A 27-year-old Indian man has been shot dead in his home in Canada's Brampton city, police said. Two suspects in the case have surrendered and charged with first-degree murder, while the other two are absconding.
Palwinder Singh, alias Vicky, was a truck driver and had immigrated to Canada in 2009. He was shot dead in his home in Donwoods Court in the area of Countryside Drive and Airport Road on Monday evening, CBC News cited police officials as saying on Tuesday.
Witnesses said at least three people were seen running from Singh's home after a gunfire erupted. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene, police said in a news release.
"It looks like he (the victim) was ambushed," said one witness. He said a family lived in the home and had a tenant in the basement.
"It's so sad. So sad to see how people were wishing you happy birthday two days ago and now you are no more. No matter what was the cause, you didn't deserve to die," wrote Singh's friend on Facebook.
Rip Palli Goraya! You’ll be missed and I love you brother!
Posted by Prabhjot Singh on Tuesday, 17 July 2018
His parents got to know about the incident from one of Vicky’s friends, who was sharing an apartment with him in Brampton. He said Vicky was killed by some unknown persons after he returned from work. Vicky’s elder sister Jaswinder Kaur, who also lives in Canada, said the investigation officials in Canada would hand over the body in 15 days.
Palwinder had celebrated his 28th birthday just two days ago.His teary-eyed mother, Rajinder Kaur, who is a retired Punjab Agricultural manager, said, “Vicky tried hard to fulfil all our dreams. He was scheduled to come again in November.”
His mother said they were planning to get him married. She said, “The Canadian Government should adopt strict measures against people carrying weapons. Many innocent Punjabi youths are losing their lives. Protection should be provided to them.”
Victim’s father Gurmez Singh, a retired ASI from the Punjab Police and a resident of National Avenue in Rama Mandi, said they had renovated their house and had planned to move in as Vicky was scheduled to return in November.
Though the exact reason of the killing is not known, the victim’s friend said the attackers had come with the intent to commit robbery. The youth was in the transport business.
Police said two men from Mississauga -- Sean Ponto, 18, and Andrew Edward, 19 -- surrendered on Tuesday and were charged with first-degree murder. A search is on for the other suspects.
Charmaine Williams, a Brampton mother of five who is running in the October 22 municipal election, said the shootings in the city were getting way out of hand. This is Brampton's 11th murder this year.
Williams is calling on Brampton Mayor Linda Jeffrey to immediately implement a gun amnesty and gun buyback programme for the residents.
