TASK FORCE LAUNCHED TO BATTLE DRUG GANGS

Indo-Gang Violence Has Left Dozens Dead

A joint Lower Mainland police task force into Indo-Canadian gang
violence was quietly put together this fall and is operating out of
the RCMP's major crime office in Surrey, The Vancouver Sun has learned.

The informal task force is looking at dozens of unsolved murders,
ranging from the December, 1998 nightclub slaying of notorious cocaine
dealer Bindy Johal to last month's discovery near Mission of the
charred remains of young gang associate Hari Bahia.

One of the links being probed is the high-profile slaying of drug
kingpin Robbie Kandola outside his Coal Harbour apartment last June.

Kandola's murder is believed to be a hit financed by a rival drug
trafficker who paid three men hundreds of thousands of dollars to kill Kandola.

One of those three men, Kamaljit Singh Sangha, turned up dead in
Burnaby on Sept. 29 in yet another unsolved slaying.

Sangha, a drug addict with a lengthy criminal record for robbery,
break and enter and trafficking, was apparently talking too much about the
Kandola shooting.

The work of the informal task force aided in the charges laid by Delta
police Dec. 5 against three men in the spring murder of newlywed
teacher Gurjinder Singh (Gary) Sidhu.

Gurkirpal Singh (Paul) Khela, one of those charged in the Sidhu
shooting, is believed to have information about the Kandola shooting
as well as about several other cases. They include the October, 2001
Surrey murder of Rick Bhatti, a friend of Sidhu's, the same-day
disappearance of Ned Mander and the shooting death in New Westminster last
month of Davinder Singh Gharu.

Khela is in custody and is next due to appear in Surrey provincial
court Tuesday.

Gharu, 21, was apparently not the intended target of the latest New
Westminster shooting even though a friend of his, Jaskaran Singh
Chima, was shot to death in New Westminster last spring.

At the time of Gharu's murder, he was driving a vehicle owned by his
cousin, Parminder Singh (Peter) Adiwal. Personal property records show
that the vehicle, a black Lincoln Navigator, was purchased by Adiwal in
December, 2001.

Gharu's grieving mother Kuldip said Friday that her son was not
involved in any gang activity. She said the same of Adiwal, 24, who
was convicted of possession of a firearm two years ago and has been
charged with several other criminal offences that ended in stays or
acquittals.

Kuldip Gharu said she hopes police can bring someone to justice.

"We want them to catch whoever has done this. I mean they should get
punished," she said.

The coordinated team is less formal than the task force investigating
the disappearance of women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. But it
is a centralized operation with resources and staff committed from
across the Lower Mainland to investigate dozens of files.

The investigators on the task force come from various Lower Mainland
RCMP detachments and municipal forces, as well as B.C.'s unsolved
homicide unit, and are working out of the unmarked non-descript office of
RCMP E Division's major crime section on 76 Avenue in Newton.

Vancouver police media liaison officer Constable Sarah Bloor said she
could not comment on her department's involvement in any task force
except to say: "All that I know is that we have officers working in
partnership."

Bloor referred calls to Inspector Axel Hovbrender, who did not return
messages.

Sergeant Grant Learned, of RCMP E Division, refused to comment when
asked about the task force.

"The RCMP does not confirm, deny or comment otherwise on information
provided by unattributed sources," Learned said.

"The RCMP and all of the Lower Mainland police agencies have been
working closely together in recognition of the increased activity of
violence within the Indo-Canadian community. We are very acutely aware
of the problem and have been working very, very closely with all our
partner agencies in this regard."

Media officers from the Surrey and Richmond RCMP detachments and the
municipal forces of Delta and New Westminster did not return phone calls.

While police will not comment publicly on their joint investigative
efforts, privately they acknowledge that more resources from various
forces were needed to combat the violence that has claimed more than 50
lives in the past decade.

And investigators from the various cities in which bodies have been
dumped have long recognized the links between many of the murders.

Indo-Canadian community members also recognize those links.

