U.S. DRUG AGENCY WANTS TO SEARCH B.C. LAWYER'S CELLPHONE RECORDS

DEA Alleges Contact With Drug Gang Before His Jail Visit

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency alleges B.C. lawyer Kuldip Singh
Chaggar was in contact with the leader of a local drug gang over a
period of several months before he visited an inmate at a Seattle jail
who claims he threatened her.

DEA agent Kasey Kankeoa was seeking a search warrant to examine all
Chaggar's cellphone records in connection with the continuing
investigation into Chaggar's conduct at the Seattle jail two months
ago.

Chaggar, best known for representing convicted bomb-maker Inderjit
Singh Reyet, is facing a charge of witness tampering after the DEA
recorded several conversations between Chaggar and a Lower Mainland
woman named Sunita Vartia.

Vartia, a Lower Mainland resident, was arrested in eastern Washington
state last July while trying to smuggle 51 kilos of cocaine across the
Washington-B.C. border. U.S. authorities believe she is a low-level
courier used by a boyfriend and others involved in a more complex
drug-trafficking gang.

Chaggar was representing another man allegedly involved on the
Canadian side of the border in the same criminal organization.

The DEA alleges Chaggar visited Vartia Sept. 13 at a federal detention
centre south of Seattle and urged her to change a statement she had
provided implicating one of his clients.

Vartia then cooperated with U.S. officials, who tape-recorded two
subsequent phone calls and a second meeting between herself and Chaggar.

Chaggar was arrested shortly after he left the meeting on Sept.
18.

He has pleaded not guilty and was released on $50,000 US bail. His
trial is set for April 4, 2005.

The search-warrant application said, "There is probable cause to
believe that [the records of] this phone had additional evidence
regarding Chaggar's phone contacts with members of the criminal
organization in Canada on whose behalf Chaggar is alleged to have
tampered with Ms. Vartia."

It said the DEA believes Chaggar was in cellphone contact with a man
named Gurpreet Singh Dhaliwal, "one of the leaders of this
organization."

The affidavit also said Chaggar's phone records likely contain
"evidence relevant to the crime of witness tampering."

The search warrant was granted by a U.S. District court earlier this
month.

The court documents laying out the charge against Chaggar allege he
told Vartia that if she changed her story and "co-operated with them,
the people in Canada would take care of her, send money to her
grandparents and cover her legal expenses."

Two other B.C. residents, Baljinder Singh Grewal and Manhoar Singh
Sandhu, were also arrested in the U.S. last summer in the same case.
As well, a Surrey man named Sandeep Kumar Dhillon was arrested by the
RCMP after crossing into Canada with the cocaine near Osoyoos.

When Chaggar went to see Vartia in jail, he signed in as her lawyer,
though he did not represent her, according to the charge sheet against
him.

During his bail hearing last month, Chaggar's lawyer said Chaggar had
innocent explanations for what had gone on and was eager to clear his
name.