Crime wave challenges Indo-Canadian community’s legacy

In recent headlines, Canadians of Indian origin have been making waves—but not for the right reasons. A surge in major crimes such as extortion, drug busts, fraud, shootings and heists has spotlighted unsettling trends, raising pressing concerns across the Indian diaspora.

The latest in the series of these cases is the arrest of 29-year-old Kanwarjyot Singh Manoria, a resident of Brampton, Ontario, who was booked by the Peel Police on Tuesday for issuing death threats to Mayor, Patrick Brown, and his family. While the police are yet to release details of the motive behind the threat, it’s worth mentioning that this incident came weeks after the Brampton Mayor had urged the Federal government to declare the Lawrence Bishnoi gang a terrorist organisation, as it had been linked to crime and violence in the Peel region.

Last month, Brown, along with local councillors Gurpartap Singh Toor and Navjit Kaur Brar, had submitted a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney and Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree, urging the government to designate the Bishnoi gang as a terrorist entity.

While the police are yet to comment if these threats were in anyway linked to the Mayor’s demand against the Bishnoi gang, Brown, in a statement following Manoria’s arrest, did mention that “they were death threats, saying that I was making them very angry. I’m outspoken on a number of issues that relate to public safety and so the Peel police had concerns that it came on the heels of one of my public statements and so they took it seriously.”

Kap’s Cafe attack

On July 10, a number of shots were fired at the newly opened cafe of Bollywood comedian-actor Kapil Sharma, in Surrey, British Columbia. While no arrests have been made and ‘Indian’ connection exists, as a Khalistani operative, Harjit Singh Laddi, has claimed responsibility for it. Laddi is designated as one of the most wanted terrorists by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and is linked to the banned terrorist group Babbar Khalsa International (BKI).

This attack also saw controversial Khalistani activist, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, founder of Sikhs for Justice, threatening Sharma, and asking him to take his “blood money to Hindustan”.

Criminal network in towing industry

On June 16, the Peel police announced the arrest of 18 people — almost all on Indian origin — in busy of a Brampton-based organised criminal network linked to the towing industry. Assets over $4.2 million were also seized. Police said the gang allegedly extorted “hundreds of thousands of dollars" from people by engaging in insurance fraud by staging vehicle collisions and using threats, assaults and firearms to exert control over local towing operations.

Brampton shooting and extortion case (May 2025)

Three Indo-Canadians — Harpal Singh (34), Rajnoor Singh (20), and Eknoor Singh (22) — were arrested on May 1 in Brampton for allegedly firing a shot inside an empty business and demanding extortion money. The incident occurred on April 30, 2025, with no injuries reported. The arrests were part of the Peel Regional Police’s Extortion Investigative Task Force (EITF), which investigated over 60 extortion cases since December 2023, including nine involving gunfire at vacant properties.

Violent robberies targeting South Asians and 2SLGBTQ individuals

Three teenagers of Indian origin were arrested by the Peel Police recently for a series of violent robberies between April and May 2025. The suspects, 18-year-old Hardil Singh Mehrok and his two associates aged 16 and 17, used social media to lure South Asian and 2SLGBTQ victims under false pretences, arranging in-person meetings and robbing them at gunpoint.

Students charged with murder

Two 21-year-old youths, Aman and Digvijay, from Delta, B.C., were charged with first-degree murder relating to the killing of a Brampton businessman, Harjeet Dhadda. The suspects, who hail from Haryana and were on a student visa, shot Dhadda, a 51-year-old commercial insurance broker while he was at a parking lot near Tranmere Drive and Telford Way in Mississauga.

Drug busts

While several Indo-Canadians have been arrested in various cases of drugs, Gaganpreet Singh Randhawa was arrested by RCMP in November last for running Canada’s largest illegal drug lab producing fentanyl. Over 54 kilograms of fentanyl, 390 kilograms of methamphetamine, 35 kilograms of cocaine, 15 kilograms of MDMA, and six kilograms of cannabis were seized during the raid. Assistant Commissioner David Teboul, head of the RCMP’s federal policing in B.C., stated during a press conference that the seized lethal doses of fentanyl seized could have taken the lives of every Canadian at least twice over.

The list of these crimes is endless and a poor reflection on the Indo-Canadian community, which has long been a source of pride, driving innovation, entrepreneurship, and cultural richness. These incidents force us to confront uncomfortable truths as the Indian diaspora, with over 1.8 million individuals, faces increasing hostility, exacerbated by online anti-immigrant rhetoric.

The Indian diaspora in Canada stands at a crossroads. The actions of a few surely do not define the many, but they do challenge us all to reflect, engage and act to ensure this vibrant community remains a force for good, not a headline for the wrong reasons.

Diaspora