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thara hayer

Jhajaroo

By Jhajaroo,
in WHAT'S HAPPENING?

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Jhajaroo

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i thikn u guys have misunderstood my question. It was a happy day for me also in 98. But ver teh weekend "supposedly" the killers of thara hayer were caught. Here's the article :

http://www.canada.com/search/story.aspx?id...c8-3dca8463c13f

Terrorists paid for Hayer hit group hired hitmen

Sikh's assassins received $50,000, offer to kill others

Kim Bolan

Vancouver Sun Sikh publisher Tara Singh Hayer was assassinated in 1998 by two Indo-Canadian gangsters on the orders of the terrorist group Babbar Khalsa for a $50,000 fee, according to information provided to police three years ago.

The hit was so successfully carried out that the two young men were then approached about killing Sikh moderate leader Balwant Singh Gill for another "50 grand," police were also told in the fall of 2000.

Chilling details about the Hayer murder were relayed in an unrelated B.C. Supreme Court murder trial last month.

No journalists were present for the explosive testimony of Delta police Staff Sergeant John Robin, who first received the account of the Hayer slaying from a lawyer of one of the men accused in the unrelated gang slaying.

The Vancouver Sun has obtained court transcripts of Robin's testimony that include details of Hayer's Nov. 18, 1998 assassination and several other unsolved gangland hits.

Robin was testifying at the murder trial of Hardip Uppal, who is accused of killing his former gang associate Gurpreet Singh Sohi in Delta on Sept. 14, 2000.

Two other Indo-Canadian gangsters,

Ravinder (Robbie) Soomel and Gurwinder (Gogi) Mann, were convicted of first-degree murder last May in Sohi's slaying.

Uppal told his lawyer, John Stowe, that Soomel confessed he was "the wheelman" in the Hayer killing. Stowe then provided the information to police in the hopes of striking an immunity deal for Uppal in the Sohi murder.

Hayer was expected to be a witness in the Air India bombing trial when he was shot to death.

"Robbie Soomel told me that he and Daljit Basran took a contract from a named individual associated with Babbar Khalsa to kill Tara Singh Hayer," Uppal said, according to testimony.

"Robbie Soomel told me that he was the driver of the getaway car and Daljit Basran was the shooter...Robbie Soomel told me subsequently that he was approached by a named individual associated with Babbar Khalsa and was asked to kill Balwant Singh Gill."

The RCMP's Air India Task Force also interviewed Uppal about the information he claimed to have about the Hayer murder.

Delta police and the RCMP both wanted to make some sort of plea bargain with Uppal. But Crown prosecutors, who believe he played a key role in the Sohi murder, decided against reducing the charges or offering any deal.

Uppal took an RCMP lie detector test on Nov. 1, 2001 in regards to the Hayer murder, after which a senior RCMP superintendent wanted to offer him immunity, court was told, although the result of the polygraph was not mentioned.

"Hardip Uppal attended the polygraph office to prove he was telling the truth regarding information on the Tara Hayer homicide. He provided the statement in which he stated again that Robbie Soomel and Daljit Basran killed Tara Hayer," a police note read at the Uppal trial states.

Basran, who works as a taxi driver, is a suspect in at least two other murders. He was arrested by Delta police in November 2000 and charged with the unsolved 1999 slaying of Deepak Sodhi, but the charges were stayed less than a month later.

Uppal provid

ed additional details to the police about the Hayer murder, claiming they were provided by Soomel.

He said Soomel told him that Basran, who is referred to by his nickname Umboo, was very upset after shooting the paralysed 62-year-old Indo-Canadian Times publisher in his garage.

"You should have seen Umboo," Uppal quoted Soomel as saying. "He was almost crying. Umboo said it was like watching his grandfather get shot."

The two suspects fled the Hayer murder scene in a black Honda, court was told.

Soomel told Uppal that he later commented: "Umboo's been initiated now."

Soomel referred to Hayer as "the old man in the wheelchair" and also "made the sign of a gun with his right hand" to indicate Basran was the shooter, Robin was told.

