CALGARY Police’s Organized Crime and Offender Management Section has laid charges against five men in relation to an elaborate scheme to extort a Calgary victim. This incident is an escalation of the ongoing violence associated to an extortion series that is targeting the South Asian community.

Between 6:30 and 7:30 p.m., on Wednesday, May 6, a man was kidnapped from a residence in Edmonton by four men. The victim was assaulted, threatened at gunpoint and forced into a vehicle where he was driven from Edmonton to Calgary. The suspects drove the victim to his friend’s residence, located in the Calgary community of Cityscape, where additional suspects and vehicles were staged.

The suspects attempted to force the victim to lure his friend, who was the intended extortion target, out of his residence. The victim refused and was assaulted again.

While the suspects remained outside of the Cityscape residence, the victim’s friend and his wife attempted to leave their residence. They were followed and threatened with a firearm before fleeing back to their residence where they contacted police.

Shortly after, police located a vehicle that was believed to be involved and conducted a traffic stop in the area near Metis Trail and 104 Avenue N.E. Two men were arrested during the traffic stop for their involvement in the Cityscape incident, however the initial Edmonton kidnapping remained unreported to police.

The remaining suspects drove the kidnapping victim back to Edmonton where he was released near his residence early the next morning. Upon his release, he contacted police to report the kidnapping.

On Tuesday, May 12, with the assistance of the CPS Tactical Team, investigators located two additional suspects and conducted a traffic stop in the 600-block of Martindale Boulevard N.E., where they were arrested.

Investigators seized a privately-manufactured firearm (PMF) as part of this investigation.

In total four men have been arrested and charged in relation to this incident, and a fifth man is wanted on warrants. Police believe additional suspects were also involved and are asking for anyone with information to come forward.

Taranveer Singh, 24, of Calgary, and Daksh Gautam, 25, of Calgary, are each charged with:

• Two counts of pointing a firearm
• Unauthorized possession of a firearm in a motor vehicle
• Kidnapping with a firearm
• Unlawful confinement
• Assault with a weapon
• Assault

Gautam will next appear in court on Wednesday, May 20. Taranveer Singh will next appear in court on Wednesday, June 24.

Akashdeep Singh, 18, of Calgary, and Pardeep Singh, 24, of Calgary, are each charged with:

• Kidnapping with a firearm
• Pointing a firearm
• Unlawful confinement
• Assault with a weapon
• Assault

Akashdeep Singh will appear in court on Tuesday, May 26. Pardeep Singh will appear in court on Wednesday, May 20.

Gagandeep Singh, 29, of Calgary, is wanted on warrants for:

• Kidnapping with a firearm
• Pointing a firearm
• Unlawful confinement
• Assault with a weapon
• Assault

Gagandeep Singh has tattoos of a woman on his right forearm and a blue and red eagle on his left forearm. He has connections to Calgary, Ontario and British Columbia.

“This is a significant escalation in violence in the extortion incidents that we have seen in Calgary so far. Since this series began, we have been working very closely with our policing partners nationally to share information and co-ordinate our response, which allowed us to quickly make arrests in this case.”

Superintendent Jeff Bell of the CPS Criminal Operations and Intelligence Division said: “We would like to thank the Edmonton Police Service and Canada Border Service Agency for their support in this investigation.”

Since April 2025, there have been 45 extortion-related incidents in Calgary. Nineteen of the incidents involved shootings at homes, businesses, or vehicles. To date, 11 individuals have been charged in relation to the Calgary series.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police by calling 403-266-1234. Tips can also be submitted anonymously to Crime Stoppers through any of the following methods:

TALK: 1-800-222-8477

TYPE: www.calgarycrimestoppers.org

APP: P3 Tips

A dedicated extortion email address, extortion@calgarypolice.ca, has also been created for individuals to share information directly with investigations.

If you are the victim of extortion, do not pay and contact police immediately.

For more information and resources related to extortions, please visit: https://www.calgarypolice.ca/public-safety/crime-prevention/scams-and-fraud/extortion-fraud.html.

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