Indo-Canadian gang member’s death points to rising conflict
COPS SAY INCIDENTS AREN’T EXACTLY TURF BATTLES BUT VIOLENCE IS OVER CONTROLLING ‘DRUG LINES AND OBVIOUSLY PROFIT’
TORONTO: The murder of a 23-year-old Indo-Canadian this week in the town of Abbotsford, a suburb of Vancouver, is the latest violent incident marking what has been described as the Townline Hill “conflict”, a result of an ongoing confrontation between rival Indo-Canadian gangs.
The killing of Satkar Singh Sidhu on Monday is the fifth homicide that is “connected to the conflict in Abbotsford” since 2014, according to a spokesperson for the city’s police department, constable Ian MacDonald.
He also attributed nearly 50 “major incidents” to the “ongoing conflict,” that involves youth of the area.
The conflict was linked originally to the Townline Hill neighbourhood, but appears to have spread across a larger area and even spilled over into Edmonton, where two young men, Navdeep Sidhu and Harman Mangat, were shot dead.
These aren’t exactly turf battles as many of those involved in the gangs “live on the same streets” but the violence is over controlling “drug lines and obviously profit,” MacDonald said.
As much as 95% of the gang members are of South Asian origin, and mainly Indo-Canadian.
Police first became aware of the violence when “low level” fights erupted between youth. By 2014, those evolved into a more dangerous form as “they started to bring guns to the fights,” MacDonald said.
“We’ve seen escalation of violence. It’s unbelievably tragic,” staff sergeant Lindsey Houghton, spokesperson for the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit — British Columbia, said.
The genesis of the conflict lay in teenagers getting into fights over “petty” matters, he said. Over time, it grew into organised criminal activity involving drug trafficking.
The latest casualty, Sidhu, is believed to have been “targeted” and the crime is being investigated by the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.
Last year, Abbotsford police chief Bob Rich sent a letter to parents of some young men identified as gang members, in which he noted, “If he stays involved in gangs, he is at serious risk of being killed. As a member of one of these gangs, your son’s actions are causing other people to die... If you have other younger sons in your house, experience has shown us that they are at risk of being pulled into gangs by their older brother.” It feels really good to return home to my family and friends. Srinagar has changed considerably. Among the many I want to thank are people who stood by me and my family.