Edmonton police seeing no further extortion of South Asian businesses as investigation continues

Paige Parsons · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 24, 2024 5:55 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

A rash of extortion incidents targeting South Asian home builders in Edmonton has dropped off, but police are continuing to investigate the string of arsons that have destroyed new or under-construction homes.

On Wednesday, the Edmonton Police Service provided an update on Project Gaslight — a probe into 34 incidents alleged to have been carried out by a group of local suspects who are being directed by someone in India.

Investigators have said the houses went up in flames after local South Asian business owners received WhatsApp messages demanding large amounts of money. In January, police said most of the people being targeted are of Indian origin.

There have been no new instances of extortion or arson since the last EPS update in January, Staff Sgt. Dave Paton said Wednesday.

"Some of our police offensive tactics that we used against some of these individuals, I think were very successful," Paton told reporters.

"And you can't leave out the fact that the community engagement that we had made a huge difference as well. We suspect some of that pressure came from the community itself in order to kind of put some of these people at bay."

Earlier this year, EPS arrested and charged six young men and a youth in connection with the extortion series in January. One of the suspects was believed to have since fled the country.

On Wednesday, police released a series of surveillance videos showing a number of individuals and vehicles believed to be connected to the extortion spree who investigators are still trying to track down.

One of the videos shows two people with a jerry can of gas break into a Beaumont house on Dec. 14, 2023. The video appears to show them lighting a fire. Flames burst out of the open door as they flee the scene.

Paton said investigators don't know exactly how the young suspects are being recruited, but said it could be financial incentives or that they were beholden to the person directing the operation in some way.

Ten investigators and two analysts have been working on the extortion investigations, and Paton says they've made good progress. 

He said EPS is not directly working with police in India, but that RCMP have been in contact with investigators in that country. 

Paton also said the recent killing of Edmonton businessman Buta Singh Gill at one of his south Edmonton construction sites is not related to the extortion incidents. 

Gill, 57, was shot by a man who also shot another person at the scene, and then shot and killed himself. The second shooting victim was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries.