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Journalism of Courage
Comedian Kapil Sharma’s in Surrey, Canada, has been targeted three times over the past four months by a group of gangsters. Although no one was injured, one name has emerged in connection with two of the attacks: Goldy Dhillon, who allegedly claimed responsibility for the shootings through social media posts.
The most recent shooting at Kap’s Cafe occurred on Thursday night. After the incident, a purported social-media post containing a video of the shooting — in which bullets can be seen striking the café’s glass window from inside a car — surfaced online.
The post, uploaded from a Facebook account under the name Kulvir Sidhu, claimed that Sidhu and Dhillon carried out the attack. It also stated that they hold no animosity towards the public but warned that anyone who speaks against their religion should be prepared to be targeted.
Dhillon aka Gurpreet Singh hails from Rajpura in Punjab, and is believed to be hiding in Germany while operating the Lawrence Bishnoi gang in India, said police.
In July last year, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a chargesheet in connection with an extortion and firing case in Chandigarh against Dhillon and nine other accused, including Canada-based designated terrorist Satinderjit Singh, alias Goldy Brar.
According to the NIA, Brar was named as the key conspirator in the case and was charged with forming a terror gang to carry out terrorist activities in India. In June this year, the NIA announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh for Dhillon’s arrest in this case.
According to a police officer, Dhillon has now become part of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang following its split from the Brar group. “Brar was the one who motivated him to join the gang in 2022. Dhillon’s name later surfaced in connection with the murder of a Canada-based businessman in June this year,” the officer said.
His area of operation is primarily in Punjab, where he is believed to have allegedly recruited youths to run a major terror-extortion-narcotics network across India.
According to the officer, his associates are allegedly involved in the procurement and smuggling of arms and ammunition, sale and purchase of narcotics, channeling of drug proceeds, and conducting recces and attacks on selected targets in Punjab, Delhi and Haryana.
So far, the Punjab Police has arrested several men associated with him. As per police records, he is facing over a dozen cases — including murder, attempt to murder, and violations of the Arms Act — in Punjab. It is also alleged that Dhillon has associations with Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) cells operating in certain European countries.
The first shooting at Sharma’s cafe took place on July 10, followed by the second on August 7.
Harjit Singh Laddi, associated with BKI, claimed responsibility for the first attack.
The group had made a video of the shooting, in which it said a character on ‘The Kapil Sharma Show’ had made some “humorous” remarks on Nihang Sikhs, and that they tried to contact Sharma through his manager but did not get any response. The post had also sought a public apology from Sharma.
Dhillon was allegedly behind the attack on August 7. He, too, had recorded the shooting and posted a video claiming responsibility. The reason for this attack, provided by the Bishnoi gang, was linked to Bollywood superstar Salman Khan. They were angry with Sharma for inviting Khan to his show on Netflix recently.
A day after the second shooting, an audio message allegedly from another Bishnoi gang member, Harry Boxer, surfaced on social media. In the recording, he could be heard issuing a warning to Bollywood, threatening that any producer, director, or actor — whether big or small — who works with Salman Khan will be targeted.
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