Five Indian origin men have been charged with kidnapping and extortion crimes in Calgary, Canada, after they allegedly kidnapped a man to extort his friend.
The Calgary police have now arrested four of the men. One Gagandeep Sigh is absconding and is wanted for kidnapping, assault and other offences.
The incident is considered to be part of an ongoing extortion series and violence against the south asian community, Calgary Herald reported.
The crime took place on May 6. Four of the accused reportedly arrived at the home of the kidnapping victim in the evening.
They kidnapped the Edmonton Man, threatened him at gunpoint, forced him into a vehicle and drove him to Calgary.
Calgary Police say that the kidnapping was part of an extortion plot targeted at the man’s friend, who lived in the Calgary community Cityscape.
The suspects then tried to force the victim to lure his friend out of his home.
The victim refused to comply with the extortionists, leading to assault.
Meanwhile, the friend who was the target of the extortion tried to flee the scene with his wife. Police say that the suspects followed them and threatened them with a firearm. the couple then fled back to their residence and called the police.
Two of the suspects were arrested soon afterwards.
The others drove the victim back to Edmonton, and he was let go
The other two suspects were arrested later.
The accused Taranveer Singh, 24, Daksh Gautam, 25, Akashdeep Singh, 18, of Calgary, and Pardeep Singh, 24, of Calgary, have all been charged with multiple offences, including kidnapping with a firearm.
Gagandeep Singh, 29, is wanted on multiple offences and has connections to Ontario and British Columbia, police say.
Calgary police say that the men are not Canadian citizens and have mixed status, including expired work visas and refugee claim status. The victim was also south asian.
Calgary police Supt. Jeff Bell said, “This is a significant escalation in violence in the extortion incidents that we have seen in Calgary.”
There have been 45 extortion-related cases in Calgary since April 2025.
