Government should order probe to find out how Garcha managed to enter Canada and stay here
(Photos courtesy Hindustan Times)
NOTORIOUS gangster Gurjot Singh Garcha, wanted by Punjab Police, has reportedly died under mysterious circumstances in Canada on Sunday, the Hindustan Times, one of India’s leading newspapers, reported on Tuesday in a story from its reporter in Ludhiana, Punjab.
The newspaper reported: “His friends have cited drug overdose or cardiac arrest as the cause of death. They claimed that Garcha had returned home after attending a party but didn’t wake up in the morning.”
Punjabi radio Media Waves CEO Ashiana Khan told The VOICE that when she held a talk show on Garcha on Thursday morning, she received threats from a woman who called from Seattle claiming to be his “mother”. The woman said that the radio station was talking nonsense about her “son” and that she would deal with them. Khan said she was going to report the threat to the RCMP.
Khan said Canadians expressed their surprise and disgust as to how Garcha managed to come to this country and stay here with impunity. They wanted to know if any officials or politicians here were involved in this matter.
The Hindustan Times reported that Garcha was wanted in multiple criminal cases, including the murder of Manminder Singh alias Mindhi, brother of slain gangster Rupinder Gandhi.
The newspaper added: “Gurjot was said to be a close-aide of Rajwinder Singh Ravi alias Ravi Khawajke. He had suspected that Khwajke was killed by gangster Davinder Bambiha, who was close to the Rupinder Gandhi gang. Seeking revenge, he had hatched conspiracy to kill Rupinder’s brother. He had hatched the conspiracy to kill Manminder, and was booked by the Khanna police for the same. A day after the killing, Gurjot had taken responsibility of murder in a post on his Facebook account.
“He was facing several criminal cases in Ludhiana and other districts, but had managed to flee to Canada.”
In November 2015, Garcha was arrested in an attempt to murder case and was admitted at the Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) after sustaining a bullet injury in a clash with another group at Khanna. But 15-20 men stormed the hospital and took Garcha away.
THE VOICE received a link to an August 2017 story by Hindustan Times titled “Day after murder ‘confession’, gangster Garcha flaunts photos with Punjab CM Amarinder, Sukhbir Badal on Facebook.”
The report noted: “Both the pictures of Garcha, who is currently in Canada, [that he] posted are more than one year old, it has been learnt. The photo with Amarinder is of some function at a time when the Congress was not in power in Punjab while the one he shared with former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal is a selfie.”
The report also stated: “Garcha’s frequent posts have triggered wars of words on social media. Mindi’s followers have been challenging him to come back to Punjab and have threatened to kill him.”
The 2017 story also said: “Khanna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Navjot Singh Mahal said they will initiate procedure to bring Garcha back to Punjab. He said the procedure is lengthy, but they will pursue it.”
It added: “Garcha, who is from Dhandari area in Ludhiana, went to Canada six months back as he is married to a Canadian citizen.”
Of course, now the Punjab Police doesn’t have to bother about Garcha!
MEANWHILE, the Indian Express newspaper reported that the Facebook of dreaded gangster Vicky Goundar, who was killed by Punjab Police in an encounter on January 26 this year, was updated on Tuesday with a post condoling the death of Garcha.
The post read: “Apna veer Gurjot Garcha apne vich nahi riha. Canada vich heart attack aun karke veer di death ho gyi. Miss you veer Gurjot. RIP. (Our brother Gurjot Garcha is no more. He died of heart attack in Canada. Miss you brother).”
Police told the newspaper supporters of dead gangsters are putting up the posts so that they could remain in contact with their old friends. They say that this is a dangerous trend as youngsters can easily be attracted by it. They say that though they try their best to monitor these pages, sometimes people create new IDs in the names of gangsters who were either killed or are in jail and keep updating them.
