{"id":349507,"date":"2026-06-12T04:54:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T23:24:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=349507"},"modified":"2026-06-12T04:54:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T23:24:28","slug":"bishnoi-extortion-gang-gunman-testifies-he-was-paid-4000-for-b-c-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/06\/12\/bishnoi-extortion-gang-gunman-testifies-he-was-paid-4000-for-b-c-shooting\/","title":{"rendered":"Bishnoi extortion gang gunman testifies he was paid $4,000 for B.C. shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A convicted member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang testified at his deportation hearing on Thursday that he was paid $4,000 to open fire on a house on Vancouver Island.<\/p>\n

Abjeet Kingra told the Immigration and Refugee Board a co-worker at a Winnipeg moving company recruited him to shoot the B.C. home of Punjabi singer A.P. Dhillon.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe told me that nobody ought to be at home, and you only need to fireplace outside the home, and you’re going to get money,\u201d Kingra, an Indian citizen, testified at his hearing.<\/p>\n

Asked why the co-worker, also an Indian citizen, offered the contract to him, Kingra replied, \u201cI don\u2019t know, perhaps I’m an idiot, that\u2019s why.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not that much intelligent,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Canada Border Services Agency has asked the Refugee Board to order Kingra\u2019s deportation on the grounds he’s member of a criminal organization, the Bishnoi group.<\/p>\n

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He’s one in all the primary alleged Bishnoi members to face a public deportation hearing amid a crackdown on extortion crimes targeting South Asian Canadians.<\/p>\n

The case is a component of Canada\u2019s response to the epidemic of extortions which have spread fear in cities with large South Asian populations, particularly in B.C., Alberta, Winnipeg and Ontario.<\/p>\n

Testifying by phone from the prison where he’s being held in Mission, B.C., Kingra offered a glimpse into the workings of extortion gangs.<\/p>\n

As a witness, Kingra displayed remarkable memory lapses, responding to many questions posed by the CBSA with, \u201cI don\u2019t remember.\u201d<\/p>\n

He denied being a Bishnoi member.<\/p>\n

But like many extortion gang members, he said he got here to Canada from India on a student visa in 2018 and worked quite a lot of jobs in B.C. and Manitoba.<\/p>\n

He said that when a friend, Vikram Sharma, asked him to perform the shooting, he didn’t initially agree, but after pondering the matter for a number of days, he decided to do it.<\/p>\n

He said he did it for money. \u201cBecause I believed I’d find a way to assist my family back home in India because my job wasn\u2019t going well here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2 of them drove from Winnipeg to Vancouver Island. They first scouted Dhillon\u2019s house after which returned later within the evening.<\/p>\n

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After Sharma used gasoline to torch the vehicles within the driveway, Kingra fired 14 bullets at the house. Kingra used a phone to record a video of the shooting.<\/p>\n

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He said Sharma told him to make the video because \u201conly with the proof you may get money.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he didn\u2019t understand how the video found its strategy to the Bishnoi gang, which posted it online when it took responsibility for the incident.<\/p>\n

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He denied knowing the Bishnoi group was behind the shooting until he heard news reports the following day, and saw the video he had recorded.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven I used to be surprised that it was all over the place on the news channels within the morning,\u201d he said. \u201cI made the video because he [Sharma]\u00a0said,\u00a0\u2018I’ll set the fireplace and my hands won\u2019t be free.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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He also denied knowing who had contacted Sharma concerning the job, where he got the gun, how long they took to drive across Canada and where they stayed.<\/p>\n

He said Sharma paid him in money a number of days after the shooting. He said he didn’t know where Sharma got the cash.<\/p>\n

Sharma fled Canada following the shooting and is needed by the RCMP.<\/p>\n

Kingra pleaded guilty to the attack and is serving a six-year sentence, while awaiting trial for an August 2024 shooting in Surrey, B.C.<\/p>\n

The judge who sentenced Kingra found he had committed the crime \u201con the behest of a criminal organization often called the Bishnoi gang.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dhillon was targeted because someone who had appeared in one in all his music videos have \u201cfallen afoul of this organization,\u201d the judge wrote.<\/p>\n

As police have stepped up their efforts against the gangs, they’ve come across a whole lot of suspects who shouldn’t be in Canada.<\/p>\n

The cases have been referred to the CBSA, which said that as of\u00a0May 7,\u00a0it had opened 446 investigations and issued 118 removal orders.<\/p>\n

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