Several users of a controversial Web site that glorified gang violence
before it was shut down last month, said Khela was connected to the
Sidhu murder.

Their information was put on line months before the 24-year old with a
history of gang associations was charged in the case.

Indo-Canadian community leaders who have spoken out about the gang
problem plaguing their community are praising the new coordinated
police effort.

Former premier and attorney-general Ujjal Dosanjh, who last June spoke
at a community forum on the violence, said he hopes the additional
resources will lead to more breaks in the dozens of unsolved cases.

"That's very good news," Dosanjh said. "We believed even at the time
of the forum that police needed to review what they were doing and if
it hadn't been successful then they ought to be looking at perhaps a
different and more focused approach."

He said the recent arrests in the Sidhu shooting, as well as the new
police team should encourage people to come forward with what they know.

"They might come forward and talk to the police more openly or perhaps
more comfortably," Dosanjh said. "As well, it would send some sort of
warning to the gangsters to stop killing each other."

Community agencies are also working on the problem.

Sikh temple leaders said this month they intend to tackle
Indo-Canadian youth violence with a series of forums for parents and
their children. A strategy meeting was held in Surrey on Sunday.

As well, the successful CrimeStoppers program has recently started
taking anonymous tips in more languages, enabling people who speak
Punjabi the same service offered to English speakers for years.

"You have a whole host of things happening," Dosanjh said.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Wally Oppal, who attended the same
community forum, said more integration by Lower Mainland police forces is
crucial.

"It is about time they started regionalizing services," Oppal said.

"As far as operational policing practices are concerned, there is so much
duplication of police forces that they have to cooperate with one
another and regionalize their resources. We recommended in the
policing inquiry that people get together and that the various
mainland departments and detachments have to cooperate with one
another in solving crime."

Oppal said Indo-Canadian gang violence is occurring across the Lower
Mainland in the jurisdiction of various police forces, increasing the need
to coordinate efforts.

"That is what happened in [the case of child killer Clifford] Olson."
Oppal said. "Olson was being chased by various groups all over the
Lower Mainland and they weren't sharing information."

A HISTORY OF GANG VIOLENCE IN THE LOWER MAINLAND'S INDO-CANADIAN
COMMUNITY

- - Dec. 7, 2002 -- Five young Indo-Canadians who are known to police are
shot, one critically wounded, by unknown assailants in the parking lot of a
Surrey pub. No charges have been laid.

- - Dec. 5, 2002 -- First-degree murder charges are laid against
Gurkirpal Singh Khela, Trevor James Meir and John David Bride in
connection with the April 1, 2002, slaying of Gurjinder (Gary) Singh Sidhu.

- - Nov. 18, 2002 -- Davinder Singh Gharu, 21, was shot outside his New
Westminster home. He was a close friend of Jaskaran Singh Chima, who
was murdered last spring and an associate of Robbie Kandola, murdered in
June. No charges have been laid.

- - Nov. 16, 2002 --The body of Heera (Hari) Singh Bahia, 24, is found near
Mission. Bahia, who had gang associations, disappeared in August. No
charges have been laid.

- - Nov. 1, 2002 -- Abenaas (Abby) Jaswal was doused with flammable
liquid and set on fire in a ravine beside a Belcarra regional park
road. Port Moody police believe the Simon Fraser University student
got involved in a drug scheme that went bad. No charges have been laid.

- - Sept. 29, 2002 -- The body of known drug dealer Kamaljit Singh
Sangha of Vancouver is discovered near Nelson Avenue and Marine Drive in
Burnaby. An autopsy confirms he died of gunshot wounds. The slaying
is believed to be linked to the June killing of Robbie Kandola. No
charges have been laid.

- - June 23, 2002 -- Drug dealer Robbie Kandola is murdered by killers
waiting for him as he gets out of a cab in front of his Coal Harbour
apartment. No charges have been laid.

- - April 1, 2002 -- Gurjinder (Gary) Singh Sidhu is chased down and
shot to death by two men lying in wait for him at the Delta house
where his family had been hiding in fear of retaliation for another
killing. Three men were charged on Dec. 5, 2002.

