Punjab Man Shot Dead In Canada; Police Suspect Targeted Killing

A man of Indian descent, originally from Ludhiana in Punjab, was fatally shot in Surrey, Canada, on Friday. The victim, identified as Yuvraj Goyal, immigrated to Canada in 2019 on a student visa and had recently obtained his Canadian Permanent Resident (PR) status.

Yuvraj, aged 28, was employed as a sales executive. His father, Rajesh Goyal, runs a firewood business, while his mother, Shakun Goyal, is a homemaker. Yuvraj had a clean record, with no criminal history, and the Royal Canadian Police stated that the motive behind his killing is still being investigated.

Goyal graduated with a B.Com (Honors) from Delhi University and then moved to Canada to pursue a master’s in finance. Before going to Canada, he worked in India for about two years. At the time of his death, he was working as a sales executive at Canada-based Basant Motors.

On June 7th at 8:46 am, Surrey Police responded to a shooting report in the 900-block of 164 Street in Surrey, British Columbia. Upon arrival, officers discovered Yuvraj deceased. Four suspects have been apprehended by the police.

The suspects, Manvir Basram (23), Sahib Basra (20), Harkirat Jhutty (23) of Surrey, and Keilon Francois (20) of Ontario, have been charged with first-degree murder on Saturday.

While his mother Shakun Goyal is a homemaker, his father Rajesh Goyal owns a firewood business.

Shakun said that the family was in shock and asserted that her son had no enemies. She had visited Goyal in March.

“I spoke to him shortly before the incident. He was in his car, returning home from the gym early in the morning. He told me to go to sleep as it was nighttime here in India. He said he would call back later,” Shakun told.

“I don’t think anyone can give us justice. No one can bring our son back, but the Canadian government must understand that parents send their children to Canada with a lot of dreams, not to get their lifeless bodies back,” Shakun continued.

“We are thankful for the hard work of the Surrey RCMP, Air 1, and  Lower Mainland Integrated Emergency Response Team (IERT), but there is still more work to be done. Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) investigators remain dedicated to determining why Mr Goyal was the victim of this homicide,” said Sergeant Timothy Pierotti

Preliminary investigation into the case suggests that the shooting was targeted, although the reasons behind Yuvraj’s killing are still being explored, he added.