A former Indian-origin Abbotsford gangster Jimi ‘Slice’Sandhu was gunned down in the parking lot of a hotel in downtown Muang district of this island province, both Canadian media and various media outlets of Thailand have reported.
According to Bangkok Post, “police officers were called to the hotel at 6.30am on Saturday after an employeereported a body in the parking lot of the villa zone, said Pol Lt PhalakornNuansuthi, deputy investigation chief at the Chalong police station.The man was found lying face-down in a pool of blood behind a red MG hatchback with Phuket licence plates. Wearing a white T-shirt and cream shorts, he had sustained about 10 gunshot wounds on his body. Police believe the man had died at least 6 hours before his body was discovered.Nineteen spent cartridges from a .38 were found scattered around the area. Some banknotes and some dried marijuana were found inside the car.”
When police examined security video from the hotel, they saw the victim driving the car to park in the villa zone of the 180-room hotel. As he was about to get out of the car, two men wearing woolen balaclavas to cover their faces jumped out at him. They fired several shots at close range and when the victim fell down, they shot him again.
When his body was found, Sandhu was carrying two different pieces of identification: a passport bearing the name of a Canadian of Indian descent, and a driver’s licence bearing the name of another Canadian of Indian descent. Local police released one of the names as that of the dead man as Mandeep Singh, and it was published in several local media outlets.
Initially it was reported that the Sandhu was Canadian, however, after Canadian media reports clarified that Sandhu was deported from Canada in 2016 and had been stripped of his Canadian nationality after being found involved in criminal activity.
Sandhu had moved to Canada as a seven-year-old and grew up with relatives in Abbotsford. After getting caught-up in the gang life and convicted of serious assaults in 2010 and 2012, he faced deportation. At his 2015 immigration hearing, he pleaded for another chance to stay in Canada and said he had changed his ways. Then, in June 2018, he was arrested in India and charged with operating a large ketamine factory. After he was released on bail, he disappeared and is believed to have been travelling between Dubai and Southeast Asia ever since,” reported Vancouver Sun.
A public safety warning about Sandhu was issued to residents of Abbotsford in 2015 about three men involved in an “ongoing conflict.” The police at that time had named Jimi Singh Sandhu along with two others posing a risk of significant harm to the safety of the community and anyone who may associate with them. “The APD believes that compelling circumstances exist requiring the Department to warn the public about three individuals it believes pose a risk of significant harm to the safety of the community and anyone who may associate with them. The three men are involved in an ongoing conflict and a criminal lifestyle that includes violence, drugs, and weapons,” police said in 2015.
According to Thailand Police the victim entered Thailand on Jan 27 via a private plane and noted that police have not ruled out any motives behind the killing.
Although Canada had snapped ties with Sandhu long back, Vancouver Sun has reported that the ripple effect of his killing would be felt in the Lower Mainland. Sgt. Brenda Winpenny of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit said that the slaying of UN gangster Jimi (Slice) Sandhu in Thailand could reverberate in B.C., Vancouver Sun reported, “CFSEU-B.C. will be utilizing all resources, sharing intelligence and developing strategies with our policing partners to mitigate any potential retribution or violence associated to his death,” she said.