- - March 18, 2002 -- New Westminster police discover the body of
25-year-old Jaskaran Singh Chima in a burning car under the Alex
Fraser Bridge. Chima was a known drug dealer. No charges have been laid.

- - Jan. 2, 2002 -- The body of Phouvong Phommaviset, 26, is found near
the Fraser River in Richmond. Phommaviset was a suspect in the
disappearance of Ned Mander the previous October. No charges have been laid.

- - Dec. 22, 2001 -- Gang member Kuljit Singh (Kelly) Buttar, 22, is shot
dead at a Richmond wedding. No charges have been laid.

- - Nov. 21, 2001 -- The bound bodies of Gurpreet Singh Butter, 25, and
Sukhjinder Singh Sahota, 27, are found shot to death on the riverfront near
Dyke Road in Richmond. No charges have been laid.

- - Oct. 9, 2001 -- Narinder (Ned) Singh Mander is kidnapped from his
Surrey business by two Asian men and has not been seen since. Hours
later, he makes a call to a friend in a car with Rakinder (Rick) Singh
Bhatti. Minutes later, shots are fired at the car near Surrey's
Dasmesh Darbar temple and Bhatti is killed. No charges have been laid.

- - Sept. 29, 2001 -- Kamalbir (Kam) Jawanda is shot dead outside the
home of Sarbjit Singh Dhanda, a former Bindy Johal associate and
friend of Rick Bhatti and Gary Sidhu. Dhanda is charged with murder.

- - Aug. 20, 2001 -- Tyler Hawryluk, 22, an associate of the Buttar
brothers and Bindy Johal, is found shot dead in Burnaby. No charges have
been laid.

- - Aug. 3, 2001 -- Gary Rai and Baljit Singh (Bal) Buttar are shot at a
Vancouver beauty salon. Rai is killed and Buttar, a former Bindy Johal
associate, is left paralyzed. No charges have been laid.

- - April 30, 2001 -- Ranjit Singh Johal, 38, is found dead in an alley
after a fight is heard. Gurbinder Singh Gill, 36, said by police to be
known to them, is charged with second-degree murder.

- - Jan. 30, 2001 -- Muhammed Khan, 27, of Surrey, is reported missing
by his wife. His body is found Jan. 31 in a car in the Guildford Mall
parking lot. The cause of death is not released and no charges have been
laid.

- - Jan. 15, 2001 -- The body of 24-year-old Krishan Sharma, who is
known to police, is found in a pond under the Pattullo Bridge. No
cause of death is released and no charges have been laid..

- - Oct. 16, 2000 -- Gurwinder (Gogi) Mann, 23, of Surrey, is charged
with first-degree murder in the death of Gurpreet Singh Sohi, 20, of Delta.

- - Oct. 13, 2000 -- Ravinder (Robbie) Soomel, 21, of Vancouver, is
arrested in California and charged with first-degree murder in the Sohi
case.

- - Sept. 18, 2000 -- Hardeep Singh Uppal, 20, is charged with the
murder of Gurpreet Singh Sohi, his former classmate at John Oliver
secondary, allegedly in a dispute over drug money.

- - Sept. 14, 2000 -- Suspected drug dealer Gurpreet Singh Sohi, 20, is shot
to death in Delta. Three of his former associates are charged.

- - Sept. 9, 2000 -- Parmjit Singh Gill, 20, of Burnaby, and 26-year-old
Raj Soomel, of Vancouver, are shot and wounded in an exchange of
gunfire outside Soomel's family home on East 59th.

- - Aug. 25, 2000 -- Manmohan Singh Tiwana, 26, is found shot in the head
in his car in Surrey. No charges have been laid.

- - Aug. 4, 2000 -- Sanjeev Gill is shot and wounded outside Bar None, in
downtown Vancouver. No charges have been laid.

