Numerous entrepreneurs in the Canadian city of Abbotsford, British Columbia have received letters demanding $2 million in “protection money” to prevent a Hindu supremacist group from committing a shooting in their business.
The letters begin and end with the phrase “JAI SRI RAM,” which translates to “Victory to Lord Ram,” a Hindu deity. The phrase is known in popular culture as a threat of violence towards any person who challenges “Hindu Supremacy.”
In a hand-delivered threat written in broken English and littered with grammatical errors, the letters partly read: “we are Indian gang members , we want our share from your busineses like protection money . as you seen on news on November this month two shotting on houses they were targeted because we asked them littlte money they did denied… make sure do not contact to POLICE if you did then no more letter only bullet …keep in mind [sic].”
Last November, the Abbotsford Police Department issued a news release to warn the public about the letters. They told residents that despite the author(s) of the letters taking credit for “recent reported events,” the police had not confirmed any connections. The “reported events” appear to be two November shootings within 10 minutes of each other, and an arson at an autobody shop.
While the letters have been mocked for their comically bad English and amateur tone (not to mention a lack of options to contact or pay the extortionists), the group seems to be operating not only in one BC city, but across the entire country.
As reported by CTV news, multiple cities and provinces have ongoing police investigations into similar extortion letters. And while other provinces have launched task forces to investigate the letters across multiple jurisdictions, BC has seemingly not done so. Speaking to CTV news, the former West Vancouver police chief and solicitor general criticized the province for having a “fractured policing structure.” He warned that BC is “going to have people die” if their police forces don’t coordinate an investigation.
As mentioned, social media users have largely responded to the letter, which has now gone viral, with mockery.
“Do you think you can send bobs as payment?” joked X (formerly Twitter) user @RealGeorgeB, referring to a meme involving Indian men on social media messaging women for lewd pictures.
“I am Hindu but this is funny as hell,” wrote X user @MrX_55555.
