Calgary police are asking for help from the public to determine whether a series of recent murders in the city are connected.
The most recent happened just before midnight on Tuesday when police were called to a collision in the northeast neighbourhood of Taradale, where they found a man shot to death in a vehicle that had crashed in the 200 block of Taracove Road N.E.
Police identified the victim as Rishabh Saini, 23.
And on Sunday, a man was found dead in the northwest community of Hamptons.
The victim was identified as 49-year-old Bikramjit Dhindsa and police say evidence at the scene has led them to believe it was a targeted attack which had the “hallmarks of organized crime.”
Surveillance footage from the victim’s home shows four men with their faces covered going inside then fleeing in a dark-coloured SUV police believe was driven by a fifth man.
The third happened in early April when two men were fatally shot in a vehicle in a parking lot in the 2400 block of 37 Avenue N.E. They were identified as 25-year-old Jasdeep Singh and 22-year-old Japneet Malhi.
The pair had been inside a nearby restaurant before they were shot.
Investigators continue to search for a dark-coloured sedan, believed to be an early 2000s model Nissan Altima, that was seen in the area at the time of the shooting.
One thing linking each of the four victims is that they were all members of Calgary’s Indo-Canadian community, said Homicide Staff Sgt. Colin Chisholm.
“We would be remiss if we weren’t looking at the possibility they were linked,” he said.
“We’re asking the public to come forward with information, even if it’s a little bit of information that may be insignificant to them, but that little bit of information could definitely help us in our investigations.”
Calgary investigators have also said they are working with police in other jurisdictions to see whether the killings are linked to violence in other cities.
“We would be remiss to not explore those possibilities,” said Chisholm.
Chisholm said police have received “a reasonable number of tips” from the public but are hoping to hear from anyone with information.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Homicide Tip Line at 403-428-8877 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.