PUNJABI journalist and real estate agent Joti Singh Mann, who was brutally attacked in the driveway of his Brampton, Ontario home on August 4 by three masked men with a machete and an axe, is probably still alive because of his mother’s fearless intervention.
Peel Regional Police Superintendent Sean Gormley told the media on Thursday (August 11) that Mann’s mother’s action ‘certainly contributed to his being here today.’
Gormley insisted that Brampton was a safe city to live and work in and that this attack on Mann, a host with Fateh Media 5, which broadcasts in Punjabi on radio and YouTube, was believed to be targeted based on some information that police had received.
He said that no motive had been identified yet.
Mann had received a death threat a few days before and police had put in place a safety plan for him.
In a video of the attack that has been widely circulated, Mann is seen getting into a white Jeep Rubicon. Three masked men suddenly rush to the vehicle, break the driver’s side window and open the door. They pull Mann out, take him behind the vehicle and attack him viciously with weapons. Then a woman runs out of the house towards the men and chases them away.
Brampton Councillor Gurpreet Dhillon told CBC that Mann had lacerations all over his body. He had severe cuts and injuries to his hand, and damage to his muscles and bones. One of his bod toes had to be amputated.
Mann’s father told CBC that the three men took off in a getaway vehicle driven by a fourth man.
PEEL Regional Police in a press release after the media conference on Thursday said that on Thursday, August 4, they received a 9-1-1 call at 8:16 a.m. that a man was being assaulted by three suspects in the driveway of a residence in the area of Mayfield Road and Hurontario Street.
“The victim was attacked just after he got into this vehicle by three suspects armed with a machete and an axe. The assault continued outside of the vehicle in the driveway until a witness intervened. The suspects fled the area prior to police arriving. The victim was transported to a trauma center where he is in non-life-threatening condition.”
Police released a photo of the three suspects and said investigators are seeking to identify them:
* Suspect 1: Black clothing with black gloves, black baseball hat and wearing a surgical mask.
* Suspect 2: Black clothing, black shoes with red laces, black gloves and wearing a surgical mask.
* Suspect 3: Black sweater with hood up, grey track pants, black gloves and wearing a surgical mask.
Anyone with information is asked to call investigators at the 22 Division Criminal Investigation Bureau at 905-453–2121, extension 2233. Information may also be left anonymously by calling Peel Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).