THE CANADIAN CONNECTION
Punjab Police is gradually zeroing in on the role of Toronto-based ganglord Goldy Brar and seeking his extradition. In the past few years, Canada has become a safe hideout for Punjab’s gangsters, who use social media and virtual phones to conduct their operations remotely. Another name popping up on the register is that of Lakhbir Singh Landa. In 2018, he had fled to Canada after a series of cases piled up against him, including those of murder, extortion and robbery. The latest on that list: he was the one who executed the rocket-propelled grenade attack on Punjab Police’s intel HQ in Mohali, apparently at the behest of Khalistani militant-cum-gangster Harinder Singh Rinda. Over 30 gangsters are suspected to have fled to the western nation.
The issue escalated when a National Investigation Agency team visited Ottawa in 2021 and met with Canadian officials. India has asked Canada to deny visas to gangsters from Punjab. The challenge is that gangsters use loopholes in the Indian system to get forged documents and procure necessary clearances. Indian requests for the extradition of gangsters—four times that for terrorists—routinely remain pending, say officials.
Security agencies believe the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) organises camps in
Canada to train chosen gangsters in the use of sophisticated weapons. On their return, they pass on the knowhow to many of their cohorts. Canada, with its liberal arms policy, offers fertile ground for a flourishing Punjabi-Canadian underground—the Dhak-Duhre, Sanghera, Malhi-Buttar and Kang family gangs are part of that. They often engage with Punjab-based gangs— giving them assignments of targeted killings, extortion, drug trafficking—and help them reach Canada and settle with local gangs.
They are a headache for the Canadian authorities too. Last year, in a major crackdown on the drug trade, the majority of those arrested were Punjabis. The headache, naturally, spreads to Punjab. Many fugitive gangsters are linking up with known smuggler networks. The biggest catch so far for the state police have been Devinder Dev, Kamaljit Chauhan and Amarinder Singh Chhina–all Canadian drug gang members who had used Punjab as the base to transport drugs to Canada, the US and Australia. Thus, Punjab becomes a transit point for drugs emanating from the Golden Crescent countries: Afghanistan and Pakistan. Canadian gangs are interested in ‘importing’ cheap heroin from Afghanistan via Pakistan and Punjab, and ‘exporting’ refined drugs everywhere— including Punjab. The state is caught in a vicious loop.