Uppal also said he was told by Soomel that members of the Babbar Khalsa, a terrorist group outlawed in Canada last June, "were going to hook him up after this job" with drugs, guns and "serious protection."

Robin read from his notes of information he received about what Soomel allegedly told Uppal: "(Soomel) was explaining that the Babbar Khalsa knew what they were doing, that they were well-organized."

Robin was asked if he remembered being told how the Babbar Khalsa "knew Tara Singh Hayer's schedule, his house layout, everything about him, down perfectly."

Robin said his notes indicate Soomel "was handed a black folder containing Mr. Hayer's address, the car he drives, and everything."

Police were told that Soomel had been approached to kill Hayer by Ranjit Singh "Doc" Bahia, an Indo-Canadian gang leader whose father -- Sucha Singh --was a prominent member of the International Sikh Youth Federation.

"Doc Bahia was supposed to do the job but he was 'heated out,'" Robin was told. "I took that to mean, My Lord, that he was concerned with police interest in him."

Bahia told Soomel the money for the Hayer hit was from "up high," court was told

Soomel "asked Doc how he wanted it d

one and Doc had said he would ask his dad," Robin testified.

Just before the Hayer slaying, Bahia met Soomel and Basran behind the gas station at Knight and 57th in South Vancouver and Bahia said: "It doesn't really matter how it's done, (just) done quick."

After the murder, the gun was thrown over the Knight Street bridge, Robin said he was told.

Uppal said Soomel asked him if he "was interested in getting in" on the Balwant Gill plot.

Soomel explained "to Mr. Uppal how a guy from Kamloops directly approached him. There was a direct meeting with (Soomel,) the guy from Kamloops and Mr. Uppal."

Robin said the Kamloops contact was directly linked to the Babbar Khalsa.

"The guy from Kamloops said the people were really, really impressed with the last one," Robin quoted from the information he received.

Robin said "the last one" was an apparent reference to "the Hayer homicide, that the price for the Gill murder would be 50 grand if they pulled it off, and they would also have unlimited access to produce from grow operations. I took that to mean marijuana grow operations."

Robin was told that "the Kamloops connection was a weapons specialist and strict orthodox Sikh family and that connection, both he and his uncle, were directly related to the Babbar Khalsa."

All the currently listed directors of Babbar Khalsa, which remains a registered non-profit society in B.C. despite its terrorist designation, live in Kamloops. The group has been linked to the 1985 Air India bombing.

Until his death, Hayer had been on the witness list for the Air India trial, which is going on in the same building as the Uppal case.

Hayer told the RCMP he allegedly overheard Ajaib Singh Bagri in the fall of 1985 confessing his role in the bombing plot to a mutual friend in England whom Hayer was visiting. That friend, Tarsem Singh Purewal, was gunned down in early 1995.

Uppal waived his informant's privilege at a pre-trial conference last September

, enabling his lawyer to identify him at his trial as the person who provided so much detailed information to police about a number of murders, including Hayer's.

The man Uppal claimed paid the $50,000 -- Doc Bahia -- currently faces a series of charges, including trafficking, kidnapping, aggravated assault and unlawful confinement. A 1999 murder charge against him was stayed. His cousin Heera, who was slain last year, was once arrested with Soomel.

Uppal's defence team is arguing before Justice Paul Williamson that his client feared for his life when he helped set up Sohi in the victim's north Delta basement suite. They say Soomel had a violent reputation and was a suspect in other murders, meaning Uppal felt compelled to do what Soomel told him.

Hayer's family was invited to a meeting by senior RCMP investigators this week who were aware The Sun had applied for the court documents of Uppal's statements about the Hayer murder.

Dave Hayer, a Liberal MLA, said Friday the investigators are checking out the information provided by Uppal.

"They said they are looking into it. They have different leads available and different suspects available," Dave Hayer said.

He said he feels very confident police are on the right track to catch his father's killers, it "is just a matter of pulling all the pieces together."

While the alleged link between a terrorist group and Indo-Canadian gangs is frightening, it is not surprising, Hayer said.

