Singer attacked in Canada, gang says did it, then says didn’t

BATHINDA: A Punjab-based gang on Sunday took responsibility for the Saturday night attack on Punjabi singer-rapper Karan Aujla in Canada. However, soon after, another page being operated by the same gang disowned the attack and said they did not carry it out.
Aujla was attacked in Surrey, a city in Canada’s British Columbia province, on Saturday night. Even as the singer survived the attack, gangster Sukhpreet Singh Budda’s group took responsibility for the attack in a post on Facebook on Sunday afternoon.
Aujla was accompanied by Rehan Records owner Sandeep Rehan and singer Deep Jandu when the attack took place in Canada. A post on the wall of Davinder Bambiha gang on Sunday afternoon read: “I want to tell you that as a dispute is going on between Sandeep Rehaan and Karan Aujla (Rehan Records) with our brother Sukhpreet Budda, due to that they got z+ security to put pressure. That security has not accompanied them to Canada. Our brother Sukhpreet Budda, to teach them a lesson, made two attempts to attack them in a day in Canada.”
It is learnt that during a visit to Punjab, Rehan was asked to pay a ransom of Rs 20 lakh on March 16 this year. The call had been made through internet. When he approached the police, a voice message was sent to Rahan and he was warned that the police would not save him all the time and he would be attacked either in India or Canada.
Police had been following Budda gang ever since. Sukhpreet Budda, a wanted gangster in Punjab, was with Dilpreet Baba, when an attack was made on singer Parmeesh Verma in Mohali in the past. Budda is also accused of threatening Punjabi singer Gippy Grewal.
However, some time after this post, a Facebook page named Sukhpreet Budda said the attack was not carried out by the gang. That post even went on to call such attacks “cheap”.
Punjab Police organised crime control unit (OCCU) IG Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, when contacted, confirmed that the NRI had gotten a ransom call while visiting Punjab. “We put the gang on surveillance and provided security to the NRI, and had given them same instructions when they were returning to Canada.
We have got to know about the Budda group taking responsibility for the attack on them in Canada. We are in the loop of developments. Now, we are verifying the contents of the post on Facebook as it is learnt to be operated from out of India. Canadian police are also investigating the matter and we are ready to provide any information they need,” the IG said.
He said their team had gotten in touch with the NRIs and they were safe and sound. “Sukhpreet Budda is one of the few gangsters left in Punjab and he is on the radar of Punjab Police,” said the IG.
The IG said it seemed the posts on Sunday might have been made from fan pages. “We are verifying both the posts and the location from where they have been made,” he said. “They don’t seem from anywhere in India.”