada, which has accused India of being involved in the earlier murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar , has become a safe haven for not just Khalistanis terrorists but also for Punjabi gangsters. Gangsters and gang wars in Canada Since the 1980s, when a large number of Punjabis began to move to Canada, ethnic Punjabi gangs have become part of the Canadian landscape. As Praveen Swami writes in The Print, this was “in part responding to racial marginalisation; in part because of cultural conflicts within the community; and in part, masculinity-signalling behaviour borrowing on the idioms of other ethnicities”. Canadian soil has now become fertile land for gangsters and in recent years, their activity has increased significantly, paving the way for gang wars to break out. The most recent example of this would be the death of Sukhdool Singh , aka Sukha Duneke. Reports emerged that Singh was gunned down by two men in Winnipeg late on Wednesday night. Information reveals that the Punjabi gangster, a part of the Davinder Bambiha gang, was from Punjab’s Moga and went to Canada in 2017 on forged passport. News18 reports, citing sources, that he was inclined towards pro-Khalistan outfits, but, mostly made calls for extortions and indulges in ‘supari’ killings. Singh is also believed to have conspired to murder kabbadi player Sandeep Singh Nangal during a match in Jalandhar in March last year. Notably, he was on the list of wanted criminals National Investigation Agency (NIA) on 20 September. The names included criminals engaged in terror-gangster acts against India. The Lawrence Bishnoi gang has claimed responsibility for the killing. Notably, though the namesake of the gang is currently in a jail in Gujarat, his operatives work and function out of Canada freely. Earlier in July too, a gang war led to the killing of Punjabi gangster Karanveer Singh Garcha. The firing incident had taken place in the Coquitlam city. Prior to this, there was also the killing of Amarpreet (Chucky) Samra in Vancouver in May. Samra, an Indian-origin gangster whose name had featured in a list of 11 high profile gangsters released by the Vancouver police department in August 2022, was gunned down on Vancouver’s Fraser Street after he had left a wedding celebration. Reports had then stated that Samra had been associated with the United Nations gang active in the lower mainland area of British Columbia province in Canada. A report in the Vancouver Sun had then claimed that the rival gang, Brothers Keepers’ gang, could be behind the killing. [caption id=“attachment_13152292” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Gangster Goldy Brar is a known associate of Lawrence Bishnoi and has a number of cases of murder and extortion against him. File image/PTI[/caption] It’s also known that gangster Satinderjit Singh Brar, alias Goldy Brar , who is also a key accused in the murder of Sidhu Moose Wala , resides in Canada. In May, he was placed among the top 25 most wanted fugitives in Canada. Brar, who reached Canadian shores in 2017, is also accused of orchestrating the targeted killings of at least two more persons, attempt to murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and illegal arms trafficking in India. Another notable figure is Arshdeep Dala, who recently claimed responsibility for the assassination of a Congress leader in Moga. There’s also Lakhbir Singh Landa, who resides in Edmonton in Canada’s Alberta and has links with pro-Khalistan terror organisation Babbar Khalsa International. Both of these names, along few others, have also been named by the NIA as most wanted in the list published on Wednesday.

Want to know more about the India-Canada row? Read on _Hardeep Singh Nijjar killing: How India's strong global ties have left Canada isolated_ _Hardeep Singh Nijjar killing: Does spat with Canada threaten India-US bonhomie?_ _Diplomats expelled, trade talks on hold: How India-Canada ties have plunged to new lows_ _Backing Khalistani terrorists, farmers’ stir and more: Justin Trudeau’s anti-India politics_

A safe haven for gangsters But what makes Canada such a fertile land for these Punjabi gangsters? There are many reasons to it. Firstly, the strong presence of Khalistani leaders and terrorists in Canada help fund these gangsters and also enable their movement from India to the foreign land. It also benefits the Khalistani leaders to do so as the gangsters continue to perpetrate anti-India and terror activities on Indian soil. It is reported that Sikhs for Justice , a pro-Khalistani group and banned in India, back these gangsters. A former cop, on the condition of anonymity, was quoted as saying, “Most of the gangsters after committing heinous crimes go to Canada as they are backed by the SFJ links. From there and with support from SFJ links, they operate the entire nexus, including drugs trade, extortion, and money laundering, among others. Without SFJ support, it is not possible.”

Additionally, the Canadian authorities, under the Justin Trudeau government, have taken little to no action against them. During Trudeau’s visit to Amritsar in 2018, former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh had reportedly raised concerns about how Canadian territory was being exploited against India’s interests. However, the Canadian government took no substantial action in response to these concerns. According to Canadian security experts, such is the situation that today Punjabi gangs are among the three significant organised crime challenges in Canada, trailing only the Italian-Canadian Mafia and Asian organised Triad crime collectives. There’s also a social angle to the rise of Punjabi gangs in Canada. These groups were born and prospered because local residents saw them as protectors. As The Tribune reported earlier, “On Canada’s Pape Avenue, the Punjabi population used to have a shelter home. People reaching Canada used to first stay there before finding their own accommodation but local residents reportedly harassed them. When confronted by these Punjabis, it turned out to be a serious fight between the two. From there, some of these Punjabi youth saw a potential to benefit.” It is left to be seen if this current situation and the diplomatic fallout – diplomats have been expelled and now New Delhi has suspended visa services for Canadians – will change the situation of Punjabi organised gangs in Canada or will Ottawa finally take action. With inputs from agencies