2 PIO among 6 held in Canada gold, cash heist

OTTAWA: At least two Indian-origin men are among six persons arrested in connection with a brazen multimillion-dollar gold heist at Toronto’s main airport last year, the biggest gold theft in Canada’s history.

The Canadian authorities also issued warrants for three more persons in the case, Peel Regional Police (PRP) said.

On April 17, 2023, an air cargo container carrying more than 22 million Canadian dollars’ worth of gold bars and foreign currency was stolen from a secure storage facility using fake paperwork, police say. The gold and currency had just arrived on an Air Canada flight from Zurich, Switzerland.

At least two former Air Canada employees allegedly helped in the audacious theft, police say. One is now in custody and an arrest warrant has been issued for the other.

Two persons of Indian origin--Parmpal Sidhu, 54, and Amit Jalota, 40, both from Ontario, were arrested on Wednesday along with Ammad Chaudhary, 43, Ali Raza, 37, and Prasath Paramalingam, 35.

Durante King-Mclean, a 25-year-old man from Brampton is currently in custody in the United States on firearms trafficking-related charges, and investigators have been in touch with him and his legal counsel.

The arrests were announced after a lengthy probe into the crime reported last year.

Sidhu during the time of the crime was working with Air Canada.

Besides, the police have issued Canada-wide warrants for Simran Preet Panesar, 31, from Brampton, who was also an Air Canada employee at the time of the theft; Archit Grover, 36, from Brampton and Arsalan Chaudhary, a 42-year-old man from Mississauga, the report said.

Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick confirmed Sidhu and Panesar’s employment with the national flag carrier.

“One left the company prior to the arrests announced today and the second has been suspended,” he said. “As this is now before the courts, we are limited in our ability to comment further.”