Immigration and Refugee Board documents obtained by CBC News identify Ravinder Singh, 25, as a suspect in a gunfire and extortion campaign against a Surrey, B.C., radio station and a wider network of shootings across Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.
Singh belongs to a group called Hood 420, which authorities describe as directly linked to jailed Indian gangster Lawrence Bishnoi or using his name to carry out threats, according to the IRB records, obtained through an Access to Information request and reported by CBC News.
A transcript of Singh’s admissibility hearing says his phone contained a note matching a threat sent to the owner of Radio Swift 1200 AM in the names of Bishnoi and gang leader Goldy Dhillon, “demanding five (5) million dollars and threatening harm if demands are not met,” CBC News reported.
Gunfire hit the entrance of the Surrey station’s building on Sept. 29, 2025, causing no injuries, according to earlier CBC News reporting. Canada had designated the Bishnoi gang a terrorist entity the same day, with Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree saying the group “engages in murder, shootings and arson, and generates terror through extortion and intimidation,” according to a government statement.
The IRB issued a deportation order for organized criminality against Singh in July. He has been charged with weapons offences in Alberta and with conspiracy to discharge a firearm in Ontario, but never over the Swift 1200 AM shooting, according to the documents.
Ontario crackdown
CBC News reported Singh is also suspected of an organizing role in a wider extortion network Peel Regional Police dismantled last May, resulting in 106 charges against 17 men linked to 24 incidents, including 16 violent attacks involving arson and shootings in which 324 rounds were fired, according to a Peel police statement.
While police had linked those extortions to a group called For Brothers, the IRB documents obtained by CBC News say Singh “was part of the Bishnoi Gang or a closely tied subgroup under the name Hood 420.”
An Ontario Provincial Police intelligence analyst testified Singh first came to police attention in fall 2025 after shootings at residences and businesses in Caledon and Brampton, where victims received extortion demands claiming Bishnoi gang affiliation, according to the hearing transcript. He was initially known only by the alias “Coach.”
Arrests and an escape
Police began linking Singh to the case after RCMP arrested him in Red Deer, Alberta, in November 2025, when he met Jagdeep Singh, then a suspect in shootings targeting a tire shop owner near Edmonton who later demanded $2 million, CBC News reported. Officers allegedly found a gun linked to seven extortion shootings and a phone tying Ravinder Singh to many more.
The documents raise questions about Jagdeep Singh’s escape, 24, from CBSA custody at Calgary’s Rockyview Hospital in November 2025, previously attributed to a lapse during a medical assessment. Hearing transcripts say Jagdeep Singh complained of drug withdrawal to evade contracted guards, CBC News reported. He remains wanted on a Canada-wide warrant.
A Ministry of Public Safety lawyer told the IRB that Ravinder Singh, who also showed withdrawal symptoms after his arrest despite earlier denying drug use, “was transported to the hospital and it should also be noted that this is the exact same scenario that resulted in the escape of his friend Mr. Jagdeep Singh from CBSA custody.” Singh said he “uses black tar heroin or opium daily,” was treated and returned to custody, according to the documents.
The CBSA told CBC News it is “conducting a full review” of Jagdeep Singh’s escape, adding contracted guards maintain custody of detainees “24 hours per day, seven days per week.”
Armed with cellphone evidence allegedly linking Singh to instructions sent to Iqbal Singh Bhagria, charged over the Caledon and Brampton shootings, authorities arrested Singh again in Edmonton in February. He drove a grey Toyota Camry investigators tied, through damage and CCTV footage, to Surrey extortion cases and the Swift 1200 AM shooting, CBC News reported.
Deportation sought
The IRB documents say ministry and Crown officials discussed staying Singh’s criminal charges so he could be removed, though CBSA told CBC News the charges remain outstanding. Singh, who came on a study permit in August 2019 and saw his work permit expire in January, represented himself and declined to answer the allegations, saying: “My father back home is very sick and I want to go as soon as possible.”
Jinny Sims, a Swift 1200 AM host and former legislator, said she now favours swift deportation over prosecution where strong evidence exists.
This extortion business is destroying our community. It has created such big fear that’s it’s only when you’re going to see these deportations -- and I’m not saying just pick up anybody and deport them -- but where you’ve got strong evidence then deport them, and they won’t be here recruiting people while they’re waiting for a trial.
B.C.’s Provincial Extortion Task Force recorded 132 extortion attempts in Surrey in 2025, 49 involving shots fired at homes and businesses, according to earlier CBC News reporting.