Man killed in northwest Winnipeg had long-running feud with rival gangs in India, expert says
CBC
A man fatally shot in northwest Winnipeg last week was accused of extortion and sending money to gang associates in India, according to police documents in that country.
Sukhdool Singh Gill, who also went by the alias Sukha Duneke, was known as a notorious criminal in India for allegedly organizing hits on rival gang members there, according to Ajai Sahni, executive director of the Institute for Conflict Management in New Delhi.
"He has a network in Punjab which carries out hits for money or various other grounds," said Sahni, whose non-profit institute researches security issues in South Asia.
Those "other grounds" include hits on rival gang members, according to Sahni.
Gill was found fatally shot last Wednesday, after Winnipeg police were called to a home on Hazelton Drive, in the city's northwest, around 10 a.m. The homicide unit is investigating and no arrests have been made, Winnipeg police said.
Gill appeared on a wanted list released via the social media platform X last week by India's National Investigation Agency, a specialized law enforcement agency.
Police reports from India called first information reports, which CBC translated from Punjabi to English, suggest Gill was part of the Bambiha gang.
Police allege that while he was in Canada, Gill helped a gang in India with "snatchings and robberies," according to a report filed in November 2020, after police on patrol spoke to an informant whose information they called "concrete and trustworthy."
"He arranges for them money to buy weapons (arms, ammunition)" and "places to hide," according to the report.
"If they are followed and caught, a large quantity of illegal weapons … can be confiscated from them."
Police in India's Moga district allege Gill left India in 2017 with a passport he obtained with the help of officers.
There are 18 criminal cases potentially linked to him. Court records in India show the status of nine of the cases as "not arrested" and "under investigation or under trial." Another five are recorded as acquittals, one case was quashed and there was one conviction.
Gill "has had a long-running feud with several other gangs … India- and Canada-based gangs," Sahni told CBC.
Gill is also named in a different police allegation in India that says he threatened a doctor and demanded payment of 10 lakh rupees, which is equivalent to about $16,000 Cdn.
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