Punjab-origin youth shot dead in Canadas Abbotsford, gang rivalry suspected
Abbotsford’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) had previously confirmed that the killing was gang-related but had not disclosed the victim’s identity.
PTC News Desk: A Punjabi youth of Canadian origin, hailing from Sudhar village in Ludhiana, was shot dead in West Abbotsford on Friday, reportedly as part of a continuing gang feud among drug traffickers in British Columbia.
Abbotsford’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) had previously confirmed that the killing was gang-related but had not disclosed the victim’s identity. He has now been identified as 28-year-old Navpreet Singh Dhaliwal. Gangster Dony Bal—who has earlier claimed responsibility for the killings of Kabaddi promoter Rana Balachaur and Sarpanch Jarmal Singh—has allegedly taken credit for Navpreet’s murder as well.
Residents of Dhaliwal’s native village said he had hardly returned to Sudhar after he grew up.
Former Block Committee chairman and SAD leader Mehar Singh Dhaliwal said the deceased was the grandson of his cousin, Nazar Singh. Navpreet’s father, Gurjinder Singh Dhaliwal, had migrated to Canada in 1995, two years before Navpreet was born.
On the night of the attack, Navpreet and his mother were at home while his father was attending to his grandfather, Nazar Singh Dhaliwal, who was admitted to a hospital in Abbotsford.
“They forced their way in and shot him in the leg while he was studying for an exam. Before his mother could alert police, the assailants had completed what they came for,” said Mehar Singh Dhaliwal.
Police in Abbotsford received a call about the shooting at 12:38 am on January 9 at the 3200 block of Siskin Drive. Officers found Navpreet with severe injuries, and he died at the scene. The investigation was soon handed over to IHIT, which confirmed the killing was tied to the escalating gang rivalry in BC.
Authorities said Navpreet had been known to law enforcement and had connections to the province’s gang landscape. IHIT described the shooting as a deliberate, targeted attack.
In a social media post, Dony Bal and Mohabbat Randhawa claimed responsibility, alleging that Navpreet had been planning to kill them in Surrey and would have attacked if they had not acted first.
Navpreet had previously been named in a major drug trafficking probe launched by the Abbotsford Police Drug Enforcement Unit in 2022. He was arrested in 2024 but later released on conditions restricting his mobility and social media access.