A man was kidnapped but he was not the target. The kidnappers took the man to his friend’s house who was the real target. The first man was just a bait to make the second man come out of his house, which did not happen. The failed kidnapping-extortion bid ended at the first man being released and cops were called and all the drama that took place in Canada’s Calgary stunned the cops as they had never seen an elaborate scheme like this. The kidnappers, the targets all are from the city’s South Asian community, they said.Four men have been arrested and a fifth man has been charged. The incident took place on May 6.The suspects assaulted and threatened the first man at gunpoint to kidnap him from a residence in Edmonton between 6:30 and 7:30 pm. Then they drove to Calgary to the next victim’s house where additional suspects were waiting.The kidnappers asked the first man to call the second man who was their intended target. He refused and police said he was assaulted again.The second man and his wife, scared for their lives, attempted to leave their home but the suspects threatened them with a firearm. They went back inside and called the police.The suspects drove back the first man next morning near his home. He also called the police.Calgary Police Superintendent Jeff Bell said the man suffered minor injuries, but it was “obviously a very traumatizing situation for him and it will take some time for him to recover mentally and physically.”Police arrested two men during a traffic stop on the night of the alleged kidnapping, and arrested two more on May 12.
None of the suspects is Canadian
Though all the suspects are from Calgary, none of them are Canadian. Daksh Gautam, 25, Taranveer Singh, 24, Pardeep Singh, 24, and Akashdeep Singh, 18, all face charges of kidnapping with a firearm, unlawful confinement, assault and assault with a weapon.Police are looking for 29-year-old Gagandeep Singh, also of Calgary, who is wanted on warrants for kidnapping with a firearm, assault with a weapon, assault and unlawful confinement. Police say he has tattoos of a woman on his right forearm and a blue and red eagle on his left forearm.Their immigration status varied and included expired work visas, or refugee claimant status. A privately manufactured firearm, sometimes called a “ghost gun,” was seized as part of the investigation.Bell said it’s the first time Calgary police have seen an alleged extortion-related kidnapping like this. “This is a significant escalation in violence in the extortion incidents that we have seen in Calgary so far,” he said.
