Three men arrested, charged in extortion shooting in Surrey, B.C.: police

Three men have been arrested and charged on shooting allegations that police in Surrey, B.C., say are believed to be linked to an extortion investigation.

Police say charges stem from an early-morning shooting on March 27 in a residential area of the city where multiple shots were fired at the home.

The service says in a statement that no one was hurt and that its investigation eventually led police to believe the shooting was "related to an ongoing extortion investigation."

All three accused are in their twenties and police say Mandeep Gidda, Nirmaandeep Cheema and Arundeep Singh are due to appear in court this week.

The charges come weeks after the RCMP announced a provincewide task force into the extortion cases, while departments in Surrey and Abbotsford launched their own specialized teams to investigate dozens of similar cases, many of them involving shootings.

Surrey Police Chief Const. Norm Lipinski says the arrests and charges are a positive step as the force "aggressively" tackles the issue in collaboration with the provincial task force and other policing partners across the country.

The department said last month that police were investigating 44 such cases including 27 involving shootings, while the city set up a $250,000 reward fund for information leading to convictions.

"Individuals and businesses primarily in the South Asian community are being victimized by threats of extortion in Surrey and across the country," the statement says.