Another Indo-Canadian gangster has been killed in gangland violence as Vancouver Police investigate an overnight homicide in the city’s Sunset neighbourhood, also known as South Slope. Officers were called to East 63rd Avenue and Inverness Street just before 9 p.m. on July 26 for reports of two men shot in a vehicle, which then collided with two other vehicles. One man was taken to hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. Hitkaran Johal died at the scene of the collision.

By PD Raj – Senior Reporter DESIBUZZCanada

Vancouver – Another Indo-Canadian gangster has been killed in gangland violence as Vancouver Police investigate an overnight homicide in the city’s Sunset neighbourhood, also known as South Slope.

Officers were called to East 63rd Avenue and Inverness Street just before 9 p.m. on July 26 for reports of two men shot in a vehicle, which then collided with two other vehicles. One man was taken to hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.

The second man, Hitkaran Johal, 25, died at the scene of the collision.

A vehicle was set on fire near East 63rd Avenue and Prince Edward Street shortly after the shooting. Investigators are working to determine if this fire was connected to the shooting.

No arrests have been made and the investigation remains ongoing. Investigators believe this shooting was targeted and there is no ongoing public safety risk at this time.

Previously, Johal’s brother was killed, who lived on East 63rd and Prince Edward in South Vancouver. Police sources told DESIBUZZCanada that the man who survived the shooting is Harjot Samra but police have not identified the man taken to hospital.

Hitkaran Johal was previously arrested by Vancouver Police as part of seven arrests of gangland figures in May 2018 and he had just been released from that imprisonment.

VPD at the time had said the violent Lower Mainland gang was contracting itself out to commit murders for larger, more-established organized crime groups.

But the “Gill group”, headed by 21-year-old Taqdir Gill, has now been dismantled after a months-long investigation that resulted in seven arrests and the seizure of four guns, Vancouver Police Supt. Mike Porteous said at the time.

 “Project Temper, a gang violence suppression operation, has resulted in the dismantling of the Gill group. This violent crime group was comprised of several individuals,” Porteous said at the time. “The VPD is committed to aggressively targeting people who pose the most risk to our communities.”

Gill, Walta Abay, 23, Hitkaran Johal, 19, were all charged with conspiracy to commit murder between Oct. 5 and 27, 2017.

Both Gill and Abay are also charged with possession of a loaded, restricted or prohibited firearm on Oct. 26, and being in a vehicle knowing there was a gun inside.

Porteous told Post Media at the time that at one time the Gill group was aligned with the Kang faction of Brothers Keepers, which has traditionally been on the Red Scorpion side of a decade-long regional conflict.

Also charged were Simrat Lally and Pawandeep Chopra, both 20, and two youths who were 17 when their alleged offences occurred and therefore cannot be identified.

Porteous said at the time the Gill group came to the attention of anti-gang investigators after a series of shootings last August.

 “There was a spike in gang violence,” he said. “They were proactively targeted. We used a variety of police methods to gather evidence, including surveillance.”

Anyone with information is asked to call VPD’s Homicide Unit at 604-717-2500.