In a tragic turn of events, a Sikh man in Canada, Gurdit Singh Sidhu, revealed that the police had spoken to his parents visiting from India just four days before they fell victim to a deadly shooting spree in Ontario last month.
Jagtar Singh Sidhu and Harbhajan Kaur, both in their 50s, endured a hail of more than 20 bullets just before midnight on November 20 at their rental property along the Caledon-Brampton border. Jagtar succumbed to his injuries on the spot, while Harbhajan passed away in the hospital. Their daughter, shot 13 times, continues to fight for her life.
Grieving the loss, Gurdit Singh Sidhu, a Canadian citizen, expressed his bewilderment over the police visit to his property just days before the tragic incident. He questioned why an officer from Peel Regional Police's Homicide and Missing Persons Bureau had engaged with his parents.
"I felt like I should have never called them here... I am just praying for my sister," Sidhu said, emphasizing that he hasn't broken the news to his sister yet.
Sidhu, who left his job to care for his sister, is seeking answers from the police. He is perplexed about why the police were at their residence and why they were targeted. "Why were you here? Why was our family targeted? Why have you not informed us of anything?" Sidhu asked, suspecting that the police might have had foreknowledge of the impending tragedy.
The police had visited Sidhu's parents' home on November 16, four days before the fatal shooting. As the couple did not speak English, they called a friend, Daman Preet Singh, to translate the conversation with the police. Daman recounted that the officer, seeking information about the residents, mentioned they were looking for someone.
Sidhu, puzzled by the police inquiry, points out that the jurisdiction in question falls under the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), not Peel police. He disclosed that Harbhajan informed him that the police stayed parked on the street for nearly an hour and left a card with their badge number.
Despite multiple attempts to seek clarification from the police, Sidhu lamented their silence. As the OPP launched a homicide investigation, they hinted at the possibility of mistaken identity, suggesting that the victims may not have been the intended targets and that multiple suspects were involved. Detective Inspector Brian McDermott emphasized that it was too early to make firm determinations about the case.
(With Agency Inputs)
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