New Delhi: An Indian-origin Sikh Buta Singh Gill was shot dead at a construction site in Canada’s Edmonton city on Monday. Gill was a builder and head of the Guru Nanak Sikh Temple in the city.
The Edmonton police said, “At approximately 12:00 pm today, Monday, April 8, 2024, Southwest Branch patrol officers responded to the report of a shooting in the area of Cavanagh Boulevard SW and Cherniak Way SW.”
“Upon police arrival three injured males were located. EMS responded and determined two males, a 49-year-old and a 57-year-old were deceased, and a 51-year-old male was seriously injured. Paramedics transported the surviving male to hospital with serious life-threatening injuries,” it added.
Prior to his murder, as per the media reports, Gill had received extortion calls like many other Indians living in Canada. In a regular media briefing, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “People getting extortion calls, especially Indian nationals, is a matter of serious concern,”
“We (India and Canada) have several issues to discuss. There was an issue about a temple which was attacked. The Canadian police then thereafter went into the investigation of the temple premises, and the person who had intruded it later turned out, and they issued a statement that the person was of unsound mind. So there are these issues that keep happening…,” Jaiswal added.
After the shooting, around 50 South Asian homebuilders gathered at the site. Ex-councillor Mohinder Banga stated that Gill is a religious, helpful individual with strong Punjabi community ties. Gill, a key member of the Sikh temple on St. Albert Trail, is survived by his wife and two children.
