Crime and kabaddi came together once again on Friday when a prominent promoter of the game, and a former player himself, was seriously wounded in a drive-by shooting in Surrey, British Columbia. The National Kabaddi Association President, Kamaljit Singh 'Neetu' Kang, was shot at twice in the Bear Creek area of the city on Friday morning. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) received a report of a shooting in the driveway of a home in the 8100-block of 144A Street in the Bear Creek area at 8 am on Friday. Though the RCMP did not identify Kang, his relatives and local media outlets confirmed that he was the victim. A video purportedly showing the incident shows Kang walking outside his house when a white SUV pulls up next to him. Kang is shot in the abdomen, and as he tries to flee, the shooter gets out of the car and fires at him again, hitting him before driving away. When the police arrived, Kang was found bleeding from gunshot wounds and was transported to the hospital in serious condition. The SUV was discovered burnt out 10 kilometers away from the crime scene. Burning a vehicle after a shooting is a common sign of gang conflict in the Greater Vancouver Area. In a statement, the RCMP said, "This appears to be a targeted incident; however, the motive is unknown." Punjabi-style circle kabaddi is very popular in Punjab, as well as the diaspora worldwide. Reverentially referred to as 'maa-khed' (mother of all sports), it attracts millions of views on YouTube and draws in big money from deep-pocketed NRI promoters. Top kabaddi players can earn up to a crore per year. As circle kabaddi is an unregulated sport with little oversight, fame and riches often tempt players to use steroids, and some have died as a result. The sport is also a mobilizer, with the young and old alike flocking to watch various kabaddi cups held throughout the summer. Politicians, as expected, are also drawn to kabaddi promoters, who gain even more influence. There are numerous associations, and turf wars occasionally turn deadly. Kabaddi has also frequently found itself embroiled in drugs, violent crime, and human smuggling. While no connection between the two incidents has been established yet, Kang was shot on the same day that, halfway around the world in India, another NRI promoter, Surjan Singh Chatha, was arrested in connection with the 2022 murder of Sandeep Nangal Ambian, a famous kabaddi player. Among the accused in the Nangal Ambian murder case were Snover Dhillon, an Ontario-based promoter who also worked as a backroom organizer for the ruling Ontario Progressive Conservative Party. In the past, he has hobnobbed with Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown. Granthi charged with sexual exploitation of minors A British Columbia-based 'granthi' and teacher made his first court appearance on Tuesday on charges of sexual interference and exploitation of minors. Bhupinder Singh Sonu, 40, who resides in Surrey, worked as a priest and tabla teacher at a school, where he allegedly exploited three victims who were under 16 years old. The alleged incidents occurred between September 2022 and February 2023. According to reports, Sonu came to Canada on a work permit as a granthi eight years ago and received permanent residency two weeks ago.
