Up to 700 people turned out to a public forum in Surrey on Saturday aimed at addressing a string of shootings and extortion letters.
The event was organized by the Vedic Hindu Cultural Society of BC, and follows growing concerns about an extortion racket targeting Surrey and Fraser Valley business owners.
There have been numerous shootings in the Surrey area in recent weeks, including one in White Rock that police have explicitly linked to the extortion letters.
Speaking to attendees, Officer in Charge of the Surrey RCMP Assistant Commissioner Brian Edwards pledged to stop the extortion problem.
Edwards told the meeting that police still weren’t sure whether a string of shootings in recent weeks were linked to the extortion racket.
He said police were further challenged by the fact that some people have paid the extortioners.
Police have assigned 200 officers to the case, who have logged more than 20,000 hours since October, Edwards said.
The home of Cultural Society president Satish Kumar’s son was targeted in a Dec. 27 shooting.
“There has been lots of gunfire, drive-by shootings and extortion letters going to the community right now,” Kumar told Global News Morning BC, ahead of the forum.
“A lot of us are scared right now to not report to the police, RCMP, so we wanted to get the community together and give the message to the community: Don’t be scared, come to the front and try to help the RCMP.”
Police in Surrey and Abbotsford issued public warnings in November after business owners began to receive threatening letters.
Global News obtained a copy of one of the letters, which claimed to be from an “Indian gang” and demanded $2 million in “protection money” or the recipient would face retaliation.
In a leaked Abbotsford police memo confirmed by Global News, investigators said they believed the suspects were linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, based in India.
On Dec. 28, Surrey RCMP arrested two men in their 20s in connection with extortion attempts in the Lower Mainland. They were released without charge pending further investigation.
Kumar said he has heard of numerous incidents potentially linked to the extortion scheme, “but not reported to police.”
“So we are trying, the community to get together, and report to the police so the police can act more faster,” he said.
Police, community leaders, politicians and journalists have all been invited to attend the 2 p.m. forum at the Reflections Banquet Hall at 6638 152A St. in Surrey.