Canada arrests five Indian-origin men in auto dealership extortion case
Five Indian-origin men have been arrested and charged in Canada over an alleged extortion campaign that police say involved shootings, arson, firearms trafficking and drug offences. The arrests were made after a 16-month investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) into an auto dealership whose co-owners reported extortion demands in June 2025.
Police said the extortion demands were followed by two attacks involving arson and shootings at the dealership's locations in Langley and Surrey. All five accused remain in custody, and investigators said more charges could follow as evidence from the case may also be linked to other extortion and violence cases in British Columbia and Alberta.
In a statement issued on Friday, the RCMP described the five accused as "foreign nationals". One of them, 23-year-old Sanket Singla, is from India. He was arrested on Thursday at Toronto Pearson International Airport after investigators facilitated his entry into Canada.
The other four accused are Sahil, 24, Simranjeet Singh, 24, and Harsh, 21, all residents of British Columbia, and Jagdeep Singh, 24, a resident of Ontario. They were arrested in Surrey.
The British Columbia Prosecution Service charged all five with extortion on Thursday. Some of them also face additional charges linked to firearms, arson, explosives and cocaine trafficking.
According to CBC News, Singla and Simranjeet Singh are accused of damaging a vehicle by fire or explosion and of throwing Molotov cocktails into the auto shop with the intent to destroy or damage property. The report said Sahil also faces charges of trafficking cocaine and transferring prohibited firearms.
The RCMP said the investigation led to the seizure of four firearms, ammunition and magazines, along with suspected fentanyl, cocaine and opium. Police also said material collected during the investigation may be connected to other extortion and violence cases in British Columbia and Alberta.
The Canadian Press reported that the arrests are among a series of cases being examined after a province-wide extortion task force was launched last year. According to the report, the extortion cases have largely involved threats against business owners and members of the South Asian community.
Chief Superintendent Duncan Pound of the British Columbia extortion task force said it would emerge during court proceedings whether the Lawrence Bishnoi gang was involved in the cases. The Canadian government designated the transnational criminal syndicate led by imprisoned Indian gangster Lawrence Bishnoi as a terrorist entity in September 2025. Bishnoi is currently lodged in Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad.
Pound also said alleged perpetrators in some investigations had claimed links to prominent gangs to heighten intimidation, and noted that extortion was also a way of making money. The case centres on an alleged campaign targeting business owners, with five men now in custody and investigators examining possible links to other incidents.
