CHARGES have been approved against three South Asian males who were arrested on Friday, October 3 in a Surrey Police Service (SPS) investigation into a shooting that occurred in March that is believed to be related to an extortion investigation.

On March 27, at approximately 1:55 a.m., a residence in the 13300-block of 89A Avenue in Surrey was damaged by several gunshots. Nobody was injured as a result of the shooting.

The victim contacted SPS later the same day and members of the Frontline Investigative Support Team attended to assist with the investigation. SPS Serious Crime Unit subsequently assumed conduct of the investigation. During the course of the investigation, it was determined that the incident was related to an ongoing extortion investigation and three suspects were identified, leading to the execution of numerous search warrants.

With the assistance of policing partners, three suspects were identified and arrested on October 3. The following individuals have each been charged with one count of reckless discharge of a firearm:

* Mandeep Gidda, 23

* Nirmaandeep Cheema, 20

* Arundeep Singh, 26

Mandeep Gidda and Nirmaandeep Cheema were remanded and scheduled to appear in court on Monday, October 6.

Arundeep Singh was also remanded, and he is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday, October 8.

“These three arrests and charges are a positive step forward as Surrey Police Service continues to aggressively tackle the issue of extortions in collaboration with Provincial Extortions Task Force and other policing partners across the country,” said SPS Chief Constable Norm Lipinski, on Monday. “Enforcement and all investigative tactics will continue to ramp up as we work together to bring these criminals to justice.”

SPS said it would like to acknowledge the assistance of the Delta Police Department, New Westminster Police Department, Vancouver Police Department, the Lower Mainland Integrated Forensic Identification Services, and Lower Mainland Integrated Emergency Response Team.

SPS said that individuals and businesses primarily in the South Asian community are being victimized by threats of extortion in Surrey and across the country and, in response, it stood up its own Extortion Investigations Team and launched a reward and tip line in collaboration with the City of Surrey. SPS is also part of the Provincial Extortions Task Force.