4 Indians arrested in extortion-kidnapping case in Canada, policeman says he has never seen such a case before
A man was kidnapped but he was not the target. The kidnappers took the man to the house of his friend who was the real target. The first man was just a bait to get the second man out of his house, which did not happen. The failed kidnap-extortion attempt ended in the release of the first person and the police were called and all the drama that unfolded in Calgary, Canada stunned the police as they had never seen such an elaborate plan before. The kidnappers and the targets are all from the city’s South Asian community, he said.Four people have been arrested and a fifth person has been charged. The incident is of 6th May.The suspects first attacked the man at gunpoint at an Edmonton residence between 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. and threatened to kidnap him. They then drove to Calgary to the next victim’s home where additional suspects were waiting.The kidnappers asked the first man to call the second man who was their intended target. He refused and police said he was attacked again.The second man and his wife, fearing for their lives, attempted to leave their home but the suspects threatened them with firearms. They went back inside and called the police.The suspects drove the man back from near his home early the next morning. He also called the police.Calgary Police Superintendent Jeff Bell said the man suffered minor injuries, but it was “obviously a very traumatic situation for him and it will take him some time to recover mentally and physically.”Police arrested two people during a traffic stop on the night of the alleged kidnapping, and arrested two more people on May 12.
None of the suspects are Canadian
Although all of the suspects are from Calgary, none of them are Canadian. Daksh Gautam, 25, Taranvir Singh, 24, Pradeep Singh, 24, and Akashdeep Singh, 18, are all charged with kidnapping with a gun, unlawful imprisonment, assault and assault with a weapon.Police are searching for Gagandeep Singh, 29, of Calgary, who is wanted on warrants for kidnapping with a firearm, assault with a weapon, assault and unlawful imprisonment. Police say he has a tattoo of a woman on his right arm and a blue and red eagle on his left arm.Their immigration status varied and included expired work visas, or refugee claimant status. A privately manufactured firearm, sometimes referred to as a “ghost gun”, was seized as part of the investigation.Bell said this is the first time Calgary police have seen an alleged extortion-related kidnapping like this. “This is a significant increase in the violence in extortion incidents that we have seen so far in Calgary,” he said.