Amandeep Bath, 27, was shot in the head in Surrey 13 years ago by two men, Parminder Basran and Bhabjit Aujla, and today the two men have been sentenced in connection with his shooting death.
Parminder Singh Basran pleaded guilty to manslaughter in B.C. Provincial Court in New Westminster and Bhabjit Singh Aujla pleaded guilty to assault on March 3.
Basran was sentenced Thursday to six years in prison while Bhabjit Singh Aujla was sentenced Thursday to time served, which worked out to 11 months.
Outside the courthouse Bath’s family gathered holding a picture of the young man and said they were grateful to have closure and find out what happened that night in 2004.
“It’s nice to see that after 12 years there’s some closure to be had,” Bath’s cousin, Harpreet Khela said.
“Everyone worked very hard on this case… As a family we believe that some sort of justice was served today. Nothing that they would do today would bring him back but we’re glad that there were two admissions. We’re glad that there were a lot of admissions of what happened that night.”
Parminder Basran sentenced today for Manslaughter, Bhabjit Aujla sentenced for Assault in connection to 2004 death of Amandeep Bath. #IHIT
— IHIT (@HomicideTeam) April 13, 2017
"It never really came out what the reason was [for his murder]. I don't know what the real reason was," said Khela, describing Bath as a quiet, hardworking accounting student who was the only child of a single mother.
"He was the oldest one, so he was the one all of us looked up to," said Khela.
"Amandeep was innocent. Just living his life and then all of a sudden this happened to him."
Khela describes the last 13 years as a roller coaster of emotions for the Bath family.
Basran and Aujla were charged in the killing in 2005, but the charges against them were dropped for lack of evidence.
Staff Sergeant Jennifer Pound, spokeswoman for the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, said IHIT’s cold case team is comprised of “highly skilled investigators who have provided justice to families who have tragically lost loved ones.”