Calgary Extortion Surge Targeting South Asians

0:00It's April 8th. I'm Corey with The Story. This is Canada News Today, driven by AI. Calgary's dealing with a surge in extortion targeting South Asians, mostly hitting the sea community hard. It kicked off here in January 2025, later than in Ontario or BC. But police say it's exploded with 41 attempts so far. 18 of those involved shootings at homes, cars, or businesses to scare folks into paying up. The luckily no one's been hurt yet. Jobs are calling it their top priority to stop the bullets flying. Just this month, they made their first two arrests in the probe. On April 1st, 45-year-old Rana Chima got charged, followed by 21-year-old Jessica Densing two days later. Both tie to the ongoing investigation, but police know more suspects are out there. The community's on edge, with fear keeping many from reporting. Families worry it'll cramp their businesses or kid studies at places like the University of Calgary, creating this self-imposed limit on success.

1:02Groups like the World Seek Organization call it a whack-a-mole game, designed to sow discord. Challenges stack up from encrypted apps that wipe messages fast, making evidence tough to grab, plus possible loose ties to India's Lawrence Bitionoy. Gang though no solid links confirmed, and copycats are jumping in for quick cash. One arrestee was even on a student visa from India. Police lost operations Orion for probes and outage for community patrols, while Alberta and Ottawa ramp up support to track these networks. After the arrests, tips flooded in, proving what they need most, your reports to shut this down for good.