2 Canadian Sikhs charged with murder after assault victim dies

Toronto: Murder charges have been laid against two Sikh men in connection with an “aggravated assault” that left a 55-year-old man dead in the Canadian province of British Columbia, police said.

Parminder Singh Brar, 31, and Simarpal Singh, 21, remain in police custody and were charged with aggravated assault and second-degree murder last week, Surrey Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said.

Police said they were called to an area of King George Boulevard, a major arterial road in Surrey, at around 11 p.m. on August 18, to reports of the victim walking around with a machete.

The victim allegedly hit a vehicle with the machete and was involved in a confrontation with two occupants in the vehicle.

“Upon police arrival, a man with significant life-threatening injuries was located,” RCMP Surrey said in a release.

Police said the victim was transported to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries on August 23.

Asked whether the suspects and the victim were strangers before the altercation, Surrey RCMP spokesperson Corporal Vanessa Munn told CTV News that “it is not believed that the parties were known to each other.”

No one involved was known to police before the incident, Munn said, adding that investigations are ongoing.

According to local media reports, this is Surrey’s eighth homicide case so far in 2023.