Ontario, May 25 (IANS) The Extortion Task Force of Ontario's Peel region in Canada on Monday announced the arrest of 17 individuals, majority of whom have ties to an international criminal network known as 'For Brothers', which targetted South Asian business owners and community members across the region, not only in Canada but also the United States.

In yet another development highlighting Canada's ongoing crackdown on organised criminal networks, including Khalistani groups accused of running terror operations in India, the Peel Regional Police stated its Extortion Task Force has dismantled a coordinated campaign of intimidation, threats, and escalating violence used to extort local businesses.

"The organised criminal network is allegedly responsible for a series of targetted attacks against the Region of Peel’s South Asian community. They are believed to have been active in Brampton, Mississauga, Caledon, and British Columbia, with links to California," read a statement issued by the police authorities. 

It mentioned that, in December 2025, a Joint Forces Operation commenced, which included Peel Regional Police and the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), along with Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC).

"Several businesses, including restaurants and trucking companies, were repeatedly targetted after refusing to comply with extortion demands, highlighting the group’s persistence and increasingly violent tactics. In one incident, investigators allege two of the accused were responsible for a shooting and arson at a residential address in Caledon, followed minutes later by a second shooting targetting a business in Brampton," the statement mentioned. 

"Overall, the 17 accused are connected to 24 incidents. Of those, investigators linked 16 violent incidents associated with For Brothers, including arson and multiple shootings that involved 324 rounds discharged. In April 2026, investigators executed a series of search warrants across multiple locations, resulting in the arrest of the following 17 men, facing a total of 106 criminal charges," it added.

The police authorities said that six individuals charged by Peel Regional Police may face immigration action, including possible removal from the country, after their criminal cases are finished. 

"The accused include Iqbal Singh Bhagria, 25, of Brampton; Akashdeep Singh, 24, of Norval; Ravinder Singh, 25, of Surrey, B.C.; Jashanbir Singh, 21, of Surrey, B.C.; Dilawarpreet Singh, 26, of Brampton; Mandeep Singh, 21, of Brampton; Prabhdeep Sohal, 22, of Brampton; Partapbir Ghuman, 22, of Brampton; Ajaydeep Singh, 29, of Brampton; Navroop Singh, 24, of Brampton; Rajan Singh, 28, of Barrie; Amritjot Singh, 22, of Brampton; Jashanpreet Singh, 22, of Brampton; Guneet Guneet, 27, of Brampton; Sukhwinder Singh, 32, of Brampton; Mohinder Singh, 30, of Brampton; and Gautam Gautam, 22, of Manteca, California," Peel Regional Police stated. 

During the investigation, police also seized six firearms, illicit drugs, multiple cell phones, SIM cards and fraudulent identification cards.

"These arrests reflect the coordinated efforts of Peel Regional Police and our law enforcement partners across jurisdictions to disrupt these networks and hold those responsible accountable. Extortion is not confined to one region but connected both nationally and internationally. Addressing it requires strong cross-border collaboration and intelligence-sharing among agencies. We recognise the fear and harm this has caused, particularly within the South Asian community, and remain committed to put a stop to these crimes and keep our communities safe," said Peel Regional Police chief Nishan Duraiappah. 

On Monday, in an exclusive interview with IANS, India's High Commissioner to Canada, Dinesh K Patnaik, said that Canada has started taking India’s security concerns seriously and is now acting against extremist and criminal networks linked to pro-Khalistan elements.

Patnaik said cooperation between Indian and Canadian security agencies had improved significantly in recent months, marking a sharp turnaround in bilateral ties that had deteriorated over the Nijjar controversy.

"There is closed cooperation in every sector especially the security issues," Patnaik told IANS in an interview.

"Earlier, we were refusing to talk to each other. Right now we have a regular dialogue. The national security advisors had come and gone. They have had discussions. The agencies are talking to each other. The police forces are talking, the investigating agencies are talking."

He said the two countries were now exchanging information and conducting joint operations.

"Everybody is talking to each other, exchanging information, doing joint operations together trying to make sure that both countries are safe for each other, that Canada is safe for India, and India is safe for Canada," he said.

Patnaik acknowledged that extremist groups still existed in Canada but said Ottawa no longer viewed the issue only through the prism of India's concerns.

“There is, of course, a small section in Canada, which is still mentally trying to put things down," he said.

"But what we have managed in the last six months or seven months to do, and thanks to the close assistance of the Canadian side, especially Prime Minister Carney, is to again put them on the fringe, marginalise them."

The envoy alleged that many such networks were now driven more by organised crime than ideology.

“They're making money out of it. It became a thing, which is more of an economic activity than an ideological activity,” he said, citing “gun running, drug smuggling, people trafficking, extortion” and other criminal activities.

He said India had consistently urged Canada to distinguish between peaceful protest and violent extremism.

“What we’ve been telling them is we are not worried about the protest as much as the violence they’re unleashing, the hate they’re bringing to the streets, the propaganda that they’re doing,” he said.

He also accused such groups of “running terrorist operations in India” and involvement in “extortion criminal activities”.

Despite the past tensions, Patnaik said bilateral ties were now “in a good space”.