- - July 27, 2000 -- Gurinder Singh Johal, 22, is shot to death in Port
Coquitlam. His brother, Bobby Johal, 24, is wounded. Bobby is a former
associate of Gurinder Khun Khun, killed in 1997. No charges have been laid.

- - June 8, 2000 -- Akhil Oberoi, 17, of Burnaby, who had no gang
connections, stabbed to death in a Vancouver school yard. Ramandeep
Gill, who has gang associations and is the cousin of Sanjeev Gill, is
charged with manslaughter.

- - May 13, 2000 -- Mike Brar, 21, acting as a bodyguard for alleged
cocaine trafficker Ranjit Singh Cheema, is shot to death in Vancouver. No
charges have been laid.

- - Feb. 14, 2000 -- Charred body of 21-year-old Rishi Singh, of
Vancouver, is found dumped near Squamish. His burned car is later
found in Surrey. No charges have been laid.

- - Sept. 3, 1999 -- Vikash Naidu, 23, of Vancouver, and Kuldeep Singh, 25,
of Richmond, are fatally shot at close range in the parking lot of
a 7-Eleven in Richmond. Singh was known to police but Naidu had no
criminal record. The case is believed to be gang-related.

- - May 20, 1999 -- The body of Deepak Sodhi, 19, of Vancouver, is found on
the dike in Delta with gunshot wounds. No charges have been laid.

- - Dec. 20, 1998 -- Bhupinder Singh (Bindy) Johal, 27, is shot dead at
Vancouver's Palladium nightclub. No charges have been laid.

- - Nov. 29, 1998 -- Johal friend Roman (Danny) Mann, 22, is found
murdered in New Westminster. No charges have been laid.

- - Oct. 7, 1998 -- Drug dealer Vikash Chand, 26, is shot dead outside
Rags to Riches Motorcars in Burnaby. Johal is at the scene shortly
after the killing. Five men were charged.

- - Sept. 19, 1998 -- Johal friend Derek Chand Shankar, 19, is found shot
to death under the Queensborough Bridge in New Westminster.

- - Oct. 21, 1997 -- Johal associate Gorinder Singh Khun Khun, 24, is shot
dead in Vancouver. No charges have been laid.

- - Oct. 11, 1995 -- Suspected drug dealer Paul Jabbal, 22, dies after
being found at Southeast Marine Drive and Elliott in Vancouver with
gunshot wounds. No charges have been laid.

- - June 10, 1995 -- The charred body of Peter Manjeet Dosanj is found
in a stolen van set afire in a Delta farm field. Police say the death is
linked to the drug underworld. No charges have been laid.

- - April 24, 1994 -- Johal's neighbour, Glen Olson, is out walking a
dog when he is shot dead. Police suspect he was mistaken for Johal by
associates of Ron Dosanjh. No charges have been laid.

- - April 19, 1994 -- Drug dealer Ranjit Singh (Ron) Dosanjh, former
head of the Vancouver branch of the International Sikh Youth
Federation, is killed on Kingsway. Johal and associates are eventually
charged, but acquitted.

- - Feb. 25, 1994 -- Drug dealer Jimsher Singh (Jimmy) Dosanjh, Ron's
brother, is shot dead. Johal and associates are eventually charged and
acquitted.

- - Dec. 2, 1991 -- Sanjay Narain, who witnessed the murder of Parminder
Chana, is thrown off the Cleveland Dam, allegedly for "yapping" too much
about the Chana killing.

- - Oct. 11, 1991 -- Parminder Chana is murdered apparently because he
was dating the sister of Rajinder (Little) Benji, who is charged and
acquitted of the murder. Faizal Dean, a Johal associate, is convicted of
second-degree murder.

- - March 14, 1991 -- Sikh moderate leader Bikar Singh Dhillon is shot
and wounded outside his home. The hit is believed to have been
arranged by a political opponent, drug dealer Ron Dosanjh. No charges have
been laid.

Ran with chronology "A history of gang violence in the Lower
Mainland's Indo-Canadian community ", which has been appended to the end
of the story.