Man charged in extortion attempt at car dealership says all he did was hand over the phone

From Brampton, Ont., to Surrey, B.C., violent extortion attempts have sent fear shooting through South Asian-Canadian businesses over the last several months.

The videos of the violence have been jarring; gunmen film themselves while they open fire on businesses and homes in cities across the country. They then share their video of the attacks and claim responsibility on social media pages linked to known gangsters in India.

Now one man, arrested by Peel Regional Police and charged with extortion, is pleading his innocence.

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On Feb. 7, Peel police’s newly assembled extortion taskforce announced the arrest of five individuals in connection with these violent extortions. One of these individuals was Arandeep Thind.

Thind, who is charged with one count of extortion and is now out on bail, reached out to CTV National News saying he wanted to share his story and proclaim his innocence.

Why would someone charged with extortion, who still hasn’t had his case heard in court, want to sit down with a journalist? It was a question we asked during our in-person interview.

Thind replied, “I have family too. I have kids too. My kids are crying, ‘Daddy’s not a criminal.’ You guys (the media and police) showed (my photo) that I’m a criminal. I’m not.”

Thind believes police are wrongly painting him as a high-level gangster, and are using his mugshot to gain points with a community that is currently on edge and demanding action from the authorities.

What police say happened

Police claim that on Jan. 26, a 32-year-old victim allegedly received a phone call and threatening WhatsApp messages demanding large sums of money.

CTV News has learned that the alleged extortion demand took place at a car dealership in Brampton, Ont. Thind was at the dealership at that time and was arrested by police, but he claims he too is a victim.

What Thind says happened

Thind claims that days before his arrest, his friend’s Brampton restaurant was shot up after the eatery received phone calls and messages demanding they pay a large sum of money. The restaurant’s owner gave Thind the phone number and asked him to call the people harassing him.

Thind says the person he spoke to on the phone then pressured him into going to a car dealership to request an extortion payment on their behalf.

Thind went to the dealership. He says he simply handed a phone over to the owner of the car company. During that phone call, a demand for money was allegedly made by the person on the other end of the line.

When asked why he agreed to go to the car dealership, Thind said, “What would you do if someone was pressuring you?”

He went on to say, “I told them, 'I want nothing more to do with this. You guys speak to each other and leave me out of it.'”

• Read more: 'We are everywhere,' claim alleged gunmen

But, according to Thind, the police arrived while he was still at the car dealership.

“I'm sitting there and police came and they arrested me.”

After spending nearly two weeks in jail, Thind was released on bail.

Gun photo on social media

Just days after being released from prison on bail, Thind posted a series of photos and videos on his Instagram account.

One post showed him walking on a tarmac in front of a private plane and an exotic car. Another had him smiling in the back seat of a Peel police cruiser, while a third showed him holding a gun.

When asked why he was holding a gun, Thind said he’s a music producer, and the photo was taken years ago while filming a music video.

CTV News asked Thind if he thought that it was a good idea to post a photo of himself holding a gun after being charged with extortion.

Thind appeared to become agitated and said people should look at his Instagram page and “they’ll see I’m not a criminal,” later adding that weapons are “part of South Asian music videos.”

According to Thind, “the gun wasn’t even real.”

'A running joke'

Sitting in a boardroom at Brampton City Hall, Coun. Gurpartap Singh Toor, shared that the release of Thind isn’t sitting well with his community.

He told CTV News, “We definitely need to see some sort of a change in our bail system because it has become a running joke. That sense of public safety is starting to erode.”

Toor said the posts left members of his community even more fearful.

“Given the circumstances, when you put it into context with everything that’s going on, and then you see activity like this, it doesn’t send the right message. Especially when someone is out on bail, and claiming they’re innocent. It doesn’t send the right message to the community,” Toor said.

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When asked point blank, Thind says he’s never been involved in organized crime or extortion. But he did admit that he has a previous charge, following a domestic incident.

He said he’s never shot a gun at any business or home, and that he’s never even met the other four people charged by the extortion task force in Peel Region.

Thind’s claim of innocence, as well as the extortion charge against him, have yet to be tried in a court of law.

CTV National News reached out to Peel Regional Police for comment. The force declined, saying the case is now before the courts.