CHANDIGARH: Six Punjabi youths including a girl have been arrested by the Edmonton Police in Canada in the extortion series known as Project Gaslight. It is a probe into incidents targeting business owners in Edmonton. Canada-wide warrants have been issued to the seventh alleged suspect Maninder Dhaliwal, also a Punjabi, who is the mastermind.
In an official statement, Edmonton Police stated that the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) detectives have arrested six suspects and issued Canada-wide warrants for a seventh in the extortion series known as Project Gaslight.
The police are now investigating 40 incidents related to the extortion series, with the latest occurring early this morning, Friday, July 26 involving an arson at an apartment building in the Cavanagh neighborhood.
On Thursday, July 25 EPS and RCMP officers executed search warrants at six locations in southeast Edmonton relating to Project Gaslight. The police also arrested and charged five males and one female believed to be involved in the extortion scheme that was targeting South Asian business owners in the Edmonton area.
The arrested persons included one female, Jashandeep Kaur (19) and five males Gurkaran Singh (19) Manav Heer (19) Parminder Singh (21) Divnoor Asht (19) and a 17-year-old are all facing a host of serious criminal charges.
"The RCMP National Coordination and Support Team (NCST) has been monitoring the significant progress made by the Edmonton Police Service and the efforts underway by the other BC, Alberta, and Ontario law enforcement colleagues working to address similar types of extortion and violence investigations in Canada, " says Superintendent Adam MacIntosh, NCS Team Leader. "We continue to share information and intelligence and leverage additional resources and supports as we collectively work to identify, arrest and deter those individuals and criminal organizations targeting our communities.”
The EPS has laid charges in 26 of the 40 reported incidents related to this extortion series. Police say the individuals identified represent the core members of the criminal network.