"The organizations that are said to be involved don't shock me because these are the organizations we always suspected were involved," Hayer said. "We have always believed that these terrorist organizations are also linked to drug dealing and linked to other organized crime in the Indo-Canadian community and other organized criminals."

His father is the only known Canadian journalist to be killed in a targeted hit. Tara Hayer had written for years against the activities of two militant Sikh separa

tist groups which have now been designated terrorist --the International Sikh Youth Federation and the Babbar Khalsa.

More than anything, Dave Hayer wants the masterminds of the killing brought to justice.

"It's important that the people who paid the money, who were behind the scenes, are caught and prosecuted," he said.

Staff Sergeant Wayne Rideout, who is with the RCMP's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, said Friday it is difficult to comment on the information when the Uppal trial is before the courts and while the cases are active.

"Obviously we are aware of it because we participated in it," Rideout said. "The integrated homicide team has the care and custody of all of these investigations at this time and they remain open. We can't comment on the evidence at the on-going trial."

Balwant Gill, who is still president of Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh temple, said he was surprised about the detailed information provided to police about Hayer's alleged killers, as well as the plot against himself.

"Why didn't they charge anyone in Mr. Hayer's case?" Gill asked.

While he was given a bullet-proof vest by police, Gill has never been informed of the claim that a $50,000 hit was put out on him.

"At that time, they told me nothing," Gill said. "When they received that information, they should have given me more protection."

Uppal remains in custody during his trial after breaching bail conditions.

Robin was also asked in court if he was aware of a letter written by the RCMP on November 13, 2001 "recommending that Hardip Uppal be granted immunity in the prosecution for the homicide of Gurpreet Sohi and that Crown counsel discontinue prosecution against Mr. Uppal."

Robin said he had not seen the letter, but admitted discussions with the RCMP over Uppal and a possible plea agreement continued for "years," after his fall 2000 arrest.

"As the time progressed, Mr. Uppal continued to provide more informatio

n, which we felt was important with regards to other investigations," Robin testified. "And as a result, we were concerned that if we did not make some kind if plea arrangement with Mr. Uppal -- that those other investigations would not be solved. But this was an on-going issue and it was a complex one."

Robin also told the court that Soomel -- the alleged driver of the getaway car -- was also interviewed by the Air India Task Force. Like Uppal, Soomel provided police with statements about other unsolved murders --most of them Indo-Canadian gangland hits.

Soomel, who is appealing his murder conviction, remains a suspect in several other slayings.

His lawyer for the appeal, Ian Donaldson, did not return phone calls Friday.

The first-degree murder trial of Uppal is continuing at the Vancouver Law Courts. The Crown is expected to complete its case next week before the defence begins.

Crown prosecutor Ralph Keefer declined to comment when asked about Robin's testimony at the trial. Stowe did not return phone calls. Robin also declined to comment.

Much has come out at the Uppal trial of the threat posed by Indo-Canadian organized crime.

When Uppal was first granted bail after his September 2000 arrest, police agreed to provide him with a bullet-proof vest.

Several of the suspects in the Sohi case, as well as witnesses, agreed to do re-enactments with the police about what they saw around the time Sohi was gunned down in his suite. For each of the re-enactments, bullet-proof vests were provided. On one occasion, Emergency Response Team members accompanied the police and witnesses as they visited the scene of the crime.

"The participants were involved in Indo-Canadian organized crime," Robin testified. "We had concerns for the safety of police, the public and (the witnesses.)"

Robin agreed that the RCMP asked him about speaking to Uppal in regards to the Hayer murder, but he also said that he had preferred not to be involved in the other agency

9;s investigation, given all the sensitivities.

"It was considered a politically motivated -- or possibly politically motivated -- murder in Surrey and there were some concerns about the file security on that and I would have been cautious," Robin told the court.

kbolan@png.canwest.com

MONDAY: Hardip Singh Uppal, accused of setting up the murder of a close friend, has provided police with details of at least four other gangland hits.

© Copyright 2003 Vancouver Sun

I personally thikn this is a bunch of bullshiat, the gangster in court is trying to make a deal and say he noes who killed thara but its jus fulla <admin-profanity filter activated>.

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