National

Edmonton police investigate extortions, arsons targeting South Asian community

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 18 Jan, 2024 10:52 AM

Police say they are investigating a string of extortions targeting businesspeople in the Edmonton area's South Asian community, in which properties have been torched and shot at.

Police say they're investigating 27 events where suspects have demanded large sums of money.

Police now investigating 27 events in extortion series

The Edmonton Police Service is asking the public to come forward to report extortion and assist in identifying a suspect vehicle in a drive-by shooting connected to the recent extort… https://t.co/OayXWNChxk pic.twitter.com/FcLUZ6FQDe
— Edmonton Police (@edmontonpolice) January 18, 2024

Should those targeted not pay, police say the suspects then burn new home builds, show homes or related property.

Police say the suspects appear to know personal information of those they have targeted.

The police service says suspects have also made followup demands for more money, leading to an escalation of violence and drive-by shootings.

Police say the latest shooting involved a home last week in the Cy Becker neighbourhood, and the family inside had no record of criminal involvement.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Police in Vancouver probe 'mysterious' fentanyl poisoning

Police in Vancouver say they're investigating how a man mysteriously fell ill from fentanyl poisoning following a brief encounter with a stranger last week. They say in a statement that investigators are focused on how the 56-year-old man, who does not use drugs, was exposed to the powerful opioid, and whether the incident involved a criminal offence.

Police in Vancouver probe 'mysterious' fentanyl poisoning

BC Gov to launch a pilot to support the restaurant industry

The B-C government says it's launching a pilot project to support the restaurant industry. The province says it’s putting 380-thousand dollars into a two-year pilot project to help with recruiting and retaining more workers.

BC Gov to launch a pilot to support the restaurant industry

Shots fired in Burnaby

Mounties in Burnaby say they're investigating reports of shots being fired on a busy street in the city on Thursday. Police say they located a truck riddled with bullet holes when they arrived, but there were no injuries reported following the shooting.

Shots fired in Burnaby

Can Canadian downtowns find new purpose in a post-office era?

Kay Matthews doesn't mince words when asked about the state of businesses fighting to survive in downtown cores across Ontario. The experiences in Ontario's cities are echoed across Canada, as downtowns grapple with high vacancy rates, the post-pandemic work culture and the prospect that crowds of office workers may never return in full.

Can Canadian downtowns find new purpose in a post-office era?

Housing dominates B.C. legislative session with next election less than a year away

The end of the fall legislative session comes less than a year away from B.C.'s expected election, and about three months before the New Democrat government's tabling of its February budget. Finance Minister Katrine Conroy signalled this week it will post a multibillion-dollar deficit and projects economic growth below one per cent.

Housing dominates B.C. legislative session with next election less than a year away

2 min court silence in Ibrahim Ali trial

The B.C. Supreme Court first-degree murder trial of Ibrahim Ali fell silent for two full minutes as Crown attorney Daniel Porte neared the end of his closing arguments. Porte was illustrating how long it would have taken Ali to strangle the 13-year-old girl he's accused of killing in a Burnaby, B.C., park six years ago, saying Ali would have had to apply "consistent and sustained" pressure.