New Delhi: The Delhi Police Crime Branch has arrested the prime conspirator for the series of firings at Kap’s Cafe owned by comedian Kapil Sharma in Canada’s Surrey.
The accused, 28-year-old Bandhu Maan Singh Sekhon, is from Punjab’s Ludhiana and fled to India in August following a crackdown by the Surrey Police in which several of his associates were arrested. Sekhon is allegedly the India-Canada handler of the Goldy Dhillon gang.
Goldy Dhillon gang has operations in both Canada and India, and is believed to be associated with the larger Lawrence Bishnoi gang syndicate. Four gang members were arrested earlier this month by the Punjab Police for allegedly planning targeted attacks in the Tricity and Patiala region. Dhillon has multiple cases registered against him in India including murder, attempted murder, etc.
According to the police, Sekhon was the key strategist responsible for planning, executing and providing logistics support for firing at Kap’s Café in Canada. They say he is also wanted in another high profile arms trafficking case lodged by the Delhi Police Crime Branch on 20 November.
Sekhon’s arrest follows the arrest of two key associates of fugitive gangster Sonu Khatri—Mandeep Singh and Dalvinder Kumar from Delhi’s Rohini. Eight foreign-made semi-automatic pistols (from Turkey and China) along with 84 live cartridges were found in their vehicle.
“The duo revealed that one pistol from the consignment had been delivered to Sekhon, establishing his involvement in the interstate and cross-border illegal arms supply network linked to fugitive gangster Sonu Khatri, currently operating from the USA,” DCP (Crime Branch) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav said.
Raids followed this disclosure and investigators moved to Ludhiana. “The team maintained covert surveillance at the target location, during which accused Bandhu Maan Sekhon was identified through advanced technical monitoring and discreet ground surveillance,” the DCP said, adding that during his custodial interrogation, the 28-year-old revealed his role in the series of firings that took place in Kapil Sharma’s Surrey cafe.
Kap’s Cafe has seen three separate firing incidents since its opening in July this year. The first incident took place in the early hours of 10 July when multiple shots were fired at the café from a moving vehicle. Initially Harjit Singh Laddi, associated with the banned separatist group Babbar Khalsa International, claimed responsibility for the attack, but later gangster Dhillon too took responsibility for the attack.
Then on 7 August, there was a second attack, for which both Dhillon and gangster Kulveer Sidhu took responsibility, describing it as a “warning”. The third attack took place on 16 October when a gunman again fired multiple rounds at the restaurant. Both Kulveer Sidhu and Goldy Dhillon claimed responsibility for the third attack.
According to the police, Sekhon travelled to Canada on 13 September 2023 on an employment visa and had been living in Brampton.
“Initially, he worked as a supervisory officer in a pharmaceutical company. While working there, he came into contact with members of the Goldy Dhillon gang, namely Daljot Rehal, Seepu, Sharry, and other associates of the gang, all residents of Punjab. After this, he joined the gang,” the DCP said.
“Before this, he was associated with the Harry Chatha gang, and had been arrested on charges of criminal conspiracy for extortion from India-based businessmen living in Canada and US, under the directions of Harry Chatha, who is a gangster-turned-terrorist and is currently working for the ISI, and living in Pakistan,” the DCP said.
Sekhon had earlier also been booked in Canada for serious offences including conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, unauthorised possession of a prohibited firearm, careless handling of a firearm, possession of property obtained by crime, and possession of a firearm with altered serial number.
According to the police, the shooters involved in the firing at Kap’s Cafe have been identified as Daljot Rehal and Gurjot, who were working on the directions of Seepu, who was also wanted in several cases of extortion, firing on businessmen’s residences in Canada, possession of illegal arms, and murder. Seepu is believed to be a key operative of the Goldy Dhillon gang.
It was after Seepu’s arrest that Sekhon’s name and role surfaced as the alleged prime conspirator behind the firing incidents at Kap’s Café in Canada. Sekhon fled to India on 23 August to evade the Canadian police.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
Also read: 2nd time in less than a month, shots fired at Kapil Sharma’s newly opened café in Canada
This shows how a simple gang based violence is solved when countries and their law enforcement agencies are clear in their outlook. It is now imperative for Canadian public take a deep hard look at why their ex PM Mr Trudeau was willing to sacrifice friendly relations with a nation at the cost of protecting these gangs under the cover of freedom of expression.