The Fire and the Gunshot Were Messages; Now They Are Evidence

There is a particular kind of fear that settles into a community when violence becomes a tool of commerce—when the demand for money is followed not by negotiation but by fire, by gunshots in the night, by the unmistakable message that refusal carries a price. For more than a year, business owners in British Columbia's South Asian community have lived with that fear, their livelihoods and their safety held hostage by individuals who understood that intimidation, properly applied, can be as effective as any contract. This week, the RCMP announced that five foreign nationals have been arrested and charged in connection with that campaign of extortion, arson, and shootings—a development that police describe as a significant blow to a criminal network operating across borders .

The investigation, known as Project E_PURSUANCE, began in June 2025 when the co-owners of an auto dealership reached out to police after receiving what Supt. Harm Dosange of the Langley RCMP described as "extreme extortion demands." Those demands were followed by shootings and arsons at the dealership's locations in Langley and Surrey, transforming a business dispute into a criminal case that would eventually span multiple provinces and international borders .

The five accused, all in their twenties, face a litany of charges: extortion, damaging property by fire or explosion, throwing an explosive substance, along with numerous drug and firearms allegations . Four were arrested in Surrey. The fifth, a 23-year-old man from India named Sanket Singla, was arrested as he stepped off a plane at Toronto Pearson International Airport—the culmination of a "controlled operation" involving Canadian immigration officials, border services, and international police partners who facilitated his entry into the country specifically so he could be taken into custody .

The arrests arrive amid a broader surge in extortion cases targeting British Columbia's South Asian community. According to statistics from the Surrey Police Service, between January 1 and September 28 of this year, the department recorded 142 reported extortions, 21 related shots-fired cases, three arsons, and 76 victims—39 of whom were repeated targets . The City of Surrey has established a $250,000 reward for information leading to convictions, and a provincewide extortion task force was launched last year to coordinate the response .

Chief Supt. Duncan Pound, who leads the task force, noted that the trial will determine whether the India-based Lawrence Bishnoi gang—designated a terrorist entity in Canada—was involved in the scheme. He cautioned, however, that perpetrators in such cases often claim affiliation with high-profile gangs to amplify their intimidation, using the reputation of violence as a currency of its own . The Lawrence Bishnoi gang is alleged to operate from within the Indian prison system, with its leader accused of directing criminal activities from behind bars .

What made the investigation particularly challenging, Dosange said, was its reach. "They faced numerous daunting challenges and some unprecedented things we have not seen before," he told reporters, declining to elaborate as the case is now before the courts . The RCMP has stated that evidence obtained during the investigation supports additional extortion-related offences throughout Western Canada, and that further charges may be pursued by other jurisdictions as those investigations progress .

Both Dosange and Pound credited the victims for the outcome. "Truly, without really timely reporting and the courage to come forward and provide as many details as they can, it's very difficult for the police anywhere to get to a point like we are at today, where we can announce arrests and charges being laid," Dosange said . It is a reminder that in crimes built on fear, the decision to speak—to refuse the silence that extortion depends upon—can be the first crack in the structure that holds such operations together.

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Sources: The Canadian Press, CBC News, Radio-Canada, The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Alberni Valley News