Man from Punjab shot dead in Canada – police suspect targeted killing

Surrey:

An Indian-origin man from Ludhiana in Punjab was shot dead in Surrey, Canada on Friday. The victim, Yuvraj Goyal, came to Canada in 2019 on a student visa and had recently obtained Canadian permanent resident (PR) status.

Yuvraj, 28, worked as a sales manager. His father, Rajesh Goyal, runs a firewood business, while his mother, Shakun Goyal, is a housewife. Yuvraj had no previous criminal record and the motive for his murder is still under investigation, the Royal Canadian Police said.

The incident occurred on June 7 at 8:46 a.m. when Surrey Police received a call reporting a shooting in the 900 block of 164th Street in Surrey, British Columbia. Upon arrival, officers found Yuvraj dead. Police have taken four suspects into custody.

Suspects Manvir Basram (23), Sahib Basra (20) and Harkirat Jhutty (23) of Surrey and Keilon Francois (20) of Ontario were charged with first-degree murder on Saturday.

“We are grateful for the hard work of the Surrey RCMP, Air 1 and the Lower Mainland Integrated Emergency Response Team (IERT), but there is still much work to be done. Investigators with the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) remain committed to determining why Mr. Goyal was the victim of this homicide,” said Sergeant Timothy Pierotti.

Preliminary investigations in the case suggested that it was a targeted shooting, but the reasons behind Yuvraj’s killing were still being investigated, he added.