POLICE OFFICER FACES CHARGES

Formal charges have been laid against a Victoria police officer who
was suspended late last year following an internal investigation that
has links to the department's Dec. 28 raid on the provincial
legislature.

Const. Ravinder Singh Dosanjh faces one count of "willfully attempting
to obstruct justice" under section 139 (2) of the Criminal Code of
Canada.

Information sworn at the Victoria Law Courts Wednesday alleges that
Dosanjh advised Mandeep Singh Sandhu to make "false statements to law
enforcement officers about the origin of funds seized from 4150
Bremerton St., Sandhu's place of residence.

"I'm very disappointed. I know Rob quite well as a person, but on the
other hand there are certain rules to this game..." Victoria police
Chief Paul Battershill observed during a brief media conference at
police headquarters.

Dosanjh, a cousin of Sandhu's, was suspended Dec. 15, 2003, less than
a week after RCMP searched Sandhu's home as part of a 20-month RCMP
investigation into drug trafficking, organized crime and money laundering.

Battershill repeated a previous statement that the Dosanjh case has an
"indirect" link to the Dec. 28 raids on the provincial legislature,
which targeted ministerial assistants Dave Basi and Bob Virk.

"There was a drug investigation that led to other places and other
investigations, but there is no direct link," he said.

Acting on a Dec. 1, 2003 request from RCMP investigators, Vancouver
lawyer William Berardino was appointed special prosecutor in the
Dosanjh case on Dec. 11.

Information gleaned from the RCMP investigation led to a Victoria
police raid of two offices at the provincial legislature - belonging
to Bob Virk, ministerial assistant to former Transportation Minister
Judith Reid, and Dave Basi, ministerial assistant to Finance Minister
Gary Collins.

Basi was fired following the legislature raids, while Virk remains
suspended with pay.

On Dec. 29, police raided a Shawnigan Lake house co-owned by Basi and
dismantled a marijuana growing operation. Shortly afterwards,
Berardino was appointed special prosecutor for all matters related to
the raids on the legislature.

Basi, through his Victoria lawyer Chris Considine, maintains he knew
nothing about the grow-op.

In September, Basi was charged with two drug-related offences -
possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking
"between March 2003 and December 2003" and one count of production of
a controlled substance "related to December of 2003."

Basi was among eight people Ontario charged as a result of a joint
RCMP-Victoria police investigation that began in the summer of 2002
into cocaine trafficking and marijuana production in Victoria,
Vancouver and Toronto. Among them was Sandhu, who faces one count of
conspiracy to traffic in a controlled substance.

While investigators have not outlined any criminal links between Basi
and the case involving Sandhu and Dosanjh, Sandhu and Basi had strong
political ties.

Basi, a well-known backroom organizer for the federal and provincial
Liberal parties, angered members of the Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca federal
Liberal riding association by appointing Sandhu to its executive.

The appointment came two days before the raid on Sandhu's house. The
riding association executive soon discovered that Sandhu didn't have a
valid party membership card and bounced him from the executive.

The Victoria police board will make a determination as to Dosanjh's
future status with the department at its next meeting, scheduled for
Jan. 6. Dosanjh's next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 17.