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Sandip Duhre victim of fatal shooting in Vancouver

Abbotsford Police have said the Duhre Group is the prevalent gang operating in the city.
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The scene of a targeted shooting at the Bar One restaurant at the Wall Centre in Vancouver.

A man linked to a group that Abbotsford Police have said is the dominant gang in the community was gunned down Tuesday evening in Vancouver.

Media reports say Sandip (Dip) Duhre, 36, was the victim of a fatal shooting at the Bar One restaurant inside the Wall Centre in the 1000 block of Burrard Street.

Abbotsford Police were not commenting on the death today (Wednesday). Vancouver Police have said they do not yet have any suspects and are continuing their investigation.

In October 2010, Abbotsford Police named the Duhre Group as the prevalent gang operating in the city, filling in a gap left by the arrests of several prominent Red Scorpions, including the Bacon brothers.

Sandip and his two brothers – Balraj, 38, and Paul, 35 – grew up in North Vancouver. Sandip is believed to most recently have been living in Surrey, but has also been known to frequent the Abbotsford area.

Several drug arrests in Abbotsford in 2010 and 2011 involved people believed to be linked to the Duhre Group.

In September 2011, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit's gang task force issued a public warning that anyone linked to the Duhre or Dhak groups could be at risk, following the shooting of associate Jujhar Singh Khun-Khun in Surrey.

That incident was investigated as possible retaliation for the mass shooting in Kelowna that killed Abbotsford's Jonathan Bacon – a purported Red Scorpion – and wounded a Hells Angel and Independent Soldier, as well as two young women.

Sandip's most recent trouble with the law was in Surrey in March 2011, when he was charged with fleeing from a police officer and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.

That case was slated to go to trial in Surrey provincial court on Nov. 5 of this year, according to the provincial court database.

He was previously convicted of uttering threats, obstructing a police officer, and possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose.

Sandip was also the alleged target of a foiled hit outside a Surrey convenience store in May 2005, when his friend Dean Mohammed Elshamy was killed.

Sandip's brother, Balraj, has been the subject of three targeted shootings:  in 2003, when he was shot in the face in Surrey; in July 2005 while he was in his bulletproof car; and in October 2005 when he was wounded while eating at a Vancouver Vietnamese restaurant.

Sandip was also reported to be the among the targets of contracted hits that never transpired in 2010. Aleksander Radjenovic was convicted in August 2011 of three counts of conspiracy to commit murder, and was sentenced to almost 18 years in prison.

The only criminal history for the middle Duhre brother, Paul, involved a 1996 case in which he was charged with obstruction of justice along with his brothers. Several others were also charged, including well-known gangster Bindy Johal, who was murdered in a Vancouver nightclub in December 1998, but the case never went to trial.

 



Vikki Hopes

About the Author: Vikki Hopes

I have been a journalist for almost 40 years, and have been at the Abbotsford News since 1991.
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