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SikhMan Strip-searched by mistake,made to pay tow


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http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe...ol=968350116467

Strip-searched by mistake, Sikh even had to pay tow

VANCOUVER—Nachhattar Basra bears such a resemblance to a wanted man that he carries a letter from Immigration Canada to prove who he is.

At least three times police have mistaken Basra for a shady character with the same name, same general height and a Canada-wide immigration arrest warrant.

But Basra's letter didn't save him from being jailed overnight after he was arrested last Sunday by a Vancouver police officer who Basra says refused to listen. "I had the letter in my car. I was telling her it's happened before ... that I received a letter from the immigration department ... but she didn't listen to anything," said Basra.

The 50-year-old City of Vancouver building services employee, known to colleagues as Nick, was en route to his regular night shift at a downtown civic building when he was pulled over.

Vancouver police spokesperson Anne Drennan said the officer ran the licence plate through the computer system and a warrant popped up.

Basra protested he was not the suspect, Drennan confirmed.

"But we have a lot of people who say that," she said. "We have to check it out."

Drennan said Basra didn't produce the letter, and there was no notation on the system alerting police to the dual identities.

A check with immigration officials confirmed the warrant was s

till valid and again, no mention of an identity mix-up was made. So the officer, in good faith, took Basra to jail, Drennan said.

Basra was admitted as a longer-term detainee and subjected to a strip search, said B.C. Corrections spokesperson Wayne Willows.

Strip searches for temporary police holds at the Vancouver jail were banned earlier this year after a court ruling declared them unconstitutional.

However, for security reasons, suspects arrested on detention warrants are still strip-searched because they're admitted to the general prison population, he said.

A devout Sikh, Basra was forced to remove his turban, part his hair and strip naked to prove he was carrying no weapons or contraband.

"It was too much for me ... the humiliation," said Basra, who'd never in his life been handcuffed, let alone jailed.

He was released the next morning without an apology, then had to pay $95 to get his car from a towing lot.

Immigration Canada spokesperson Nancy Bray said the department is aware of Basra's ordeal.

"We are very sorry for his experience. And the director of enforcement has spoken to him to indicate our regret and we are going to do our best to make sure this doesn't happen to Mr. Basra in the future," she said.

Canadian Press

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vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

Yeah I read about that too. Imigration Canada is gonna try to fix all this (again) by putting his name in every database comp. so that they won't pick him up again by mistake. As well, they paid back the towing charges blush.gif

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

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